so honourably distinguish the Germans, and which, we say it in sorrow, are so signally deficient in most of the works of our modern English scholars.* as As long as any one acquiesces in the vulgar reason signed for Pindar's fables and histories-namely, that the poe was obliged to have recourse to them for materials of his poems; -as long as he agrees with Cowley in thinking, that the second Olympic, or any other of the Epinician Odes, consists more in digressions than in the main subject,-so long, in our judgment, such a person will remain in utter ignorance of the manner and subject of those extraordinary poems. It is said that the incidents of an individual contest in the games could not afford matter for repeated odes of victory. But it must surely be admitted, that if Pindar had thought it proper for the occasion, such powers as his might at least have succeeded in the description of one chariot race-one boxing match-or one quinquertium. Does any one seriously believe that such a poet as Pindar-so copious, so varied, so picturesque-could not find in the struggle and accompaniment of an Olympic or Pythian contest in that glorious age of Greece, what a scarcely greater poet had found in the Funeral Games of Patroclus ?-what a much inferior poet was afterwards to find in those of Anchises? Have we duly considered, and passed before our mind's eye, the august spectacle of one of these assemblies-the tens of thousands of Greeks of every race, met again at the end of four years, on the sacred plain—from the islands from Asia-from Africa-from Sicily-the sword thrown aside for this and this alone-the twelve altars burning on either side of the course-the grove of Hercules-the tomb of Pelopsthe foaming Alpheus-the fane of Jove-the oath-bound candidates the inviolable judges-the struggle, the agony, the wreath, and the triumph? Could not such a glorification of gymnastic virtue as this have furnished forth imagery and sentiment for one ode, or several odes,—or even a considerable part of all the odes which were demanded of the poet? Whereas, with the partial exception of the V. Pythian, to Arcesilaus, Pindar does not, as far as we remember at this moment, vouchsafe five lines in any one * Dr. Arnold's Thucydides and the Museum Philologicum of Cambridge are the only very recent exceptions that occur to us from this general imputation of sciolism and want of zeal; but, if we may judge from a few sheets which have come into our hands, another work is about to appear which will go far to vindicate the name of English scholarship from the disrepute into which it has lately fallen. We allude to Mr. Mitchell's annotated edition of the Acharnenses of Aristophanes-(the first only, we hope, of a complete series of that poet's comedies)-in which we recognize profound and varied erudition, combined with manly and sagacious views of life and manners, and an English style not easily to be surpassed for clearness, energy, or grace. ode ode to a notice of the incidents of the particular contest in question. He generally mentions the victor in the barest way possible; a line or two-a figure-an epithet-suffices. He just designates the place and the species of game, and says no more about it. If the Epinician Hymn had been generally considered as a poem devoted to an eulogistic description of the winner's own prowess, would Pindar have been so unskilful as not to comply with the expectation of his patrons ;-and if so, would his odes upon such occasions have been so anxiously sought and so universally admired? The truth, we venture to say, is, that the object and intention of the Epinician Hymn have been totally mistaken. We have been angry with a circle for not being square. The candidates for victory in the great games of Greece were persons in whom a whole state was deeply interested; in many instances, where there was great promise of gymnastic excellence, the expenses of the ten months' preparatory training-in the gymnasium at Elis-were borne by the public treasury; and when the victor's name was proclaimed by the heralds, those of his city-his tribe-and his father, were especially remembered. Every Rhodian-perhaps every one of Doric blood-partook in the glory of Diagoras. The Olympic wreath was, according to Cicero, little less honourable than a Roman triumph. The napos, or festive procession homewards, was the inviolable object of generous envy to the tribes among which it passed; and the breach in the wall through which the victor entered his native city, was left for a season unrepaired, as a mark of the common glory of himself and his country. There was a solemn celebration of the happy event in which the