Victory of Theron and Heracles Bringing the Olive — Pindar, Olympian Odes 3.1–3.45, Greek & English

Τυνδαρίδαις τε φιλοξείνοις ἁδεῖν καλλιπλοκάμῳ θʼ Ἑλένᾳκλεινὰν Ἀκράγαντα γεραίρων εὔχομαι,

I pray that I may please the hospitable sons of Tyndareus and lovely-haired Helen, as I honor famous Akragas,

Θήρωνος Ὀλυμπιονίκαν ὕμνον ὀρθώσαις,¹ ἀκαμαντοπόδων

by setting upright Theron’s Olympic victory song, the choice flower of untiring-footed horses.

ἵππων ἄωτον. Μοῖσα δʼ οὕτω ποι παρέστα μοι νεοσίγαλον εὑρόντι τρόπονΔωρίῳ φωνὰν ἐναρμόξαι πεδίλῳ

The Muse stood beside me in this way, as I found a newly-shining way to fit the glorious-reveling voice to the Dorian sandal.

ἀγλαόκωμον. ἐπεὶ χαίταισι μὲν ζευχθέντες ἔπι στέφανοιπράσσοντί με τοῦτο θεόδματον χρέος,

For the crowns bound upon my hair demand of me this god-established duty,

φόρμιγγά τε ποικιλόγαρυν καὶ βοὰν αὐλῶν ἐπέων τε θέσιν

to blend properly for the son of Ainesidamos the varied-sounding lyre, the shout of flutes, and the arrangement of verses.

Αἰνησιδάμου παιδὶ συμμῖξαι πρεπόντως, ἅ τε Πίσα με γεγωνεῖν·² τᾶς ἄπο

And Pisa calls on me to cry aloud. From there

θεόμοροι νίσοντʼ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπους ἀοιδαί,

god-allotted songs go forth to men,

ᾧ τινι,³ κραίνων ἐφετμὰς Ἡρακλέος προτέρας,

to whomever, fulfilling the ancient commands of Heracles,

ἀτρεκὴς Ἑλλανοδίκας γλεφάρων Αἰτωλὸς ἀνὴρ ὑψόθεν

the strict Aetolian judge of the Greeks from on high

ἀμφὶ κόμαισι βάλῃ γλαυκόχροα κόσμον ἐλαίας· τάν ποτε

casts around his hair the gray-colored adornment of the olive. Which once

Ἴστρου ἀπὸ σκιαρᾶν παγᾶν ἔνεικεν Ἀμφιτρυωνιάδας,

Amphitryon’s son brought from the shaded springs of Ister,

μνᾶμα τῶν Οὐλυμπίᾳ κάλλιστον ἄθλων

as the most beautiful memorial of the contests at Olympia,

δᾶμον Ὑπερβορέων πείσαις Ἀπόλλωνος θεράποντα λόγῳ.

after persuading with words the Hyperborean people, the servants of Apollo.

πιστὰ φρονέων Διὸς αἴτει πανδόκῳ

Loyal in mind, he asked for Zeus’s all-welcoming

ἄλσει σκιαρόν τε φύτευμα ξυνὸν ἀνθρώποις στέφανόν τʼ ἀρετᾶν.

grove a shaded planting, common to men, and a crown for virtues.

ἤδη γὰρ αὐτῷ, πατρὶ μὲν βωμῶν ἁγισθέντων, διχόμηνις ὅλον χρυσάρματος

For already for him, when the altars had been consecrated to his father, the golden-charioted Moon, split-month,

ἑσπέρας ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντέφλεξε Μήνα,

kindled in full her eye of evening,

καὶ μεγάλων ἀέθλων ἁγνὰν κρίσιν καὶ πενταετηρίδʼ ἁμᾶ

and he established the holy judgment of the great contests and the five-year festival together

θῆκε ζαθέοις ἐπὶ κρημνοῖς Ἀλφεοῦ·

on the sacred banks of Alpheus.

ἀλλʼ οὐ καλὰ δένδρεʼ ἔθαλλεν χῶρος ἐν βάσσαις Κρονίου Πέλοπος.

But the land in the valleys of Pelops, son of Cronus, did not flourish with beautiful trees.

τούτων ἔδοξεν γυμνὸς αὐτῷ κᾶπος ὀξείαις ὑπακουέμεν αὐγαῖς ἁλίου.

Bare of these, the garden seemed to him to submit to the sharp rays of the sun.

