Page:History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Müller) 2ed.djvu/249

Rh a train of thought, either in an apophthegmatic or mythical form, up to a certain point, he breaks off, before he has gone far enough to make the application to the victor sufficiently clear; he then takes up another thread, which is perhaps soon dropped for a fresh one; and at the end of the ode he gathers up all these different threads, and weaves them together into one web, in which the general idea predominates. By reserving the explanation of his allusions until the end, Pindar contrives that his odes should consist of parts which are not complete or intelligible in themselves; and thus the curiosity of the reader is kept on the stretch throughout the entire ode. Thus, for example, the ode upon the Pythian victory, which was gained by Hiero, as a citizen of Ætna, a city founded by himself, proceeds upon a general idea of the repose and serenity of mind which Hiero at last enjoys, after a laborious public life, and to which Pindar strives to contribute by the influence of music and poetry. Full of this idea, Pindar begins by describing the effects of music upon the gods in Olympus, how it delights, inspires, and soothes them, although it increases the anguish of Typhos, the enemy of the gods, who lies bound under Ætna, Thence, by a sudden transition, he passes to the new town of Ætna, under the mountain of the name; extols the happy auspices under which it was founded; and lauds Hiero for his great deeds in war, and for the wise constitution he has given to the new state; to which Pindar wishes exemption from foreign enemies and internal discord. Thus far it does not appear how the praises of music are connected with the exploits of Hiero as a warrior and a statesman. But the connexion becomes evident when Pindar addresses to Hiero a series of moral sentences, the object of which is to advise him to subdue all unworthy passions, to refresh his mind with the contemplation of art, and thus to obtain from the poets a good name, which will descend to posterity.

§ 7. The characteristics of Pindar's poetry, which have been just explained, may be discerned in all his epinikian odes. Their agreement, however, in this respect is quite consistent with the extraordinary variety of style and expression which has been already stated to belong to this class of poems. Every epinikian ode of Pindar has its peculiar tone, depending upon the course of the ideas and the consequent choice of the expressions. The principal differences are connected with the choice of the rhythms, which again is regulated by the musical style. According to the last distinction, the epinikia of Pindar are of three sorts, Doric, Æolic, and Lydian; which can be easily distinguished, although each admits of innumerable varieties. In respect of metre, every ode of Pindar has an individual character; no two odes having the same metrical structure. In the Doric ode the same metrical forms occur as those which prevailed in the choral lyric poetry of Stesichorus,