Bacchylides, Ode
13
Introduction
Ode 13 is
written by Bacchylides, a Greek lyric poet, around 5 century B.C.E and it is a
Nemean ode played to honor Pytheas of Aegina winning the pankration event. As we reviewed in class, most of the victory odes
are triumphs achieved by the athletics in Pan-Hellenic games. This game
contains Olympian held by Zeus, Pythian held by Apollo, Nemean held by Zeus and
Heracles, and Isthmian held by Poseidon. Moreover, not only Bacchylides but
also Pindar and other odes are written in a specific form – strophes, antistrophe,
and epode. Strophe is the first stanza of an ode and it
is the first half of a debate or argument presented by the chorus. Antistrophe is the other half of the
debate or further exploration of the argument initially presented in the
strophe. Epode is the final section of the ode and the
chorus comes together in the center of the stage and delivers a final stanza (1).
Analysis
[Ant.2], [Ep.2]
Bacchylides introduces “Perseus’
descendant” who is Herakles (2) and he kills the “savage lion” – Namean lion in
the battle of pankration. Moreover, Herakles is famous for his incredible
strength, courage, and masculinity (3). Therefore, we can say that Bacchylides
compared Pytheas who is the “victor in pankration” to the characteristic of
Herakles. The following chorus, epode 2, addresses the two contrasting idea of
“golden fame” and “death’s dark cloud conceals.” Bacchylides refers fame to
victors in pankration yet death is the eternal glory that is left behind in its
destiny (4).
[Str.3], [Ant.3], [Ep.3]
Bacchylides continues to praise
Pytheas victory in pankration as “hair decked out with wreaths of flowers all
in bloom” and “show forth the strength that gained the upper hand in combat
with pankratiasts.” In antistrophe 3, it again describes the scenery of
“high-vaunting girl” praising Pytheas like “skipping feet, like an untroubled
fawn upon the flowering hills.” With the following epode 3, Bacchylides
describes few other female characters who also celebrate “your son” – “the
mistress of a land that welcomes guests” and “Endeis.” Endeis is “Aiako’s wife,
who was one of the daughters of Chiron the Centaur” (2) and described as
“godlike Peleus.”
[Str.4], [Ant.4], [Ep.4]
Now Bacchylides presents different
scenery of Trojan – “Dardanians” – War that Ajax, Hektor, and Achilles
participated in. Specifically, the scenery is about Ajax – Greek hero – who
fought against Hektor who lead the Greek ships. Meanwhile, Achilles was angry
“shaking the spear that slaughtered multitudes” but “ceased to take part in
warfare” which made the Trojans more favorable to fight in the war. Therefore, when Trojans realized Achilles was not
present, they “joyfully make their way beyond all hope to land.”
[Str.5], [Ant.5], [Ep.5]
Bacchylides continues the
story of Trojan War beginning with “Achilles was staying in his quarters for
the fair-haired woman’s sake” and because of this incident, the “Danaans” had a
“rousing fear” towards the Trojans. Meanwhile, Trojans were under the control
of “Hektor’s hand” and fought the Greeks.
[Str.6], [Ant.6], [Ep.6]
Strophe 6 and antistrophe 6 are the
continuous story of the Trojan War. However, out of these three choruses, I
would like to focus on epode 6 because it relates back to the “victory of
Pytheas” and praises his triumph in pankration with detailed description –
“found honor at the hands of the august Athena, great in heart, whose chariot
is golden … has set crowns upon the hair of countless men at games attended by
all Greeks.” (2)
[Str.7], [Ant.7], [Ep.7]
Bacchylides concludes the ode with a
speech that the audience in strophe 7 should praise the victor with “man of
skill.” Furthermore, he continues to appreciate Lampon who
asked for the poem, which he also thinks that it is a “favor on my gift.” (2)
References:
(2) Greek Lyric
(4) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0064%3Abook%3DEp%3Apoem%3D13
Overall very nice work. I liked how you began with an introduction to get the reader situated in the materials. One thing to watch out for is that, because you're working with a lot of details, is formatting for legibility. I saw you relying on a lot of dashes - like the ones I tend to use all the time when I write comments. For academic writing, be more more sparing with them. They all too often allow thoughts to be connected without a clear grammatical form to make sense of them. Try to abstain in order to force yourself to make your sentences clearer. One of the problems that came up was when you cited passages from the text. When you cite anything longer than a phrase, end the sentence with the quotation in order for the reader to process what they've read. Last grammar point - watch your articles! With the exception of proper names, concepts and mass nouns, all nouns need to be followed by an article. Let me know if you need me to clarify this. In terms of the analysis proper, make sure to clarify the *parallels* between the actual events and the mythic narratives. You mostly did a good job with this, but it got confusing when you claimed that Heracles defeated the lion in the pankration. The pankration is an athletic event, and while Heracles' victory is clearly meant to be in parallel with it, it is not the same.
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