Pindar’s Pythian 4
Ode for Arcesilas of Cyrene
Book • 2016
The Fourth Pythian Ode, composed to honor the four-horse chariot victory of Arcesilas IV of Cyrene at the Pythian Games in Delphi, is widely regarded as Pindar’s grandest and most elaborate epinician song.
Structured in thirteen triads, it interweaves the immediate triumph of the Cyrenaean king with an expansive Argonautic narrative centered on Jason, Medea, and the voyage of the Argo, making it the longest extant non‑dramatic Greek choral ode.
Pindar uses Medea’s prophecy and the story of the Argonaut Euphemus to trace the mythic foundations of the Battiad dynasty and the colonization of Cyrene, forging a continuum between heroic myth and the present rule of Arcesilas.
The ode is notable for its strong epic coloring, complex narrative technique, and its integration of personal and civic politics: after the mythic section, Pindar turns to the contemporary political tensions in Cyrene and ends with an unprecedented request that Arcesilas recall the exile Damophilus, likely a patron connected with the song’s commission.
These features have made Pythian 4 a key text for studying Pindar’s poetics, his treatment of history in song, and his role as a mediator and advisor within the politics of Greek aristocratic communities.
Structured in thirteen triads, it interweaves the immediate triumph of the Cyrenaean king with an expansive Argonautic narrative centered on Jason, Medea, and the voyage of the Argo, making it the longest extant non‑dramatic Greek choral ode.
Pindar uses Medea’s prophecy and the story of the Argonaut Euphemus to trace the mythic foundations of the Battiad dynasty and the colonization of Cyrene, forging a continuum between heroic myth and the present rule of Arcesilas.
The ode is notable for its strong epic coloring, complex narrative technique, and its integration of personal and civic politics: after the mythic section, Pindar turns to the contemporary political tensions in Cyrene and ends with an unprecedented request that Arcesilas recall the exile Damophilus, likely a patron connected with the song’s commission.
These features have made Pythian 4 a key text for studying Pindar’s poetics, his treatment of history in song, and his role as a mediator and advisor within the politics of Greek aristocratic communities.
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Natalie Haynes
Medea
