THE FIFTH PYTHIAN ODE.
TO THE SAME ARCESILAUS ON HIS VICTORY IN THE CHARIOT RACE, GAINED IN THE THIRTY-FIRST OLYMPIAD.
ARGUMENT.
Pindar begins by proclaiming the happiness of Arcesilaus, especially in gaining the Pythian victory, for which he exhorts him, in his usual pious manner, to return thanks to the gods, and to his charioteer Carrhotus; at the same time cautioning the victor not to expect sincere and perpetual happiness, since no one is free from trouble.—The reader should bear in mind that this ode was written at a time of civil dissension between the king and people of Cyrene.—Nevertheless the ancient felicity of Battus will attend Arcesilaus, who is protected by the favour of Apollo.—The poet then makes a transition to the predictions of that god, which induced the Heraclidæ to return into Peloponnesus, A. C. 1104, eighty years after the Trojan war; at which time Pindar's ancestors, the Ægidæ, came with the colony to Thera, and thence to Cyrene.—Then follow the praises of Battus, and of his posterity, particularly of Arcesilaus.—The ode concludes with good wishes for their prosperity.
All-powerful is the wealth of kings,
The golden store when Fortune brings,
And Virtue her pure radiance blends.
Around, to bless their mortal state,
Attendant crowds obsequious wait 5
Of clients and expecting friends.
Oh thou! to whom, by favouring heaven,
Arcesilaus, wealth is given,
Which Glory, from life's earliest day,
Illumines with her brilliant ray; 10
Shining by Castor's aid afar,
