Bacchylides · Epinician Odes §12.1-12.42

Invocation to Clio and the Victories of Aegina

Passage 13 of 16 · Greek

Summary

The poet calls upon the Muse Clio to guide his song as he travels to Aegina, and celebrates the glorious victories achieved in various Greek athletic festivals.

§12.1ὡσεὶ κυβερνήτας σοφός, ὑμνοάνασ- §12.2σʼ εὔθυνε Κλειοῖ §12.3νῦν φρένας ἁμετέρας, §12.4εἰ δή ποτε καὶ πάρος· ἐς γὰρ ὀλβίαν §12.5ξείνοισί με πότνια Νίκα §12.6νᾶσον Αἰγίνας ἀπάρχει §12.7ἐλθόντα κοσμῆσαι θεόδματον πόλιν· §12.8τάν τʼ ἐν Νεμέᾳ γυιαλκέα μουνοπάλαν

Like a wise helmsman, O Clio, queen of song, guide our mind now, if ever indeed in the past as well; for to the wealthy island of Aegina, welcoming to strangers, queenly Victory sends me, having come to adorn the god-built city; and the limb-strengthening wrestling in Nemea...

§12.34ξεινου̣ [!!!!]νιοι αστ[×¯˘¯ §12.35ἀμφικ[τιόν]ω̣ν ἐν ἀέθλοι̣[ς §12.36σὺν τρι[άκο]ντʼ ἀ̣γλααῖσιν §12.37νίκαις [ἐκ]ωμάσθησαν οἱ μει̣[¯˘¯, §12.38οἱ δʼ ἐν Πέλοπος ζ̣α̣θέας §12.39νάσου π[ι]τυώδεϊ δείρᾳ, §12.40οἱ δὲ φοινικοστερόπα τεμένει §12.41Ζηνὸς Νεμ εαί ου· §12.42. . . (. )] ταύτας̣ καὶ ἐπʼ ἀργυροδίνα

[...] hospitality [...] in the contests of the neighbors, with thirty glorious victories, some were celebrated with revelry, others on the sacred island of Pelops, in the pine-clad neck (Isthmus), and others in the sanctuary of Nemean Zeus of the red lightning; [...] these, and also by the silver-swirling [...]

Notes

12.3φρένας ἁμετέρας — A poetic plural ("our mind") referring to the first-person singular of the poet himself.
12.6ἀπάρχει — Due to the fragmentary text, interpretations vary, but here it governs the infinitive κοσμῆσαι, meaning "queenly Victory sends/prompts me to adorn..."
12.39π[ι]τυώδεϊ δείρᾳ — "The pine-clad neck (or ridge)" refers to the Isthmus of Corinth on the island of Pelops (Peloponnese), metaphorically pointing to victories in the Isthmian Games.

Cite this passage

Bacchylides, Epinician Odes §12.1-12.42. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0199.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.1-12.42

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