Department of the Classics, Harvard University

Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian

Author(s): Susan C. Shelmerdine
Source: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 91 (1987), pp. 65-81
Published by: Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/311399
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 PINDARIC PRAISE AND THE THIRD OLYMPIAN

SUSAN C. SHELMERDINE

TO celebrate Theron's Olympic victory in the four-horse chariot

race of 476 B.C., Pindar composed two separate odes, Olympians 2
and 3. The Second Olympian has traditionally received more attention
with its detailed view of the afterlife and its more private tone. But the
Third Olympian offers critics a number of interesting problems in its
own right: on what specific occasion, for example, was the ode per-
formed; why does Pindar dedicate this ode to the Tyndaridai and
Helen; what is "new" about his composition (4); why does he intro-
duce the Hyperboreans into the myth of Herakles and the hind; why is

Artemis called icttooG6a (26), or 'Opmowxa (30); and why do the Tyn-
daridai appear as Olympic judges? An ancient scholiast provided one
answer to the first question, identifying 0. 3 as a hymn for the Theo-
xenia at Akragas where the Tyndaridai were thought to be present.
This designation, followed by the ode's introductory inscription in the
manuscripts (Ei; OEoivtla), remained virtually unchallenged until 1961
when H. Frainkel argued it had sprung from a misreading of line 34

(talwtav ioprtv-taken as referring to the victory feast) and that the

Tyndaridai were honored only as patrons of athletic contests.' A major-
ity of Pindaric scholars since 1961 have nonetheless continued to favor
the earlier interpretation,2 which has subsequently begun to influence

1 H. Frainkel, "Schrullen in den Scholien zu Pindars Nemeen 7 und Olympien 3,"

Hermes 89 (1961) 385-397. C. G. Heyne (Pindari carmina et fragmenta 1 [Oxford
1807] 36-37) was the first to make this suggestion, but subsequent scholars did not sub-
scribe to the theory, e.g., B. L. Gildersleeve, Pindar: The Olympian and Pythian Odes
(New York 1885) 160, who concludes firmly that O. 3 "is not an epinikian ode; it is a
theoxenian, ... a solemn banquet-hymn"; U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Pindaros
(Berlin 1922) 237; L. R. Farnell, The Works of Pindar 2 (London 1932) 29.
2 E.g., C. M. Bowra, Pindar (Oxford 1964) 118, who, however, finds a middle

ground, seeing the ode as "the Epinician proper, sung at ... a Oeo vtic"; C. Segal,
"Pindar's First and Third Olympian Odes," HSCP 68 (1964) 244-245; G. S. Conway,
The Odes of Pindar (London 1972) 17; R. A. Swanson, Pindar's Odes (Indianapolis
1974) 262; C. O. Pavese, "Le Olimpiche di Pindaro," QUCC 20 (1975) 84; G. M. Kirk-

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 66 Susan C. Shelmerdine

current thinking about the epinikian ge

holds, "It is interesting, for Pindar's ow
genre, that these atypical poems, which
are 'epinicianized,' by a mention of the
tory) at some point: 0. 3.3-4, P. 4.66-67."
The purpose of this article is twofold: t
dence is not inconsistent with seeing 0.
and to suggest that reading it as a theox
misunderstanding both of the ode and of
issue here is the problem of distinguish
Greek poetry. We have too little evidenc
"theoxenian form" with which to com
Indeed it seems clear that the epinikian
ments common in other genres.5 It seem
suppose that the special purpose of each g
a hymn for a theoxenia would have had a
ing of the deities thought to be present at
tory celebration, as Bundy has shown, t
task here is to show that no feature of 0.
taking the song as a theoxenian hymn, an
features which are less well explained by

wood, Selections from Pindar: An Introduction an

E. Robbins, "Intimations of Immortality," in Gre
Honor of Leonard Woodbury (Chico 1984) 219-
A. Jaufmann, "Interpretation einer Pindarode
Bismarck-Gymnasiums Karlsruhe (1977-78) 39; L
1981) 67; A. Kdhnken, "Mythical Chronology a
Third Olympian," HSCP 87 (1983) 59, n. 44.
3 Kirkwood (above, n. 2) 15. He goes on to state, "
ferred not to draw a firm distinction between epini
4 Extant examples of theoxenian hymns include
On the theoxenia in general, cf. F. Deneken, De
Nilsson, Griechische Feste von religiaser Bedeutun
160-162.

5 Kirkwood (above, n. 2) 5 remarks, "Pindar himself does not hesitate to call his epin-
icians hymnoi, thus narrowing the distinction between songs in honor of men and songs in
honor of gods." Other recent discussions of Pindar and the similarities among different
genres include K. Crotty, Song and Action (Baltimore 1982) 83 (on Pindar's use of sym-
posiastic and erotic elements); G. Most, The Measures of Praise (G6ttingen 1985
[Hypomnemata 83]) 52-53, 58 (on the hymnic elements in I. 1), 127-130, 218 ff. (on P.
2) and passim. On the classification of genres, cf. H. Fiirber, Die Lyrik in der Kunst-
theorie der Antike (Munich 1936); A. E. Harvey, "The Classification of Greek Lyric Poe-
try," CQ 49 (1955) 157-175.