whole city joined, and the anniversary was observed in the family, and perhaps tribe of the winner, for generations afterwards. He was entitled to the first place in all spectacles, received costly presents from the magistrates, and was at many places, as in Athens, maintained for life at the public charge. The Epinician Hymn was composed to be chanted upon the most solemn occasions-sometimes at the banquets given by the victor at Olympia itself, at the termination of the games, but more commonly, as we see expressed by Pindar himself, sent by the poet afterwards, and intended to be performed by the practised band of histrionic musicians, who accompanied the xãos to the native city of the victor. The details of the particular contest were unimportant-would have been irrelevant in such a public solemnity. It was the Olympic victory itself the being victor where excellence only could win the palm-that constituted the glory of Hiero and Arcesilaus. Syracuse and Cyrene shared the glory; the victor was their countryman; their names had been proclaimed in the ears of all the Greeks, Greeks, and the chaplet-more precious than gold-was suspended in their temples. The Epinician Hymn was sung in public, at stated periods, for years afterwards; and it was well remembered, that petty circumstances of conflict, though interesting to some at the moment, would certainly become tiresome and meaningless in course of time. Hence the hymn which was destined to immortalize the victor and his country was based upon themes of enduring interest; it assumed a sublime aspect; it lifted its voice to heaven in prayer and praise, and spoke the language of prophecy to the remotest posterity of its audience. It is curious to observe how evidently accident has contributed to the vulgar criticism on Pindar. There can be very little doubt that the sort of circumstantial narrative of the particular contest, the absence of which in the Epinician Hymns is charged as a fault upon the poet, was in fact contained in those lighter compositions, the Hyporchemata, Encomia, and Scolia, which were not designed for public recitation-but were strictly meant for family songs. All Pindar's works of this kind have perished, and the consequence has been, that the modern reader, ignorant of the fine degrees and distinctions of eulogistic celebration amongst the Greeks, takes the Epinician Hymn to be intended for what a poem on a horse-race would now be-looks for false starts, bolting, and neck and neck—and is sorely blanked at finding the praises of Hercules or Pelops instead. There is one fragment of the Hyporchema preserved, which seems to be descriptive of some rough contest:πολλὰ δ ̓ ἕλκε ̓ ἔμβαλε νωμῶν τραχὺ ῥόπαλον· τέλος δ ̓ ἀείραις πρὸς στιβαρὰς σπάραξε πλευράς, αἰὼν δὲ δι ̓ ὀστέων ἐῤῥαίσθη. So much for the general scope of the Epinician Ode. Let us now advert more particularly to Pindar's mode of constructing such an ode, as far as it is discoverable generally from the specimens remaining to us. In the first place, the praise of the victor and his success seems to have been resolved in the poet's mind into an exaltation of the causes or conditions of the success, and these he appears to distinguish as gymnastic or military virtue-avspía-or wealth and prosperity founded on the bounty of the gods-Bos. One or the other of these two-either simple, or compounded with some similar or contrasted quality-will be found, upon minute examination, to constitute the key-note of every ode; and upon this general principle of adoption, that in the odes addressed to wrestlers, pugilists, pancratiasts, and runners in armour, the fundamental position or subject spirit-sententia-is manly energy; whereas, in the odes addressed to the curule victors, who were for the most part men of high station, and did not personally interfere in the race, the theme is the fortune and splendour of the princely state, state, or the felicity consequent on the favour of heaven. It is not usual, however, to find the theme of the ode single, although there are some instances of such treatment in those odes which range under the first class of 'Av♪pía; as IX. Olymp. to Epharmostus the wrestler; II. Nem. to Timodemus, and IV. Isthm. to Phylacidas, both pancratiasts. In these three instances the theme is single, and every image and example has immediate reference to fortitude. But these are exceptions to Pindar's usual plan, which is to associate with the fundamental fortitude or fortune some other good quality, and celebrate both in conjunction; or, otherwise, sometimes to contrast an evil quality, and hold it up for scorn and abhorrence. As, for example, in the former class of odes, in XIII. Olymp. to Xenophon the Corinthian, the fortitude of the fellow-countrymen of the victor, both in military and gymnastic contests, is associated with their talent and elegance. In the III. Nem., the gymnastic fortitude of Aristoclides, as a boy, a youth, and middle-aged man, is associated with the praise of the wisdom to be expected in his latter years. In the VIII. Olymp., piety and justice; in VII. Isthm., justice and a peaceful disposition; in X. Nem., fraternal love; in V. Olymp., labour and a generous expenditure are the qualities compounded with fortitude. In the IX. Pyth. and V. Nem.