Olympian 8

For Alcimedon of Aegina Boys' Wrestling 460 B. C.

Mother of golden-crowned contests, Olympia, queen of truth! where prophets, judging
from burnt sacrifices, inquire of Zeus of the flashing thunderbolt, if he has any message
to give concerning men [5] whose spirits are seeking to attain great excellence and a
breathing-space from toils. Accomplishment is granted to the prayers of men in gratitude
for their piety. Well-wooded grove of Pisa beside the Alpheus, [10] welcome this victory-
procession and the garland we bring to the victor; the man who is attended by your
splendid prize of honor has great glory forever. Some good things come to one man,
some to another; with the favor of the gods, there are many paths of success. [15]
Timosthenes, fortune has allotted you and your brother to the care of your ancestor Zeus,
who made you renowned at Nemea, and made Alcimedon an Olympic victor beside the
hill of Cronus. He was beautiful to look at, and his deeds did not belie his beauty [20]
when by his victory in wrestling he had Aegina with her long oars proclaimed as his
fatherland. There the savior Themis, seated beside Zeus the god of hospitality, is honored
more than among all other men. For when there is a heavy weight in the balance that
sways many ways, to judge with a straight mind and not inopportunely [25] is a difficult
struggle. But some ordinance of the immortals set up as a divine pillar for visitors of all
kinds this sea-girt land—and may the dawning time to come never tire of fulfilling this—
[30] guarded by the Dorian people since the time of Aeacus, whom wide-ruling Poseidon
and the son of Leto, when they were about to build the crown of walls to encircle Ilium,
summoned as a fellow worker; for it was fated that when war arose, [35] in the city-
destroying battles, that wall would breathe forth ravening smoke. And three gray-green
serpents, when the wall was newly built, tried to leap into it; two of them fell down,
stunned, and gave up their lives, [40] and the third leapt up with a cry. Pondering this
adverse omen, Apollo said right away: “Pergamos is taken, hero, through the works of
your hands—so says a vision sent to me from the son of Cronus, loud-thundering Zeus—
[45] not without your sons: the city will be destroyed 1with the first generation, and with
the third.”2 The god spoke clearly, and then hurried on his way, driving to Xanthus, and
to the Amazons with their fine horses, and to the Danube. And the wielder of the trident
drove his swift chariot to the sea-washed Isthmus, [50] bringing Aeacus here on his
golden horses, and going to see the ridge of Corinth, famous for its feasts. But nothing
can be equally delightful to all men. If I have, in my song, exalted the glory of Melesias
for his training of beardless youths, [55] let envy not strike me with a rough stone. For I
will tell how he himself won the same grace at Nemea, and later, among men, in the
battle of the pancratium. To teach [60] is easier for one who has knowledge himself. And
it is foolish not to learn in advance; for the minds of those with no experience are
insubstantial. Melesias, beyond all others, could speak of those deeds: what manner of
training will advance a man who is going to win the most longed-for glory from the
sacred games. [65] Now it is his honor that his thirtieth victory has been won for him by
Alcimedon, who, with divine good fortune, yet without falling short in his own
manliness, thrust off from himself and onto the four limbs of other boys a hateful
homecoming with contemptuous talk and a secret way back, [70] and breathed into his
father's father the force that wrestles off old age. Hades is forgotten by a man with good
accomplishments. But I must awaken memory and tell [75] of the choicest victory of
hands for the Blepsiads, who are now crowned with their sixth garland from the contests
flourishing with leaves. Even the dead have a share in rites performed according to law;
the dust does not cover [80] the good grace of their kinsmen. Having heard the voice of
Hermes' daughter, Angelia,3 Iphion might tell Callimachus of the splendid adornment at
Olympia, which Zeus gave to their race. May he be willing to grant noble deeds upon
noble [85] deeds, and to ward off bitter diseases. I pray that, for the share of fine things
allotted to them, Zeus may not cause the mind of Nemesis to waver; rather, may he grant
a painless life, and thus give new growth to themselves and their city.

1 Reading with Gildersleeve ῥάζεται for ἄρζεται.

2 Reading with the MSS τερτάτοις. See GRBS 1987.

3 Message

Pindar. Odes. 1990.