Pindar and the Olympian Ode in General,

Pindar and the Olympian Ode In general, sports are competitive physical activities that may be individual, group, team, or a combination. The idea of sports is to improve physical abilities as well as to provide entertainment to both participants and observers (spectators). One of the longest and most famous traditions in sports was, in fact, the Ancient Olympic Games of Greece.

These games were not just sporting events for the Greeks, but were religious and athletic festivals held every four years in Olympia -- the site of a temple to their chief God, Zeus. These games were competitions among the several city-states in Ancient Greece, and were so ingrained into their society that any wars or conflicts or even legal disputes between any of the region's participating were put on hold during these Games. In Ancient Greek society, sports were not just entertainment.

The idea of the professional athlete did not exist, but the idea that developing one's body and mind to become both a better person and a tribute to the Gods was ingrained within society. Of course, only men who were citizens could compete, and the games were reserved only for Greeks. The games were organized in such a way that sporting events, ritual sacrifices and artistic entertainment like poetry, plays and dance, were all part of the celebration.

So ingrained was the four-year event that the cycle became part of Greek measurement -- or a cycle known as the PanHellenic Games (all of Greece), and included the Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian Games. Interestingly, once the Roman Empire began to exert more influence in Greece, the importance of the Olympic Games declined, and once Christianity was part of Rome's official doctrine, the games were eliminated along with a number of Greek temples because they were seen as celebrations of paganism.

One of the ways in which the Ancient Greeks passed on their views of morality, spirituality and common sense was through literary devices like plays and poems. Pindar, for instance, was a Greek lyric poet that composed a number of odes to celebrate victories in all four PanHellenic Games. Pindar actually wrote fourteen Olympian Odes, but instead of just retelling the events of the games and the names of the participants, Pindar used the odes to comment on several aspects of society.

The poems are complex and rather difficult to read because the assume that the reader already has a complete understanding of Greek mythology, place names, geography, history, and popular culture (for the time). In many ways, Pindar's Olympian Ode uses very florid language to describe events, much as if it were a song. Water is preeminent and gold, like a fire burning in the night, outshines all possessions that magnify men's pride.

But if, my soul, you year to celebrate great games; look no further for another star shining through the deserted ether brighter than the sun, or for a contest mightier than Olympia (Turn 1). Reading this several times shows that Pindar is telling us that water is common, but gold is like fire that increases people's emotions (and likely ability to brag about their accomplishments).

The imagery of a star shining through the atmosphere (ethers) that is brighter than the sun (which might be impossible) shows the importance of the games above all else in Greek society. Water is necessary for life, gold is sought after, and fire protects humans from the cold or beasts -- but none of these things that are seemingly important are as important as the Olympian contests.

Throughout the first Ode, Pindar has several levels of stories to tell the reader -- stories we can assume that are like individual moral plays within the poem. The reader is introduced to the chief God Zeus as a way to show that the very top God was concerned about the hero (the victor, or Hieron).

While confusing, another central theme of the Ode is the story of Pelops who was the son of Tantalus who fed his son Pelops to guests -- instead of cannibalization, however, Pindar retells the story that Pelops disappears because he is carried off by Poseidon, which is interesting in this poem because it infers that instead of eating Pelops, Poseidon might very well have carried him off for an erotic encounter.

Syracusan knight and king, blazoned with glory in the land of Pelops: Pelops, whom earth-cradling Poseidon loved, since Klotho had taken him out of the pure cauldron, his ivory shoulder gleaming in the hearth-light (Stand 1, lines 23-25). Rereading this section it is interesting to note the term "earth-cradling" for Poseidon, who was the God of the Sea and lived in the ocean.

Instead, Poseidon is coming onto land to capture Pelops out of the cooking pot (cauldron) and we must presume naked because his "ivory shoulder" is gleaming with either perspiration or cooking juices in the light of the fire. This eroticism goes with Pindar's theme of appeasing the Gods through sport in that Klotho was one of the Three Fates who was responsible for spinning the thread of human life and made major decisions about them.

Klotho's threat often represents human fate, and to have the God of Water come onto land to "rescue" a human male shows just how important to society gaming could be. Perhaps Pindar is telling us that through sporting victory one can achieve greatness in life, fooling even the Fates. It was then that Poseidon seized you, overwhelmed in his mind with desire, and swept you on golden mares to Zeus' glorious palace on Olympos, where, at another time, Ganymede came also for the same passion in Zeus (Turn 2, Counterturn 2).

There is no doubt now that the heroic idea of Poseidon was more than a simple rescue since he was "overwhelmed with desire" using the comparison of Ganymede and Zeus. Again, researching the back story, one finds that Ganymede was a divine hero from Troy and one of the most beautiful of all mortals. Ganymede was abducted by Zeus, who came to him as an Eagle, and the symbol of youth and desire. Because it is rather obvious that Zeus loved Ganymede, it is the same that Poseidon loved Pelops.

The significance seems to surround the idea that it was the male hero that was most valued by the Gods, Zeus and Poseidon in particular, and that youth, beauty and sporting acumen meant that the honor of winning at the Games might also result in a reward from the Gods. For Pindar, this seems to be the pinnacle of success in life -- to win at sport and thus.