And this high rank is clearly thine—
Lord of the host and well-built town,
Let thy free mind with blessings crown
Those whom thy fates to thee assign.
Of all thy mighty fathers gone, 105
Whatever tongue should dare proclaim
Through Greece that any hero's fame
In wealth or honours brighter shone,
With folly's mark would stamp his name. 112
But when thy virtues wake the song, 110
By flowery ways I pass along.
In youth the valour of thine arm
Shielded thy life from adverse harm.
Hence I declare that thou hast found
A glory which exceeds all bound; 115
Whether on foot the warriors rage,
Or in equestrian strife engage;
And free from blame my praise shall sound
Thy counsels in maturer age.
Farewell—this hymn across the hoary sea, 120
As by Phœnician craft, I send to thee. [1]
- ↑ It appears from this passage, which is confirmed by a fragment of Sophocles, as well as one of Aristophanes, that the Phœnicians, like the Canaanites of Scripture, were always distinguished above other nations by their eminence as merchants, which seems to have passed into a sort of proverb. The Castorean song, which Pindar sends across the sea to Hiero, it is probable that nothing more is intended than a hymn commemorative of an equestrian victory, Castor being the god of horsemanship: nor must it be confounded with the Καστορειον μελος, or war song of the Spartans. The purport of the following passage is very obscure, referring, probably, to some story unknown to us. The praise of the righteous judge, Rhadamanthus, which follows, Heyne considers to have been a favourite theme with the ancient poets, and affords another proof of the noble independence of Pindar's mind, and of the value of his friendship, which prompted him to warn even a king with perfect plainness and sincerity against being corrupted by the false praises of venal adulators. The construction of the next four lines is by no means clear, although the sentiment, cautioning Hiero to be-