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 67

explanation for all the various features of the ode is that the song was
composed primarily to celebrate Theron's victory. The Third Olym-
pian may indeed have been performed at the theoxenia, but there is no
evidence to prove this point and no need to assume such an occasion in
order to understand the ode.6 Moreover, no matter what the occasion of
its performance, the ode is constructed as an epinikian and should be
read as such, not as some novel hybrid form which sets it apart from
Pindar's other epinikians.
Pindar opens the ode with a wish to please the Tyndaridai and their
sister Helen, by honoring Akragas through a song celebrating the
Olympic victory of its ruler, Theron (1-3):

Tuv8apiGat; ?tE (0tpo E vot ; a&EIv

KcaXXlktXoKicL 8' EXva
Kxltv&v 'AKpdcyavra yEpaIpWv EiXolaIt,
OerpWvo; 'OXhy7ct oviKCav
iLvov 6p06ouat, ...
The wish would make no sense were there not some connection
between these deities and the city. That the brothers were regular
worshiped at a theoxenia at Akragas is clear from 39-41,7 but Hele
presence is more problematic.8 Most scholars take for granted Hele
association with her brothers at the theoxenia, citing as evidence Eu
pides' Helen 1666-1669:

otav 6F KIca'i R KaX Ec E txi-lOT 13iov,

0EO0 KEKXT1 1r1 { Ka Atooc p tov Rtxa

oRtov6&8v LE0FEt;} 6FvtdI t' &v0pdCowV RcdRpa
i&Et gtEO' iCOt)V.9

6 Its themes of hospitality and piety are only literary and should not be taken for evi-
dence that the ode was intended for a theoxenia. For the connection of piety and hospital-
ity elsewhere in Pindar, cf., e.g., 0. 8, N. 11.
7 Quoted below. Nilsson (above, n. 4) 419 thought the feast was part of a private,
family cult, not a public celebration, but the reference to the city itself in the second line,
I believe, indicates otherwise.
8 This is particularly true, as Robbins (above, n. 2) 220 has recently pointed out, if the
Tyndaridai are called on simply as gods associated with athletics. Robbins is the first, so
far as I know, to deal specifically with Friinkel's arguments and to raise this important
point.
9 There may be an allusion here to their association in cult at Sparta, also attested by
old Laconian votive reliefs. Cf. R. Kannicht, Euripides: Helena (Heidelberg 1969)
2.432-433; C. Calame, Les choeurs de jeunes filles en Grece archai'que (Rome 1977)
1.347, n. 341, for discussion of this association and references. Both authors take 0. 3 as

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 68 Susan C. Shelmerdine

This passage, however, proves nothing ab

B.C. Moreover, the absence of any menti
the Tyndaridai are specifically recalled,
rather that she was not a regular participa
not honored at the theoxenia, why does
evidence suggests she may have been wor
cult, brought to the new city by its foun
580 B.C. by settlers from the Rhodian col
colonists from Rhodes itself.10 Imported
dian influences on the local art of Akrag
with that island, and there is evidence of
the two as well.1" Given these connection
the colonists carried with them to Akrag
which we know existed on Rhodes.12 Lit
origin of which Pausanias (3.19.10) explai
was called &Ev6pit' on Rhodes because wh
the handmaidens of Polyxo captured her
from a tree.13 Where the cult originated
in similar tree cults is also attested at Spa
origin as a local fertility goddess seems li

further proof of Helen's participation with her bro

generally see also F. Chapouthier, Les Dioscures
esp. 127-151.
10 Polybius (9.27.7) calls Akragas a Rhodian colony, and Timaeus (FGH 566 F 92 = I
Pi. O. 2.15a) believes the Emmenid family came directly to Akragas from Rhodes; cf. P.
fr. 119. T. J. Dunbabin, The Western Greeks (Oxford 1968) 310, further suggests that one
oecist was Rhodian and the other Geloan.

'1 Polybius (9.27.7) reports the Rhodian cults of Zeus Atabyrius and Athena (Lindia)
were transported to Akragas. See Dunbabin (previous note) on Rhodian influence; cf.
also M. Guido, Sicily: An Archaeological Guide (London 1967); J. Boardman, The
Greeks Overseas (London 1980).
12 Cf. Pausanias 3.19.10. Cf. also Pliny NH 33.81; Polyaen. 1.13. In an effort to iden-
tify a temple to Helen and the Dioscuri at Akragas, Ch. Picard suggested the existence of
such a cult, "La triade des Dioscures et d'Hl~ene en Italie," REL 17 (1939) 367-390; cf.
also his discussion of 0. 3 and this cult in "Le temenos des Tyndarides ' Agrigente," AR
9 (1937) 247-248. His identification has since been rejected, but the existence of the
Dendritis cult remains possible; cf. J. A. de Waele, Acragas Graeca ('s-Gravenhage
1971) 203-204.
13 The myths of Ariadne (Paus. 1.22.2) and Phaidra (Paus. 2.32.3) contain similar
stories of hanging, on which generally see, e.g., M. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen
Religion3 (Munich 1967) 1.314-315, 487.
14 Pausanias 3.15.3; Theocritus 18.43-48 (on which see also G. Kaibel, "Theokrits
EAENHI ETIIEAAAMION," Hermes 27 [1892] 249-259); cf. S. Wide, Lakonische Culte
(Leipzig 1893) 340-346, with further references; W. Mannhardt, Antike Wald- und Feld-

