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TO HIERO, KING OF SYRACUSE, VICTOR IN THE SINGLE-HORSE RACE IN THE SEVENTY-THIRD OLYMPIAD.

this ode Pindar, who, together with other bards, was probably at this time a guest at the royal table, sets forth in a beautiful strain of poetry the glory and superiority of the Olympic contest, in which Hiero has been victorious, to all other games; he then digresses to the history of Pelops, son of Tantalus, who formerly possessed Pisa and Olympia, and is now honoured as a hero within the sacred grove Altis. Returning to his principal subject, he concludes the ode with good wishes for the continued prosperity of the victor.

Note.—The inner number, placed at the end of the several paragraphs, shows the corresponding line of the original.

with purest virtue flows;

And as the fire's resplendent light

Dispels the murky gloom of night,

The meaner treasures of the mine

With undistinguish'd lustre shine

Where gold irradiate glows.