Editing Pindar (section)

====Old age and death====
His fame as a poet drew Pindar into Greek politics. Athens, the most important city in Greece throughout his poetic career, was a rival of his home city, [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]], and also of the island state [[Aegina]], whose leading citizens commissioned about a quarter of his Victory Odes. There is no open condemnation of the Athenians in any of his poems but criticism is implied. For example, the victory ode mentioned above (''Pythian 8'') describes the downfall of the giants [[Porphyrion]] and [[Typhon]] and this might be Pindar's way of covertly celebrating a recent defeat of Athens by Thebes at the [[Battle of Coronea (447 BC)|Battle of Coronea]] (447 BC).<ref>Pindar (1972), p. 138</ref> The poem ends with a prayer for Aegina's freedom, long threatened by Athenian ambitions.
<blockquote>Covert criticism of Athens (traditionally located in odes such as ''Pythian'' 8, ''Nemean'' 8 and ''Isthmian'' 7) is now dismissed as highly unlikely, even by scholars who allow some biographical and historical interpretations of the poems.<ref>Charles Segal, 'Choral Lyric in the Fifth Century', in Easterling, pp. 231–232</ref></blockquote>

One of his last odes (''Pythian 8'') indicates that he lived near a shrine to the oracle [[Alcmaeon (mythology)|Alcmaeon]] and that he stored some of his wealth there. In the same ode he says that he had recently received a prophecy from Alcmaeon during a journey to Delphi ("...he met me and proved the skills of prophecy that all his race inherit")<ref>Pindar (1972) p. 142</ref> but he does not reveal what the long-dead prophet said to him nor in what form he appeared.<ref group="nb">There are several other accounts of supernatural visitations relating to Pindar (see for example C.M. Bowra, ''Pindar'', pages 49–51). According to a [[scholium]], he and a pupil, Olympichus, once saw a mysterious flame on a mountain, attended by strange noises. Pindar then beheld [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], the Mother of the Gods, advancing in the form of a wooden image. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (9.25.3) reported that he set up a monument near his home, dedicated conjointly to Pan and the Mother of the Gods ({{lang|grc|Δινδυμήνη}}). According to [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] (''Proem.'' 27, p. 298. 9 Dr) and ''Vit. Ambr.'' (p. 2. 2 Dr.), Pan was once heard between [[Cithaeron]] and [[Mount Helicon|Helicon]] singing a [[paean]] composed to him by Pindar (fr. 85).</ref>  The ode was written to commemorate a victory by an athlete from [[Aegina]].

<blockquote>Pindar doesn't necessarily mean himself when he uses the first person singular. Many of his 'I' statements are generic, indicating somebody engaged in the role of a singer i.e. a 'bardic' I. Other 'I' statements articulate values typical of the audience, and some are spoken on behalf of the subjects celebrated in the poems.<ref>Currie, p. 20</ref> The 'I' that received the prophecy in ''Pythian 8'' therefore might have been the athlete from Aegina, not Pindar. In that case the prophecy must have been about his performance at the Pythian Games, and the property stored at the shrine was just a votive offering.<ref>Gerber, pp. 268–269</ref></blockquote>

Nothing is recorded about Pindar's wife and son except their names, Megacleia and Daiphantus.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brill Academic Publishers |url=https://brill.com/previewpdf/book/edcoll/9789004217614/BP000022.xml |access-date=21 November 2022}}</ref>

About ten days before he died, the goddess [[Persephone]] appeared to him and complained that she was the only divinity to whom he had never composed a hymn. She said he would come to her soon and compose one then.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Pindar lived to about eighty years of age. He died around 438 BC while attending a festival at [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]. His ashes were taken back home to Thebes by his musically gifted daughters, Eumetis and Protomache.