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 69

been carried to Rhodes from Sparta, whence Theron's own ancestors,

descendants of Thersandros, were also said to have moved when they
traveled (via Thera) to Rhodes.15 While evidence is lacking to prove
Helen was worshiped in a separate cult of her own at Akragas, Pindar's
express wish to please her (as well as the Tyndaridai) speaks for her
importance in the city.
How, then, does Pindar please Helen in this ode?16 The answer may
come from the poet's choice of mythic material which is singularly
appropriate to Helen in her aspect as a fertility figure. Pindar chooses
for this ode a myth about the acquisition of trees for the previously bare

valley at Olympia (23 &X,' o Kaxicak &&vpE' 0aX4ev XO)po; v

pacoatg Kpoviou lhkotog), and he combines with it a brief mention
of the hind Herakles sought from Artemis on one of his labors.
Taygeta, he says, dedicated this animal to 'Optooxa (30) who had
come to her aid as the young woman fled the advances of an amorous
Zeus. The epithet has been interpreted variously since antiquity, but it
seems equivalent to 'Op0(E)ia, a goddess worshiped at Sparta and else-
where in Greece, who came to be associated with Artemis at least by
the fifth century B.C.17 The theme of rape is, of course, common in

kulte (Berlin 1905) 2.22; L. Preller and C. Robert, Griechische Mythologie (Berlin /
Ziurich/Dublin 1920, 1966) 2.336-344; RE 7.2824-2825 [Pfuhl]. More recently see also
L. Clader, Helen: The Evolution from Divine to Heroic in Greek Epic Tradition (Leiden
1976 [Mnemosyne Suppl. 42]) esp. 69-71, who discusses the etymology of her name

from rEvrn = "reed, shoot"; M. L. West, Immortal Helen (London 1975). Wide thought
the mention of Kastor seated in an oak tree (Paus. 4.16.5) was evidence of the Dioscuri's
connection with a tree cult; cf. also P. N. 10.115. and Cypria fr. 11 (= I on N. 10.114).
For Helen's origin as a local fertility goddess, cf. especially J. T. Hooker, The Ancient
Spartans (London 1980), quoted in part below.
15 Pavese (above, n. 2) 84, on the transportation of the Tyndaridai themselves, states
simply, "I Dioskouroi andarano con gli Emmenidai da Argo a Rodi e di 1l in Sicilia."
16 The nature of Pindaric invocations and their relation to the rest of the ode is by no
means clear. However, since he does return to praise the Tyndaridai whom he mentioned
at the outset, it is worth asking if and how Pindar honors Helen. On the invocation in
general cf. R. Hamilton, Epinikion. General Form in the Odes of Pindar (The Hague and
Paris 1974); C. Greengard, The Structure of Pindar's Epinician Odes (Amsterdam 1980)
82-83 and passim.
17 Our earliest inscriptional evidence for their association comes from Mt. Hymettos
(SEG 10.362) and dates to 420 B.C.; Wide (above, n. 14) 113 collects references from vari-
ous other sites in Greece. For a detailed discussion of Orthia's separate origin and the
variations of her name, see now J. B. Carter, "The Masks of Ortheia," AJA 91 (1987)
355-384, who notes that the association of Orthia and Artemis at Sparta does not occur
until the Flavian period. I am grateful to the author for giving me access to her
manuscript in advance of its publication.
For ancient views on the meaning of 'Op0ooax, cf. O0. 3.54 a-d (Drachmann);

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 70 Susan C. Shelmerdine

Greek mythology, but Helen's abduction (b

a festival of Artemis Orthia in Sparta spea
between the two goddesses.18 Indeed, as
ancient religion at Sparta has it, each evolve

At some date impossible to determine, bu

the end of the Bronze Age, the Spartans recognized and
worshipped a goddess of luxuriant growth, whose cult had at its
center a tree. After the advent of the Olympian deities, .... the cult
of this goddess continued along two different channels. One led to
her identification with Artemis, the Greek divinity of fertile nature,
whence the worship at the shrine of Artemis Orthia..... But the
other, much less predictably, resulted in the conflation with Helen,
half-mortal and half-goddess.... 19

