Like Dolphins, Guardians of the Muses

Published by Reblogs - Credits in Posts,



Skip to content

SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE

ΕΥΔΟΞΑ ΑΓΝΩΣΤΑ ΚΑΤΑΓΕΛΑΣΤΑ

Like Dolphins, Guardians of the Muses

The so-called Ninth Isthmian is fragmentary. Here’s the whole thing:

Pindar, Isthmian 9

The story of Aiakos is famous–
Aegina, known for her ships, is famous too:
Hyllus and Aigimos brought
A Dorian army to found it.

The citizens live under the rule of law,
Offending neither justice nor custom
For foreigners. When it comes to excellence?
They are like dolphins in the sea:
Wise guardians of the Muses and athletic competitions."

Κλεινὸς Αἰακοῦ λόγος, κλεινὰ δὲ καὶ ναυ-
σικλυτὸς Αἴγινα· σὺν θεῶν δέ νιν αἴσᾳ
Ὕλλου τε καὶ Αἰγιμιοῦ
Δωριὲυς ἐλθὼν στρατός
ἐκτίσσατο· τῶν μὲν ὑπὸ στάθμᾳ νέμονται

οὐ θέμιν οὐδὲ δίκαν
ξείνων ὑπερβαίνοντες· οἷοι δ᾿ ἀρετάν
δελφῖνες ἐν πόντῳ, ταμίαι τε σοφοί
Μοισᾶν ἀγωνίων τ᾿ ἀέθλων.

Youth playing the flute and riding a dolphin. Red-figure stamnos, 360–340 BC. From Etruria.

Like this:

Loading...

Published by sententiaeantiquae

Original translations of famous words from Ancient Greece and Rome

Leave a Reply

Search for:

Twitter

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

Join 52,074 other subscribers

More Sententiae Antiquae

Search for:

Twitter

More Sententiae Antiquae