δὴ τότʼ ἐς γαῖαν πορεύεν θυμὸς ὥρμα

Then indeed, his heart urged him to travel to the Istrian

Ἰστρίαν νιν· ἔνθα Λατοῦς ἱπποσόα θυγάτηρ

land; there the horse-driving daughter of Leto

δέξατʼ ἐλθόντʼ Ἀρκαδίας ἀπὸ δειρᾶν καὶ πολυγνάμπτων μυχῶν,

received him when he came from the ridges and many-winding glens of Arcadia,

εὖτέ νιν ἀγγελίαις Εὐρυσθέος ἔντυʼ ἀνάγκα πατρόθεν

when the compulsion of Eurystheus by his father’s will pressed him

χρυσόκερων ἔλαφον θήλειαν ἄξονθʼ, ἅν ποτε Ταϋγέτα

to bring the golden-horned female deer, which once Taygete

ἀντιθεῖσʼ Ὀρθωσίᾳ ἔγραψεν ἱράν.

had dedicated to Orthosia and inscribed as sacred.

τὰν μεθέπων ἴδε καὶ κείναν χθόνα πνοιᾶς ὄπιθεν Βορέα

Pursuing her, he saw also that land behind the breath of cold

ψυχροῦ. τόθι δένδρεα θάμβαινε σταθείς.

Boreas; there he stood and marveled at the trees,

τῶν νιν γλυκὺς ἵμερος ἔσχεν δωδεκάγναμπτον περὶ τέρμα δρόμου

and a sweet desire possessed him to plant them around the twelve-lap boundary of the horse race.

ἵππων φυτεῦσαι. καί νυν ἐς ταύταν ἑορτὰν ἵλαος ἀντιθέοισιν νίσσεταισὺν βαθυζώνου διδύμοις παισὶ Λήδας.

And now he comes graciously to this festival for the godlike men, along with the twin sons of deep-girdled Leda.

τοῖς γὰρ ἐπέτραπεν Οὐλυμπόνδʼ ἰὼν θαητὸν ἀγῶνα νέμεινἀνδρῶν τʼ ἀρετᾶς πέρι καὶ ῥιμφαρμάτου

For to them he entrusted, as he went to Olympus, the management of the wonderful contest concerning men’s prowess and the rapid-chariot driving.

διφρηλασίας. ἐμὲ δʼ ὦν πᾳ θυμὸς ὀτρύνει φάμεν Ἐμμενίδαις

But my heart somehow urges me to say that glory has come to the Emmenidae

Θήρωνί τʼ ἐλθεῖν κῦδος, εὐΐππων διδόντων Τυνδαριδᾶν, ὅτι πλείσταισι βροτῶνξεινίαις αὐτοὺς ἐποίχονται τραπέζαις,

and to Theron, granted by the Tyndaridae of fine horses, because of all mortals they approach them with the greatest number of hospitable tables,

εὐσεβεῖ γνώμᾳ φυλάσσοντες μακάρων τελετάς.

keeping the rites of the blessed ones with a pious mind.

εἰ δʼ ἀριστεύει μὲν ὕδωρ, κτεάνων δὲ χρυσὸς αἰδοιέστατος,

If water is best, and gold is the most honored of possessions,

νῦν δὲ πρὸς ἐσχατιὰν Θήρων ἀρεταῖσιν ἱκάνων ἅπτεται

now Theron, reaching the limit by his prowess, touches

οἴκοθεν Ἡρακλέος σταλᾶν. τὸ πόρσω δʼ ἔστι σοφοῖς ἄβατον

from his home the pillars of Heracles. What is beyond is inaccessible to the wise and to the foolish.

κἀσόφοις.⁴ οὔ νιν διώξω· κεινὸς εἴην.

I will not pursue it; I would be empty.

Syntax notes4 items

3.3ὀρθώσαις
Aorist active participle, masculine singular nominative, agreeing with the subject of the main verb εὔχομαι. It functions as an adverbial participle of manner or means ('by setting upright').
3.9γεγωνεῖν
Present active infinitive. It can be interpreted as depending on an implied verb of commanding or urging ('Pisa urges me to cry aloud'), or as an infinitive of result/purpose.
3.11ᾧ τινι
Dative masculine singular of the indefinite relative pronoun ὅστις. While its antecedent is the plural ἀνθρώπους, the singular is used distributively to refer to any individual victor who receives the crown.
3.44σοφοῖς κἀσόφοις
Dative of reference or judgment (or dative of agent) qualifying the verbal adjective ἄβατον ('impassable, inaccessible'), expressing 'inaccessible to the wise and to the foolish alike'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0033.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.1-3.45