Since it seems clear this figure was Orthia, Pindar's use of the epithet
'Opoaoia for Artemis is particularly interesting, as it ties together all
three figures and alludes to Helen's origin in a divine figure herself
connected with trees.20 Nor in this context should Artemis' epithet

irrtnooa (26) be troublesome, although critics have nonetheless found

it so: Farnell, for example, concludes, "It is hard to explain why Pindar
chooses this epithet ... [Artemis'] association with horses is very
slight," and Kohnken reasons that "the only justification for Artemis

modem discussions include, e.g., H. J. Rose, "The Cult of Artemis Orthia," in The Sanc-
tuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta, R. M. Dawkins, ed. (London 1929 [JHS Suppl. 5]);
J. A. Davison, "Alcman's Partheneion," Hermes 73 (1938) 457-458 = From Archilochus
to Pindar (London 1968) 146-172, with an excursus on the forms of the name. He finds
that the oldest inscriptions from the site (sixth c. B.C.) show FopOaCotca and FopOata, of
which the former may be the original form. Cf. also H. Jucker and E. Risch, "Orthia oder
Ortheia? Zum Namen der Gottin Orthia," HASB 5 (1979) 27.
18 Plut. Theseus 31.2; Hyg. Fab. 79; cf. Alcm. 21; Hdt. 9.73; Cypriafr. 10, which men-
tions the rape by Theseus but does not specify any locality. The story also appears on the
chest of Kypselos (Paus. 5.19.3); note also that Pausanias' description of the Amyclaean
throne (ca. 550 B.C.) includes both the abduction of Taygeta and her sister by Zeus and
Poseidon (3.18.10) and that of Helen by Theseus (3.18.15). On both, cf. C. Calame
(above, n. 9)1.281-285.
19 Hooker (above, n. 14) 58. On the connection between Helen and Artemis, cf., e.g.,
Clader (above, n. 14) 69, 74-75, who gives further references. For horses in the worship
of both figures, see n. 22 below.
20 Carter (above, n. 17) argues convincingly that Orthia was originally the Phoenician
goddess, Asherah-Tanit, worshiped in a tree cult. The Septuagint translation for asherah,
as she notes, was akaoo; or &v6pa.

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 71

(who is traditional in the story of the hind) in 0. 3 to be called introo6a

(an epithet which is alien to the story of the hind) seems to be the ode's
commemorating a victory in the horse races. Thus the epithet is func-
tional only in the context of the poem."21 In fact, horses were the most
common votive offerings at Artemis' Spartan sanctuary, as they were
in Helen's cult at Therapne.22 Given the strong affinity between Helen
and Artemis and the apparent similarities and proximity of their wor-
ship around Sparta, Pindar's use of this myth does not appear simply
fortuitous. It is more likely that the poet hopes to please Helen by
alluding, both in the myth of the trees and of Artemis (Orthosia) and
the hind, to aspects of her worship which were alive or remembered in
a cult at Akragas.
Having invoked the proper deities, Pindar stresses the novelty of his
composition with three new compounds in five lines (4-9):

... Moioa 8' o{0tio not tape-

aoa got veoa(yaXov Eip6vrt tp6inov
Aopifp q iovav vapg6oxat ntEiX
&yXa6Koalov" ~-rei tXaaatot gliv
eoXOv'te; nt o(:pavot
apdaooovti ge totro Oe668paov xpko;,
(6popLtyyd e notmtX6yapuv

cal po&v aX<v -0 v nov te B0otv

AivrlotSapo- nat oueat& fgat ...23
The wish to see 0. 3 as a hymn for the theoxenia has led some to iden-
tify this novelty as the combination of two distinct modes, praise of god

21 Farnell (above, n. 1) 28; Kohnken (above, n. 2) 63.

22 E.g., the limestone horse dedicated by Epanidas "to the virgin Wortheia" or another
inscribed "Thiokormidas dedicated [it] to Wo[r]theia," Hooker (above, n. 14) 52 f., 94;
cf. Rose (above, n. 17). For the terracotta figures of a female on horseback at the
Menelaion (Therapne), cf. M. S. Thompson, BSA 15 (1908-09) 124; Clader (above,
n. 14) 69; L. F. Fitzhardinge, The Spartans (London 1980) 48, and pl. 38 (ca. 525-500
B.C.).

23 There are eleven such compounds in the first 38 lines: 4 veooayaxko, 6 &yXa6icco-
gLo;, 8 notmhX6yapup, 12 'EXXavo8icKaq, 13 yXaucxXpc6pq, 19 XpuodapLacro;, 27 nroXki-
yvaxnrto;, 29 xpuo6'ocpoq, 33 8oeyvaC`vpnto;, 37 5jtglpaplaro;, 38 8t(pprlXaaa.
The presence of the Muse is important as well, but may have a dual purpose: see the dis-
cussion of P. 10.37-40 below.

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72 Susan C. Shelmerdine

(theoxenian) and praise of man (epinikian

here need be nothing more than the oft-me
every new composition.25 And even if
conventional in these songs, the explanatio
draws a distinction which, I believe, Pind
separating praise of men from praise
owed his success to the gods (a fact Pind
any celebration of the victory must hono
lete. So the poet often claims to honor a p
ans.26 In 0. 3, however, praise of the god
the conventional way of acknowledging d
his continuing reverence for the gods be
Theron's success. So the notion of mutua
and men, in the form of hospitality and pi

24 E.g., F. Mezger, Pindars Siegeslieder (Leipz

n. 1); Greengard (above, n. 16) 7. Other attempts t
include C. A. M. Fennell, Pindar: The Olympian a
39, "probably the combination of lyre and flute and
n. 1) 25, "the originality of the poem or the novelty
Came-Ross, Pindar (New Haven 1985) 51, "some n
the combination of flute and lyre is surely not n
10.93-94; N. 9.8; 1. 5.26-28, and the dactylo-epitr
desire to highlight the originality of this public song
sition of two odes for the same victory.
25 E.g., Alkmanfr. 14:

M 6a ' ,yE Msoa Xiya irO votiLE ;

aitv &ot&E gtkoq
VEOXgLoV PXE irapoavot; ad~tiV.

