Page:History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Müller) 2ed.djvu/244

222 not advancing; for an epode, according to the statements of the ancients, always required that the chorus should be at rest. But by far the greater number of the odes of Pindar were sung at the Comus, at the jovial termination of the feast: and hence Pindar himself more frequently names his odes from the Comus than from the victory.

§ 4. The occasion of an epinikian ode,—a victory in the sacred games,—and its end,—the ennobling of a solemnity connected with the worship of the gods,—required that it should be composed in a lofty and dignified style. But, on the other hand, the boisterous mirth of the feast did not admit the severity of the antique poetical style, like that of the hymns and nomes; it demanded a free and lively expression of feeling, in harmony with the occasion of the festival, and suggesting the noblest ideas connected with the victor. Pindar, however, gives no detailed description of the victory, as this would have been only a repetition of the spectacle which had already been beheld with enthusiasm by the assembled Greeks at Olympia or Pytho; nay, he often bestows only a few words on the victory, recording its place and the sort of contest in which it was won. Nevertheless he does not (as many writers have supposed) treat the victory as a merely secondary object; which he despatches quickly, in order to pass on to subjects of greater interest. The victory, in truth, is always the point upon which the whole of the ode turns; only he regards it, not simply as an incident, but as connected with the whole life of the victor. Pindar establishes this connexion by forming a high conception of the fortunes and character of the victor, and by representing the victory as the result of them. And as the Greeks were less accustomed to consider a man in his individual capacity, than as a member of his state, and his family; so Pindar considers the renown of the victor in connexion with the past and present condition of the race and state to which he belongs. Now there are two different points from which the poet might view the life of the victor; viz. destiny or merit ; in other words, he might celebrate his good fortune or his skill. In the victory with horses, external advantages were the chief consideration; inasmuch as it required excellent horses and an excellent driver, both of which were attainable only by the rich. The skill of the victor was more conspicuous in gymnastic feats, although even in these, good luck and the favour of the gods might be considered as the main causes of success; especially as it was a favourite opinion of Pindar's, that all excellence is a gift of nature.