Editing Pindar (section)

===Values and beliefs===
Pindar's values and beliefs have been inferred from his poetry. No other ancient Greek poet has left so many comments about the nature of his art. He justified and exalted [[choral poetry]] at a time when society was turning away from it. It "... had for two centuries reflected and shaped the sentiments, the outlook, and the convictions of the Greek aristocracies ... and Pindar spoke up for it with passionate assurance".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=2}} His poetry is a meeting ground for gods, heroes and men{{spaced ndash}}even the dead are spoken of as participants: "Deep in the earth their heart listens".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=38}}

His view of the gods is traditional but more self-consistent than [[Homer]]'s and more reverent. He never depicts gods in a demeaning role. He seems indifferent to the intellectual reforms that were shaping the theology of the times. Thus an eclipse is not a mere physical effect, as contemplated by early thinkers such as [[Thales]], [[Anaximander]] and [[Heraclitus]], nor was it even a subject for bold wonder, as it was for an earlier poet, [[Archilochus]];<ref>Archilochus fr. 122 West</ref> instead Pindar treated an eclipse as a portent of evil.<ref group="nb">''Paean'' 9.13–20). The eclipse is mentioned in a fragment quoted by [[Stobaeus]], addressed to the Thebans:<br />Is it some sign of war you bring? / Or blight on crops, or snow-fall's strength / Beyond all telling, or murderous strife at home, / Or emptying of the sea on land, / Or frost binding the earth, or south-wind in summer / With a flood of furious rain, / Or will you drown the land and raise / A new breed of men from the beginning?</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=83}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=84}}

Gods are the embodiment of power, uncompromisingly proud of their nature and violent in defense of their privileges.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=42}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=43}} There is some rationalization of religious belief, but it is within a tradition at least as old as [[Hesiod]], where abstractions are personified, such as "Truth the daughter of Zeus".<ref>''Olympic Ode'' 10.3–4</ref> Sometimes the wording suggests a belief in 'God' rather than 'a god' (e.g. "What is God? Everything"),<ref group="nb">fr. 129: {{lang|grc|τί θεός; τὸ πάν}}</ref> but the implications are not given full expression and the poems are not examples of [[monotheism]].{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} Nor do they vocalize a belief in Fate as the background to the gods, unlike the plays of [[Aeschylus]] for example. Pindar subjects both fortune and fate to divine will (e.g. "child of Zeus ... Fortune").<ref>''Olympic Ode'' 12.1–2)</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=84}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=85}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=86}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=87}}
[[File:Heracles.jpg|thumb|right|A short Heracles: Pindar once ignored the traditional image of Heracles, the supreme example of the heroic physique, and described him as short in order to compare him with a short patron.]]
He selects and revises traditional myths so as not to diminish the dignity and majesty of the gods. Such revisionism was not unique. [[Xenophanes]] had castigated [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]] for the misdeeds they ascribed to gods, such as theft, adultery and deception, and [[Pythagoras]] had envisioned those two poets being punished in Hades for blasphemy. A subtle example of Pindar's approach can be found in his treatment of the myth of Apollo's rape of the nymph [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]].<ref>''Pythian Ode'' 9</ref> As the god of the [[Delphic oracle]], Apollo is all-knowing, yet in keeping with his anthropomorphic nature he seeks information about the nymph from a third party, in this case the centaur [[Chiron]]. Chiron however affirms the god's omniscience with an elegant compliment, as if Apollo had only pretended to be ignorant: "You, Sire, who know the appointed end of all, and all paths..."<ref group="nb">Chiron's compliment to Apollo:<br />"You, Sire, who know / The appointed end of all, and all paths: / How many leaves in April the earth puts forth, / How many grains of sand / In the sea and rivers / Are troubled by the waves and the swirling winds, / And what shall be, and whence it shall come / You see with clear eyes."</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=61}} Apollo's abduction of the nymph is not presented as a shameful act. Pindar's gods are above such ethical issues and it is not for men to judge them by ordinary human standards. Indeed, the finest breeds of men resulted from divine passions: "For Pindar a mortal woman who is loved by a god is an outstanding lesson in divine favours handsomely bestowed".{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=64}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=65}}