Cf. also O. 9.48-49; N. 8.20-21; 1. 5.63. See A. Mi

Argument of Nemean 8.19-34," GRBS 23 (1982) 11
reference, in that context, to the poetic subject. He
O. 3 refers to "musical innovation" (n. 8). Crotty (
this emphasis on the newness of the song may be a
well as other lyric).
26 E.g., the openings of O. 1 and 2 claim to "cele
prays "O son of Kronos, accept this song ..."; N.
song .. ."; in 1. 1.18 ff. Pindar says he will "implic
and Iolaus"; and in P. 2, the ode is called a "ica
praise for the gods was common is well illustr
Simonides, who was refused full payment for an ep
devoted so much of his song to praise of the Dioscu
(11.2.11-13), notes that four different odes were iden
can assume with confidence that such praise was con

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 73

The theme of kindly reception on the part of the gods is apparent in

the very first line as Pindar calls the Tyndaridai "lovers of strangers"
(qiptX6Etvot), and the announcement of his desire to please those gods
and their sister begins the theme of man's piety. By placing the Tyn-
daridai first in the poem, Pindar in effect makes these gods the reci-
pients of his song, and by including the epithet pitX6dEtvot he both
links them with Theron in an allusion to the theoxenia at Akragas and
hints at the generous payment he expects from his host, who is, by
implication, also a "lover of strangers."'27 This theme of hospitality,
and of the graciousness of the gods in particular, continues in the rest
of the opening strophe and antistrophe as Pindar notes the divine
inspiration of his work (4 Moi'oa 8' oSto itot napocra Lgot), calling his
song a "divinely wrought debt" (7 O6Fxgtcxov Xpio;), and "imparted
by the gods" (10 Oe6o'opot).
The mythic section which fills the central triad continues the twofold
theme of giving and receiving, combining in the process three other-
wise distinct stories: the obtaining of the trees, Herakles' labor of the
hind, and the story of Taygeta.28 Pindar stresses that Herakles received
the olive trees as a gift from the Hyperboreans (persuading them by
reason and asking with a loyal heart), and notes the hospitable nature of
the grove in which they will be placed (16-18):

8&agov 'YrepFPopPeov nreioata 'At6hX-

Xovo ; Epdxnovrta "6ya

ntoraX ppoviov Atq; ai'trt nav66ixo
Xae3t acxmap6v te ?O-tvZia

vvbyv &vopdltoti ...

This Herakles presents quite a different picture from that of the club-
wielding brute we are accustomed to elsewhere; he does not use force,
but asks for the gift on behalf of his father and those who would enjoy
the grove.29 In the rest of the myth as well he appears both as a

27 That Theron himself had a reputation for being cpth6tevo; is suggested also at O.

2.6 where the poet calls him irtt m cKaov Swvov. It should also be stressed, however, that
the "payment" Pindar alludes to need not only have been a monetary award for the
present occasion but probably refers also to the future commissions he hopes to win.
28 Pindar does not present the myths in chronological order, but for the purpose of this
analysis I shall continue to deal with the text as it proceeds.
29 This is noted also by Segal (above, n. 2), who sees 0. 3 as a kind of fertility ode.
While I do not believe this is the primary function of the ode, there is much in his
interpretation which is of interest. On the various aspects of Herakles in Pindar, cf. G. B.

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 74 Susan C. Shelmerdine

recipient and as a giver. He consecrates a

itatpi paiv poi v " yto0Ivtowv) and set
games" (21 &do~iv &yv&v Kpic(tv) by
Alpheios" (22 aOioti tnii Kp1tivo;' 'AX
blished these rites of worship, he decides
able by shielding the grove from the ha
point he remembers the olive trees he ha
when Leto's daughter received him (27
sacred doe by constraint from his fathe
again Pindar presents the mission as a dut
owing to the kindly reception of a divinity
kles does, in both myths, is connected wit
the gods. Moreover, he is rewarded for h
gift of the olive trees, just as Theron (so
for his piety with the olive wreath which
tor. Furthermore, Herakles will use the gi
worship of the gods (Zeus) by making the
the poet implies, will Theron use his gif
celebration and Pindar's own song) to add
daridai.
The short myth within the myth (29-30
honoring Helen, also recapitulates this th
by divine grace and divine grace repai
prayers to 'Op0ooia( are answered when t
doe to escape Zeus' attempted rape. Re
Taygeta thanks the goddess by dedicat

Philipp, "Herakles und die friihgriechische Dichtu

W. Mullen, "The Herakles Theme in Pindar," in He
1000 Years of Classical Art (New Rochelle 1986) 2
30 There has been much debate on the question of h
Hyperboreans and in what sequence. See especially
ences in notes 4-13, and E. Robbins, Phoenix 36 (1982) 295-305, with references in
notes 2-3.

