Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments

Celebrating Ancient Greek Athletic Triumphs and Heritage

Pindar author William H Race editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Harvard University Press

Published:15th May '97

Should be back in stock very soon

Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments cover

This collection features Pindar's celebrated odes, honoring athletes at ancient games, showcasing his poetic brilliance and cultural significance in Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments.

Pindar, the esteemed lyric poet of ancient Greece, flourished around 518–438 BC and is celebrated for his intricate verses that honor the achievements of athletes and powerful rulers. His work is particularly known for its connection to the four great Panhellenic festivals: the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games. In Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments, Pindar masterfully intertwines themes of divine favor, human failure, and heroic legend, all while reflecting the moral ideals of aristocratic Greek society.

Quintilian regarded Pindar as the greatest of the Greek lyric poets, noting the magnificence of his inspiration, while Horace praised him as destined to earn Apollo's laurels. This high regard has contributed to the preservation of much of Pindar's work, allowing modern readers access to nearly a quarter of his poems in complete form. In this new edition and translation by William H. Race, readers can explore the four books of victory odes alongside significant fragments of Pindar's other works, including hymns and dirges.

Pindar's forty-five victory odes are crafted for public performance, celebrating athletic triumphs in a rich poetic language filled with vivid imagery and moral maxims. Race's edition enhances the reading experience with brief introductions and detailed footnotes, guiding readers through the complexities of Pindar's poetry, making Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments an invaluable resource for both scholars and poetry enthusiasts alike.

[A] translation which is modern, accurate, streamlined, and comprehensible… [which preserves], with a surprising degree of success, a sense of Pindar’s artful word order… He may well have produced the best text available… In many respects Race’s edition of the fragments will be even more useful than Snell-Maehler… A landmark contribution. -- Thomas K. Hubbard * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
This excellent Loeb edition of Pindar supersedes the antiquated volume edited by Sandys in 1915. Its most notable feature is clarity: the Greek typeface is a pleasure to read; the translations are crisp and accurate… plentiful notes both explain Pindar’s recherché allusions and bring out how more than one interpretation of the text is often possible… This edition will be of lasting value. -- Stephen Instone * Classical Review *
Race succeeds admirably in furnishing the text and translation with a concise and helpful introduction, thereby elucidating the social and literary background of the poems that follow. Each poem is also accompanied by a succinct introduction and summary. The accompanying index and genealogies are invaluable study aids for students of myth from the primary sources. Most importantly, Race has achieved his aim of creating a readable translation which follows the familiar Loeb format—a feat of considerable ingenuity in the case of Pindar… Race devotes a significant portion of his introduction to a crisp and detailed analysis of the epinikian genre. Technical issues in Pindar’s composition of the Odes are equally effectively dealt with… Undergraduates tackling the complexities of this author for the first time will clearly find this volume essential. The more mature devotee will also benefit, thanks to the user-friendly scholarship of these volumes, from a day or two at the races with Race. -- John Weeds * Joint Association of Classical Teachers Review *

ISBN: 9780674995345

Dimensions: 162mm x 108mm x 25mm

Weight: 295g

480 pages