Then justly, noble king, to thee,
Ænesidemus' progeny,[1]
Thy willing poet's lyre shall raise80
The tributary song of praise. 86
Alone in the Olympic sand
The victor's crown he wore;
But when upon the Pythian strand,
As on the Isthmian shore,85
Twelve times his steeds the destined bound
The car triumphant whirl'd around,
The social Graces who decree
Each high reward of victory,
To his loved brother's head the wreath of conquest bore. 9390
This honour'd guerdon to obtain
Has power to free from mental pain.
Such bliss the envied wealth of kings,
When crown'd by patient labour brings,
And emulation's flame.95
True star of glory! given to cheer
The clouds that hang on life's career,
And gild the path to fame.
But let the proud oppressor know
- ↑ Ænesidemus, the father of Theron, was the seventh in lineal descent from Thersander.
- ↑ These are concisely enumerated by the learned Propertius: (l. III., v. 39, sqq.:)—
"Sub terris si jura Deum, et tormenta gigantum,
Tisiphones atro si furit angue caput;
Tibullus also (Eleg. I. iii. 58.) poetically contrasts the joys of Elysium with the pains of Tartarus:— "Ipsa Venus campos ducet ad Elysios.
Aut Alcmæoniæ furiæ, aut jejunia Phinei;
Num rota, num scopuli, num sitis inter aquas," &c.
Hic choreæ cantusque vigent;—
At scelerata jacet sedes in nocte profunda