31 G. Devereux, "The Exploitation of Ambiguity in Pindaros 0. 3.27," RhM 109

(1966) 289-298, argues that the verb here has a hostile sense--"receive as an enemy"-
underlying the usual sense of friendly reception. Several points argue against this:
(1) Pindar nowhere else uses 8iXooCat in this way, (2) the theme of kindly reception is, as
I believe, precisely the point of the ode, (3) earlier versions of the myth (seen in vase
painting and statuary) showing hostile encounters generally picture Herakles with Apollo,
not Artemis. Versions preserved in later authors do not help us understand Pindar's
myth, since it is likely that several traditions existed. See Robbins (above, n. 30)
301-302, who also disagrees with Devereux.

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 75

golden horns. The location of this episode in the land of the Hyper-
boreans, who are nowhere else associated with the labor of Herakles
and the hind, has, however, troubled many students of the ode.32 This
particularly the case because it also implies the origin of the olive t
in the cold land beyond the north wind.33 Why, then, does Pindar int
duce the Hyperboreans into the myth of the trees (and the hind)?
The answer, I believe, lies again in the theme of hospitality an
piety. The Hyperboreans are traditionally known for their exceptio
closeness to the gods.34 In P. 10.37-40, for example, Pindar tells us:

Moitoa 8' o 6Ca &'xoS8a&i

np6totq EnrtpEiaetpoto t avt 6~ xopoi irapO~vov
Xvp&v tE Poaol wavaxal I' alOX'v 8ovovovat
&86 vi epv te3p~aeq K a'6a &'va6rjoav-
'e; eixnttvdirototv eicpp6vo;.

The description here bears a striking resemblance to that at the begin

ning of 0. 3 where Pindar also stresses the presence of the Muse

Mo~aoa 8' o{ rto not rtap~ora got), the combination of flute and lyre
(6pPLyya t e RotlKX6yapuv iai 3o xv ailj'ov), and wreaths in the hair
of the celebrants (6 xaitatat jxtv eCxovkve;S et oawpavot). It is
accident that the veooayaXot; Tp6tno; of 0. 3 is so much like the Tp6cr
oaGtepot of the Hyperboreans. For these people mutual give and tak
with the divine is commonplace, every meal is a festival, a meal share

32 Robbins (above, n. 30) 300-301 discusses the possible existence of a parallel trad
tion in which Herakles travels to the end of the earth (the Hesperides) for the animal.
likewise suspects (299-300) that the connection between the olive and the Hyperbore
is not a Pindaric invention but was used "because it was already to hand."
33 Farnell (above, n. 1) 26 says this "was thoughtless of Pindar"; Segal (above, n.
232 concludes, "In bringing back the olive trees from the North, Herakles is thus brin
ing a gentle fruitfulness to men, overcoming the risk of cold and frozen barrenne
Kohnken (above, n. 2) 56-58, on the other hand, believes the Hyperboreans are int
duced for two reasons: (1) because Herakles sought shade against the sun at Olympia, an
"'shade' and 'coolness' belong together," therefore the land of the Hyperboreans, be
in the far north, was well suited, and (2) "The victor by means of the olive wreath
victory song is to win lasting fame. The Hyperboreans stand for timeless bliss. Theref
Pindar made the olive crown come from the Hyperboreans." These two explanations an
my own are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
34 Cf. line 16 8&a^ov 'YnrEppop(ov ... 'Anr'XXvo; OEp6txovta. According to Delp
legend Apollo himself lived among them during the winter. For Apollo's connecti
with the Hyperboreans, cf., e.g., Hesiod fr. 150.21; Alk. fr. 307; Bacchyl. Ep. 3.57-
Hdt. 4.32-35.

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 76 Susan C. Shelmerdine

with the gods-a theoxenia. The myth

Hyperboreans are chosen to reinforce Pin
attention to things divine and the subseq
This condition of hospitality between m
the Hyperboreans who actually live wi
who will in the end join the ranks of the
In line 34 we come to the words which have caused so much trou-
ble. Pindar has just finished speaking of Herakles' desire to plant the
olive trees at Olympia, and he says (34-35):

... I.a vuv kq Tabv opwx&v i'ao; d&vtOototv viGEat

oibv 3pa0o)voto 5tSjgotS ncatoi AriSag.

