Pindar · Olympian Odes Ὀλυμπιονῖκαι

Pindar, Olympian Odes 5.1–24: Olympian 5: for Psaumis — Camarina

Pindar greets Camarina, daughter of Ocean, and the mule-car victory of Psaumis, who has raised her new city and honoured the gods with sacrifices and contests at Olympia. He praises Pallas, the river Oanis, the lake and the streams of the Hipparis, and calls on Zeus, lord of the hill of Cronus, as a suppliant. He ends by saying that a man who spends his wealth well should not seek to become a god.

Lines 5.1–24 · 321 words · click a number to copy its link
1ὑψηλᾶν ἀρετᾶν καὶ στεφάνων ἄωτον γλυκὺν τῶν Οὐλυμπίᾳ, Ὠκεανοῦ θύγατερ, καρδίᾳ γελανεῖ ἀκαμαντόποδός τʼ ἀπήνας δέκευ Ψαύμιός τε δῶρα· ὃς τὰν σὰν πόλιν αὔξων, Καμάρινα, λαοτρόφον 5βωμοὺς ἓξ διδύμους ἐγέραιρεν ἑορταῖς θεῶν μεγίσταις ὑπὸ βουθυσίαις ἀέθλων τε πεμπαμέροις ἁμίλλαις, ἵπποις ἡμιόνοις τε μοναμπυκίᾳ τε. τὶν δὲ κῦδος ἁβρόν νικάσαις ἀνέθηκε, καὶ ὃν πατέρʼ Ἄκρωνʼ ἐκάρυξε καὶ τὰν νέοικον ἕδραν. ἵκων δʼ Οἰνομάου καὶ Πέλοπος παρʼ εὐηράτων 10σταθμῶν, ὦ πολιάοχε Παλλάς, ἀείδει μὲν ἄλσος ἁγνὸν τὸ τεόν, ποταμόν τε Ὤανιν, ἐγχωρίαν τε λίμναν, καὶ σεμνοὺς ὀχετούς, Ἵππαρις οἷσιν ἄρδει στρατόν,

Daughter of Ocean! receive with happy heart the choicest prize of deeds of prowess and of crowns Olympian, the guerdon won by Psaumis and his tireless-footed team,—Psaumis who, exalting thy city, “Camarina, that fostereth its people, at the greatest festivals of the gods essayed to honour the twice six altars with the slaughter of oxen, and also with contests of games, lasting for five days, even with horses and mules, and with the riding of the single [. . .] And, by his victory, he hath set up for [. . .] the herald his father Acron and his newly-founded home. Coming from the loved abodes of Oenomaüs and of Pelops, he singeth of thy holy precinct, O Pallas, thou guardian of the State, and the river Oanis, and the lake of the land, and the sacred streams with which Hipparis watereth the folk; and he

13κολλᾷ τε σταδίων θαλάμων ταχέως ὑψίγυιον ἄλσος, ἀπʼ ἀμαχανίας ἄγων ἐς φάος τόνδε δᾶμον ἀστῶν· 15αἰεὶ δʼ ἀμφʼ ἀρεταῖσι πόνος δαπάνα τε μάρναται πρὸς ἔργον κινδύνῳ κεκαλυμμένον· ἠῢ δʼ ἔχοντες σοφοὶ καὶ πολίταις ἔδοξαν ἔμμεν. Σωτὴρ ὑψινεφὲς Ζεῦ, Κρόνιόν τε ναίων λόφον τιμῶν τʼ Ἀλφεὸν εὐρὺ ῥέοντʼ Ἰδαῖόν τε σεμνὸν ἄντρον, ἱκέτας σέθεν ἔρχομαι Λυδίοις ἀπύων ἐν αὐλοῖς, 20αἰτήσων πόλιν εὐανορίαισι τάνδε κλυταῖς δαιδάλλειν, σέ τʼ, Ὀλυμπιόνικε, Ποσειδανίαισιν ἵπποις ἐπιτερπόμενον φέρειν γῆρας εὔθυμον ἐς τελευτάν, υἱῶν, Ψαῦμι, παρισταμένων. ὑγίεντα δʼ εἴ τις ὄλβον ἄρδει, ἐξαρκέων κτεάτεσσι καὶ εὐλογίαν προστιθείς, μὴ ματεύσῃ θεὸς γενέσθαι.

swiftly weldeth together a soaring forest of steadfast dwellings, bringing this people of citizens out of perplexity into the light of day. But evermore, amid deeds of prowess, must toil and cost strive for the mastery with victory in view, veiled though it be in peril; and it is those that are prosperous who are deemed wise, even by their fellow-citizens. saviour Zeus, in the clouds on high! thou that dwellest on the hill of Cronus, and honourest the broad stream of Alpheüs, and the hallowed cave of Ida! as thy suppliant am I coming, while I call on thee amid the sound of Lydian flutes, praying thee to adorn this city with famous hosts of noble men, praying, too, that thou, the Olympian victor, mayest reach the end of life in a kindly eld, while rejoicing in the steeds of Poseidon, and with thy sons, O Psaumis, standing beside thee. But, if any one tendeth his wealth in wholesome wise by being bountiful with his possessions and by winning good report, let him not seek to become a god.

People and places in this passage

English translation by Sir John Sandys (1915). Original text: Sir John Sandys (ed.), The Odes of Pindar, Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Putnam, 1915 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus from the 1937 reprint).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library, Greek text); translation public domain (OCR from the Internet Archive scan). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.