Plutarch · Life of Philopoemen §11.1-11.3

Acclaim at the Nemean Games and Hope of Greece

Passage 11 of 21 · Greek

Summary

During the Nemean festival, Philopoemen leads his young soldiers into the theater, where a citharode's song about freedom inspires the audience to applaud him and recall their ancient dignity.

§11.1λέγεται δὲ τῆς τῶν Νεμείων πανηγύρεως συνεστώσης στρατηγοῦντα τὸν Φιλοποίμενα τὸ δεύτερον καὶ νενικηκότα μὲν οὐ πάλαι τὴν ἐν Μαντινείᾳ μάχην, τότε δὲ σχολὴν ἄγοντα διὰ τὴν ἑορτήν, πρῶτον μὲν ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς Ἕλλησι κεκοσμημένην τὴν φάλαγγα καὶ κινουμένην, ὥσπερ εἴθιστο, τοὺς τακτικοὺς ῥυθμοὺς μετὰ τάχους καὶ ῥώμης· §11.2ἔπειτα κιθαρῳδῶν ἀγωνιζομένων εἰς τὸ θέατρον παρελθεῖν ἔχοντα τοὺς νεανίσκους ἐν ταῖς στρατιωτικαῖς χλαμύσι καὶ τοῖς φοινικοῖς ὑποδύταις, ἀκμάζοντάς τε τοῖς σώμασιν ἅπαντας καὶ ταῖς ἡλικίαις παραλλήλους, αἰδῶ δὲ πολλὴν πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ φρόνημα νεανικὸν ὑποφαίνοντας ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν ἀγώνων ἄρτι δʼ αὐτῶν εἰσεληλυθότων κατὰ τύχην Πυλάδην τὸν κιθαρῳδὸν ᾄδοντα τοὺς Τιμοθέου Πέρσας ἐνάρξασθαι "κλεινὸν ἐλευθερίας τεύχων μέγαν Ἑλλάδι κόσμον· " §11.3ἅμα δὲ τῇ λαμπρότητι τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ περὶ τὴν ποίησιν ὄγκου συμπρέψαντος ἐπίβλεψιν γενέσθαι τοῦ θεάτρου πανταχόθεν εἰς τὸν Φιλοποίμενα καὶ κρότον μετὰ χαρᾶς, τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὸ παλαιὸν ἀξίωμα ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἀναλαμβανόντων καὶ τοῦ τότε φρονήματος ἔγγιστα τῷ θαρρεῖν γινομένων.

And it is said that, while the festival of the Nemean games was being held, Philopoemen, who was serving as general for the second time and had not long before won the battle at Mantinea, but was then at leisure on account of the festival, first displayed to the Greeks the phalanx, drawn up in order and performing, as was customary, its tactical movements with speed and vigor; next, while the citharodes were competing, that he entered the theater, having with him the young men in their military cloaks and scarlet undergarments, all of them in the prime of their bodily strength and of similar age, showing great respect for their commander and a youthful spirit derived from many fine contests; and that, just as they had entered, by chance Pylades the citharode, singing the "Persians" of Timotheus, began: "Fashioning for Greece a glorious and great ornament of freedom;" and that, as the splendor of the voice accorded with the majesty of the poetry, there was a gazing from all parts of the theater upon Philopoemen, and applause with joy, as the Greeks recovered their ancient dignity in their hopes, and came closest to confidence in their spirit at that time.

Notes

11.1λέγεται — The main clause of this chapter begins with the impersonal verb λέγεται ("it is said"), which governs a series of accusative-with-infinitive constructions. Specifically, ἐπιδεῖξαι in §11.1 (subject: τὸν Φιλοποίμενα), παρελθεῖν in §11.2 (same subject), ἐνάρξασθαι in §11.2 (subject: Πυλάδην), and γενέσθαι in §11.3 (subjects: ἐπίβλεψιν and κρότον) all depend on λέγεται.
11.2τεύχων — A present participle in the nominative masculine singular from Timotheus' "Persians". Although in its original poetic context it referred to another figure (or deity), here it is applied by the theater audience to Philopoemen (masculine singular) who had just entered, associating him with the creation of the glorious ornament of freedom.
11.3ἅμα δὲ τῇ λαμπρότητι — This phrase combines the preposition ἅma ("at the same time as"), which governs the dative τῇ λαμπρότητι, with the genitive absolute construction τοῦ ... ὄγκου συμπρέψαντος ("the majesty ... having accorded"). It forms a complex structure meaning "at the same time as the majesty of the poetry accorded with the splendor of the voice."

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Philopoemen §11.1-11.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg027.humanitext-grc2:11.1-11.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.