- Source
- Pindar. The Odes of Pindar. Sandys, John Edwin, editor. London: William Heinemann; Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1937 (reprint).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0033.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.1-12.19
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
After invoking Tyche and reflecting on the instability of human hopes and fortune, the poet praises Ergoteles, who, exiled from Knossos due to civil strife, achieved athletic victories and settled in Himera.
λίσσομαι, παῖ Ζηνὸς Ἐλευθερίου,
I beseech you, daughter of Zeus the Liberator,
Ἱμέραν εὐρυσθενέʼ ἀμφιπόλει, σώτειρα Τύχα.
guard wide-ruling Himera, O savior Tyche.
τὶν1 γὰρ ἐν πόντῳ κυβερνῶνται θοαὶ
For by you are guided on the sea swift
νᾶες, ἐν χέρσῳ τε λαιψηροὶ πόλεμοι
ships, and on land swift-moving wars
κἀγοραὶ βουλαφόροι. αἵ γε μὲν ἀνδρῶν
and deliberative assemblies. Indeed, men’s
πόλλʼ ἄνω, τὰ δʼ αὖ κάτω ψεύδη μεταμώνια τάμνοισαι2 κυλίνδοντʼ ἐλπίδες·
hopes roll, cutting through vain falsehoods, now high, now low.
σύμβολον δʼ οὔ πώ τις ἐπιχθονίων
And no earth-born man has ever yet found
πιστὸν ἀμφὶ πράξιος ἐσσομένας εὗρεν θεόθεν·
a reliable token from a god concerning a future event;
τῶν δὲ μελλόντων τετύφλωνται φραδαί.
for understanding of what is to come is blinded.
πολλὰ δʼ ἀνθρώποις παρὰ γνώμαν ἔπεσεν,
Many things fall out for men contrary to expectation,
ἔμπαλιν μὲν τέρψιος, οἱ δʼ ἀνιαραῖς
sometimes opposite to pleasure, while others, meeting with painful
ἀντικύρσαντες ζάλαις ἐσλὸν βαθὺ πήματος ἐν μικρῷ πεδάμειψαν3 χρόνῳ.
storms, have in a short time exchanged deep suffering for great good.
υἱὲ Φιλάνορος, ἤτοι καὶ τεά κεν,
Son of Philanor, truly even your
ἐνδομάχας ἅτʼ ἀλέκτωρ, συγγόνῳ παρʼ ἑστίᾳ
glory of your feet, like a domestic fighting-cock by its kindred hearth,
ἀκλεὴς τιμὰ κατεφυλλορόησε ποδῶν,
would have withered ingloriously,
εἰ μὴ στάσις ἀντιάνειρα Κνωσίας ἄμερσε4 πάτρας.
had not strife that pits man against man deprived you of your Knossian homeland.
νῦν δʼ Ὀλυμπία στεφανωσάμενος
But now, having won wreaths at Olympia,
καὶ δὶς ἐκ Πυθῶνος Ἰσθμοῖ τʼ, Ἐργότελες,
and twice from Pytho and at the Isthmus, Ergoteles,
θερμὰ Νυμφᾶν λουτρὰ βαστάζεις,5 ὁμιλέων παρʼ οἰκείαις ἀρούραις.
you cherish the warm baths of the Nymphs, dwelling by your own fields.
- 12.3τὶν
Doric form of the second-person singular pronoun (σοί). It functions as a dative of agent, cause, or influence ('by you' or 'under your guidance') referring to Tyche.
- 12.6ψεύδη μεταμώνια τάμνοισαι
The participle τάμνοισαι (Doric for τέμνουσαι) is a feminine plural nominative agreeing with ἐλπίδες. It continues the nautical imagery ('cutting through vain falsehoods'), poetically depicting hopes sailing through unreal expectations.
- 12.12ἐσλὸν βαθὺ πήματος ... πεδάμειψαν
The verb πεδάμειψαν is Doric for μετήμειψαν (aorist of μεταμείβω). ἐσλὸν βαθὺ ('deep good') and πήματος ('suffering,' genitive of exchange) form a construction meaning 'exchanged deep suffering for great good.'
- 12.13ἤτοι καὶ τεά κεν ... κατεφυλλορόησε ... εἰ μὴ ... ἄμερσε
A past counterfactual conditional sentence. The apodosis consists of the particle κεν (Doric for ἄν) with the past indicative (κατεφυλλορόησε), and the protasis has εἰ μὴ with the past indicative (ἄμερσε).
- 12.19βαστάζεις
Literally meaning 'to lift up' or 'carry,' here used metaphorically to mean 'to exalt, extol' or 'enjoy, cherish.' It describes Ergoteles enjoying and taking pride in the famous hot springs of his new home, Himera.