The scholiast (followed by others) contends that "this festival"

(taitav x opzt&v) refers to the present festival at which the ode was
being performed, which is, therefore, a theoxenia. He finds support for
this view in lines 40-41 where Pindar speaks very plainly of Theron's
attention to the rites of the Tyndaridai:

4etvtat; alrotu; 7Cto(ovata Tptnea,

E-oe E'i vWt ,a cp1, ooaovte; jticidpov eOXtd;.
As the present participle cpu6aaooovte; makes clear, this was a regular
cult ritual for the gods-a theoxenia set up and maintained by the
Emmenidai at Akragas. Those who take the ode as a theoxenian hymn,
then, argue that taiabav Eoptdv (34) refers to this regular cult feast.
But this need not be the case, as a close examination of the phrase in
question will show.
Pindar uses iopTd nine times in his extant work, seven times of fes-
tivals where it is clear that athletic contests were featured,35 once here,
and once of a feast to Demeter and Persephone where no agon is men-
tioned. Robbins, who acknowledges this, argues that the poet, in four
of these cases, distinguishes between the feast proper (iopTd) and the
athletic contests (&e'Xot or & yve;), and he concludes "the religious
sense of 'opTd remains paramount." So, he continues, "given the reli-
gious sense of the word in Pindar, and given the likelihood, established
on the basis of the opening line of the poem, that the occasion is a
theoxeny, it is most natural to assume that 'this religious celebration'

35 O0. 5.5, 6.69, 10.58; P. 8.66; N. 9.11, 11.27; fr. 193.

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 77

(taib'rav ioprtiv) means the one which the audience hearing the Third
Olympian was attending as it listened.'"36 I hope I have already shown
that the Tyndaridai's epithet ((ptX6@Etvot) functions within the literary
theme of hospitality and piety, and should not be taken to prove the
occasion of the ode's performance. As to the "religious sense" of
-op't~, the games themselves-contests as well as feasts-were esta-
blished in worship of the gods (precisely the point of the myth in this
ode), and trying to separate a religious part (hopTd') of this worship
from a non-religious part (&ychv) would misrepresent the Greek view of
religion.
In favor of his view that the iopTd' of 34 is the present theoxenian
feast, Robbins adduces Pindar's use of aia viv elsewhere to refer to
the "actual time and place of the singing of the ode."37 On the other
hand, the chronology of events in 0. 3 is unquestionably complex, and
Pindar depends throughout on a succession of verbal markers to guide
the audience through his narrative.38 Kai viv, I would argue, is the last
of these signals, serving to move the narrative back from the myth of
Taygeta and the hind (29-30 &v note ... iypayWv iepav), to the myth
of Herakles among the Hyperboreans (32 r6ot 0.v5pea 06gtpatvE),
and finally to that of Herakles and the festival of the games at Olympia
(34 aai vyv t ra6tav opt&v i'1ao; ... vi( rat). It is not until four
lines later that the poet returns to the present occasion (38 E '8' bJov).
Robbins also cites Bundy's observation that Pindar commonly uses
the demonstrative pronoun to refer to the scene of celebration.39 But
the pronoun Pindar generally uses is 68E, not oito;, and while the two
are sometimes equivalent, oito;g more often means "this, that I have
just mentioned.'"40 The place just mentioned in this case is Olympia
(33-34 o8eyvagntov epi Eipp~a 8p6poOl I i'cinnov). And indeed,
36 Above, n. 2, 221-222.
37 Above, n. 2, 222. He cites as examples 0. 7.13, 10.78; P. 4.42, 11.7. If this feast
were at Olympia, he then argues, the phrase "would refer to a generalized present (now
as opposed to the time of the foundation of the games)," while the other sense ("now, on
this occasion of festivity") is, he claims, more natural.
38 13 'rv ntot, 19 `8iirj, 25 8 not6', 26 ev0a, 28 EOTE vtv, 29 0iv RtoTE, 32 t60t, and, as
I believe, 34 Keal vuv, 38 E4L F' v. See the discussions of K6hnken (above, n. 2) and
Robbins (above, n. 30) on Pindar's narrative technique in 0. 3.
39 E. Bundy, "Studia Pindarica I," Univ. Cal. Publ. Class. Phil. 18 (1962) 23, n. 53;
Robbins (above, n. 2) 222.
40 E. des Places, Le pronom chez Pindare (Paris 1947) 63; W. J. Slater, Lexicon to Pin-
dar (Berlin 1969) 401-402. The latter, however, assigns the use in 0. 3.34 to oUTog =
o68E, "this, here before you."

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 78 Susan C. Shelmerdine

immediately after referring to "this festiv

Herakles (36) rto; yap nirptwEv OiMZA
vwetv. The ydp here explains why the
with Herakles and therefore were pre
throughout this passage, before and after
34, the place Pindar is talking about is Oly
festival, then, occurs in a clear context an
feast celebrated at Olympia itself as part o
all, nothing remarkable in the idea of the
Olympic ritual.41 What is new, however, i
Tyndaridai as judges at the games.
Pausanias reports the tradition that Kasto
Olympic victors (5.8.4), and he mentions h
gods at the start of the hippodrome of hi
however, is our only source for the Tynd
the tradition reported by Pausanias were
significant that he elevates the gods to the
so Pindar makes clear their role as the t
Theron. They are the divine mythic exemp
9-13, where the grace of deities is also stre
including the Tyndaridai in his reference
Olympic feast (34) and by mentioning imm
presence at the cult feast in Akragas (39-4
religious occasions. The reason for this be
Pindar says:

.. .'EggaEVt'at;
Oripovw t' ,e'iv 1568o; eifitticv 6t66v-
tov Txuvw pto6v, 6"tt 0%zcr atao t po'tWv
?Etviat; al"okib; '7to'Xovtat tpate'at;,
EjoePEt YVO)g('lt ,pUMGGooov'tEC gaKa'pO)v eTOX&.
41 For a parallel we need only look to Pindar's sixth Paean, composed for the theo-
xenia at Delphi.
42 [Iloc]. .. OC "xO
0Ed6Lopot vioovT' It' A&vnpjntowU &otiaxi,

itvt KIpa(vOv )(PETLRh; 'HpaxKVo; tpoTCpaq

&dpEI i% 'EXavo8iaq y~Xqpapov Ai-
ToX6; iOv7p 60ev

ykaUKO6XPOa KGoLOV E?Xaia, Tdv rote

KTX.

