Bacchylides' Ode 13

     The first 43 lines of this poem are missing, which are presumably used to discuss Pytheas in greater detail. Usually these odes begin by giving the victor's lineage, place of birth, and accomplishments, and then move on to a comparison to gods or heroes. This is where the remaining portion of the poem picks up, as a hero is discussed. In Ant.2, it becomes clear that the hero is Herakles (Hercules) from the description of his battle with the Nemean Lion, a lion whose hide was too tough for common weapons, and from the reference to his ancestor Perseus. From there until halfway through Ep. 3, the focus returns back to Pytheas and he is praised for the great glory that Zeus has chosen to bestow on him, one of a very few. There is also a discussion of Aigina, Pytheas' home, and its history, that is, the lineage of its first ruler, Aiakos, back to Zeus.  The concentric circles continue now with the story of Achilles' and Ajax' (descendents of Aiakos) bravery in the Trojan war, and how Ajax was able to put a stop to the Trojan's burning of Greek ships. In one ring farther, B, the author explains that the Trojans were usually far too afraid to fight due to Achilles' fearless slaughter of his enemies, but, in ring C, that Achilles (Nereid's son) had retreated in anger because Agamemnon had taken away the girl he won in rampage, Briseis. As he stayed in his tent, saddened and vengeful, the Trojans (back to ring B) took their chance and sent an onslought, led by Hector and with the gods help, that drove the Greeks all the way back to their ships. Here the Trojans proceeded to set fire to Greek ships. By Str. 6 the author is back to ring A, as the Trojans are still destined to be stopped and to lose at the hands of Ajax and Achilles (who returns to the battle to avenge his friend Patroklos' death), filling the Trojan river (Skamandros) with blood. Here Bacchylides shifts again back to the overall discussion of fame, its immortality and its inability to be hidden. In Ep. 6 Pytheas is once again brought to the forefront of the poem, as the author celebrates him, his trainer Menandros, and the goddess Athena. Again he returns to the idea that greatness and glory will always be remembered, and all who are of good character will praise them. In the last stanza, Ep. 7, Bacchylides proclaims himself and his poem as the means of maintaining this glory for all time, no small gift, he points out, but an incredibly important one. He thanks Lampon, Pytheas' father, for his "hospitality" (presumably the money required to write the ode) and Kleio, the muse of history and fame, for inspiring the poem in the first place.