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TO XENOCRATES OF AGRIGENTUM, SON OF ARCESILAUS, VICTOR IN THE HORSE RACE.

addresses this ode to Thrasybulus, son of the conqueror Xenocrates.—This he professes to do after the example of the old poets, who did not write, as was now done, urged by the sordid incitement of gain.—The triumphs of Xenocrates, his ancestor Ænesidamus, and his charioteer Nicomachus are sung, and Nicasippus is charged with the safe conveyance of this ode, sent in the form of an epistle.

have the men of other days

From the gold-netted muses' car,

Oh Thrasybulus! hurl'd afar

The lyre's soft-sounding notes, to praise

Youth's ardent prime, that harbinger most sweet

Of Venus throned upon her lofty seat.

For then, not amorous of gain,

The muse sent forth no venal strain—

The honey'd lays not then, as now,

From sweet Terpsichore that flow,

Upon the shining front display'd

The silver emblem of their trade.

Now she suggests with heedful care

The Argive's words in mind to bear;