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 79

Theron's victory at Olympia, the poet tells us, comes as the direct
result of his piety in maintaining the Tyndaridai's cult at Akragas (just
as Herakles' piety in founding the Olympic rites to honor Zeus was
rewarded by the gift of olive trees). So here Pindar states explicitly
what he made implicit by giving the Tyndaridai a place at the Olympic
festival and by linking that ritual with the festival at Akragas. The con-
nection hinges on the presence of the gods at both feasts and it is rein-
forced by the ideas of hospitality and divine grace which the poet has

developed
daridai boththroughout thehosts
as the Olympic ode. who
Pindar establishes
grant the
Theron his qptk,6Etvot
prize and as the Tyn-
guests at Akragas who receive honor from Theron. Theron, in turn, is
also a giver and receiver in this reciprocal association.
The final link is the present feast. By dedicating his song to the
Tyndaridai, and by linking Theron's victory so closely with them, Pin-
dar in effect makes the present victory feast itself a theoxenia, a feast at
which the gods are present and being honored. But if we read this
poem as a hymn written for the regular theoxenia we will miss the
point. Because by making a threefold connection between that regular
cult feast, the first feast at Olympia, and the present celebration, the
poet effectively perpetuates the cycle of piety shown and rewarded
which he has made the focal point of his song: Theron's piety, shown
in the cult worship at Akragas, is rewarded by an Olympic victory
which creates further opportunity for worship (fulfilled by including the
gods in the victory song); this in turn should create the possibility of
further victories (and, naturally, more commissions and greater Kdvo;
for the poet).
In this way Theron has, in the poet's words (43-44) npb6o Xactixv
Oeipoyv apraotv ixtxKvov nX1tEt I oitoO0Ev 'HpaoXto; oka&v.
These pillars symbolize the furthest limits of human achievement,43 in
the winning of the greatest athletic victory possible and in the achieve-
ment of a closeness to the gods which calls to mind that of the Hyper-
boreans. This, I think, is plainly implied both by the image of Herakles
and by the notion of traveling to a limit which occurs here and in the
ode's central myth. But with this the poet too has reached a limit and
he cautions Theron against overstepping the bounds of his mortality
(44-45):

43 A common motif in Pindar's epinikians; cf., e.g., N. 3; 1. 4.

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 80 Susan C. Shelmerdine

... tO 7C6paoo 6' ati aopoio; dPatov

Kic&apot;. oi0 vtv 6&(o0 " Kicetv; E'llV.

The final warning, then, is one against str

the immortals, and Pindar will call no liv
The relationship of ?Evia between men a
until death removes the barrier of mortalit
So in the end the poet stresses the diffe
The occasion is a victory feast, not a the
written an ode that gives honor to an Oly
that victory a means for celebrating the
man by singing of the gods he worships,
by honoring a man to whom they have g
man belong in the ode, and both are hon
the whole of the ode has shown that this
closeness of mortal and immortal, and th
gods, depends on the knowledge that wor
Far from being a hymn to the Tyndarida
tioned in passing, this song primarily ce
doing pays honor to those gods through t
theme which links Theron's victory with
cal grace of the divinities. There is nothin
we read 0. 3 as a theoxenian hymn, and t
misunderstand the way Pindar works in
games. The function of this piece is preci
I believe that, far from being an "atypic

44 The thought is a common one in Pindar's epin

after him. It is the same warning he offers in Isthm

l~gi IC(XTE)E ZEt; yEvE'aOX irt vt' iVEXEt;,

ELiE GoE tO)V Lgotip' Ei~(P tto ' CalCoV.
OvaXt OvaoXTot Ip EIEEt.

Cf. also O. 1 where he tells of Tantalos who himself used to feast with the gods but, not
content with his fortune, stole ambrosia and nectar for other men and thus "drew a sur-
passing doom" (56-57). Cf. also, e.g., Hesiod's myth of Prometheus and Alkman's
Partheneion.

45 It is interesting that in 0. 2.63-85 Pindar holds out to Theron precisely this hope,
when he describes the Isles of the Blessed to which good men go after they die to dwell
beside the gods.

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 Pindaric Praise and the Third Olympian 81

model for understanding Pindar's epinikian style and intent.46

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, GREENSBORO

46 This article was prepared with support from my university's Research Council. For
helpful discussions and comments on an earlier version I would like to thank my col-
leagues at the Center for Hellenic Studies, D. Charles, H. Roisman, and W. Stockert. I
am also grateful to the editor and anonymous reader for their suggestions, and to
S. Wright for comments on the final draft.

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