-both written to boyschastity; and in the XI. Pyth., political moderation, contrasted with tyrannical insolence, are enforced. In other instances the theme rests upon an opposition or balance of qualities: as in VIII. Pyth. and V. Isthm., where gymnastic and military fortitude are distinguished; and as in XI. Olymp. and X. Ólymp., where poetry and war, Calliope and Mars, are contrasted. In VI. Nem., great vigour is contrasted with great weakness, with reference to the family annals of the victor; and in IV. Nem., the wounds received by Timasarchus are compensated by praise and song; in VII. Nem., the odium under which Sogenes laboured is relieved by the muse, who will speak his merits truly; and, in VIII. Nem., virtue is balanced by good and evil fortune. We have said that there are three instances of fortitude being the single theme of an ode; but there is no similar instance of felicity or fortune-Bos-being so taken by itself. Pindar would have thought it irreligious to praise any man upon the score of his fortune alone. Hence all the odes of the second class are founded upon an association of some other matter with the principal topic. The Pindaric Bos is either the mere honour of victory in the games, or that associated with military glory, or with riches, or royal power, or high birth. With this felicity Pindar conjoins wisdom, or piety, or moderation-either, as most commonly, predicating such virtues of the victor-or exalting them by way of gentle gentle admonition. In the III. Isthm. the general modesty of the family of Cleonynus is associated with their good fortune; yet insolence or arrogance-üßps-is also deprecated. In the X. Pyth. the supreme felicity of Phricias, the father of the victor, is sung; but he is admonished that felicity is the gift of the gods, and may be suddenly reversed unless piety attends it. In IX. Nem. Chromius is urged to political moderation, lest the divine anger be roused. In XI. Nem. the poet warns Aristagoras, the chief magistrate of Tenedos, not to affect the tyranny. In I. Olymp. the favour of Neptune to Hiero, by which he had obtained the prize in the horse-race, is magnified; but the poet, taking notice of Hiero's intention of contending for the superior honour of the chariot race, exhorts him to piety, and sets out the punishment of pride, to which Hiero inclined. In the II. Pyth. he celebrates the military and agonistic glory of Hiero, his riches and power; but prays that wisdom may be joined with his fortune, and dissuades him from cruelty and evil desires. The IV. and V. Pyth. to Arcesilaus are founded upon a similar association or contrast. Sometimes, as in III. Olymp. and I. Nem., the honour of the victory is considered as the reward of the victor's virtues; and sometimes as a topic of consolation to him for past misfortunes— as in III. Pyth. to Hiero, who had lost his daughter and was suffering with disease-and especially in that magnificent ode, the second Olympic to Theron. The XII. and XIV. Olympic odes seem exceptions at first; but, upon consideration, it will be seen that the fortune of the victor in each instance is meant to be referred to the divine favour. Unfortunately for us, the collateral information which has been preserved concerning the families and private histories of Pindar's prize-men is very scanty; but those who will attend to what the poet himself records, and to what the scholiasts have picked up, will perceive with what exquisite propriety and skill the composition of the themes of each ode is adapted to the time, the place, and the person. One grand ethic sentence, having a direct connexion with the subject, is the base of every hymn, and the standard to which all its parts are more or less closely referred; nothing is thrown off at random-nothing forced in for lack of something else to say; but all the legends, however multiplied-all the imagery and figures, however marvellous and bold-are touched with a meaning and a life not their own by the presence of a sublime moral dogma. Cœlum, ac terras, camposque liquentes, So |