Being descendants of divine unions with privileged mortals, mythical heroes are an intermediate group between gods and men, and they are sympathetic to human ambitions. Thus, for example, Pindar not only invokes Zeus for help on behalf of the island of Aegina but also its national heroes [[Aeacus]], [[Peleus]] and [[Telamon]].<ref>''Pythian Ode'' 8.99–100</ref> Unlike the gods, however, heroes can be judged according to ordinary human standards and they are sometimes shown in the poems to demean themselves. Even in that case, they receive special consideration. Thus Pindar refers obliquely to the murder of [[Phocus]] by his brothers Peleus and Telamon ("I am shy of speaking of a huge risk, hazarded not in right"), telling the audience that he will not talk of it ("silence is a man's wisest counsel").<ref group="nb">''Nemean Odes'' 5.14–18:<br />I am shy of speaking of a huge risk / Hazarded not in right, / How they left the famous island, / And what fate drove strong men from the Vineland. / I shall halt. Truth does not always / Gain more if unflinching / She reveals her face; / And silence is often a man's wisest counsel.</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=67}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=68}} The Theban hero [[Heracles]] was a favourite subject but in one poem he is depicted as small in order to be compared with a small Theban patron who had won the [[pankration]] at the Isthmian Games:<ref>''Isthmian Odes'' 4.57</ref> a unique example of Pindar's readiness to shape traditional myths to fit the occasion, even if not always flattering to the mythical hero. A hero's status is not diminished by an occasional blemish but rests on a summary view of his heroic exploits.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=47}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=48}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=71}}

Some of his patrons claimed divine descent, such as [[Diagoras of Rhodes]], but Pindar makes all men akin to gods if they realize their full potential: their innate gifts are divinely bestowed, and even then success still depends on the gods' active favour. In honouring such men, therefore, Pindar was honouring the gods too.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=66}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=67}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=96}} His statements about life after death were not self-consistent but that was typical for the times. Traditional ambivalence, as expressed by Homer, had been complicated by a growth of religious sects, such as the [[Eleusinian mysteries]] and [[Pythagoreanism]], representing various schemes of rewards and punishments in the next life. However, for the poet, glory and lasting fame were men's greatest assurance of a life well-lived.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=89-96}} He presents no theory of history apart from the view that Fortune is variable even for the best men, an outlook suited to moderation in success, courage in adversity. Notions of 'good' and 'bad' in human nature were not analysed by him in any depth nor did he arrive at anything like the [[Simonides of Ceos#Ethics|compassionate ethics]] of his near contemporary, Simonides of Ceos.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=76}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=77}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=120}} His poems are indifferent to the ordinary mass of people. They are dismissed with phrases such as "the brute multitude" (''Pythian Ode'' 2.87). Nor are the poems concerned with the fate of rich and powerful men once they lose their wealth and social status (compared for example with the bitter and disillusioned poems of [[Theognis of Megara]]). They are more interested in what successful men do with their good fortune: success brings obligations, and religious and artistic activities need patrons.{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=100}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=101}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=102}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=103}}

Whereas the [[Muses]] inspired Homer with relevant information and with the language to express it, Pindar seems to receive only their inspiration: his role is to shape that inspiration with his own wisdom and skill. Like his patrons, whom he immortalizes in verse, he owes his success to hard work as well as to innate gifts; though he hires himself out, he has a vocation. The Muses are to him as an oracle is to a prophet, and lesser poets are to him as ravens are to an eagle; the art of such men is as hackneyed as garland-making; his is magical:{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=4}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=5}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=6}}{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=7}}
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{{lang|grc|εἴρειν στεφάνους ἐλαφρόν: ἀναβάλεο: Μοῖσά τοι <br />
κολλᾷ χρυσὸν ἔν τε λευκὸν ἐλέφανθ᾽ ἁμᾷ <br />
καὶ λείριον ἄνθεμον ποντίας ὑφελοῖσ᾽ ἐέρσας.}}
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To plait garlands is easy. Strike up! The Muse<br />
Welds together gold and white ivory<br />
And the lily-flower snatched from the sea's dew.<ref>''Nemean Ode'' 7.77–79</ref>{{sfn|Bowra|1964|p=16}}
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