Pindar and the Construction of Syracusan Monarchy in the Fifth Century B.C.Oxford University Press, 2 gen 2015 - 528 pagine This groundbreaking book attempts a fully contextualized reading of the poetry written by Pindar for Hieron of Syracuse in the 470s BC. It argues that the victory odes and other occasional songs composed by Pindar for the Sicilian tyrant were part of an extensive cultural program that included athletic competition, coinage, architecture, sanctuary dedication, city foundation, and much more. In the tumultuous years following the Persian invasion of Greece in 480, elite Greek leaders and their cities struggled to capitalize on the Greek victory and to define themselves as free peoples who triumphed over the threat of Persian monarchy. Pindar's victory odes are an important contribution to Hieron's goal of panhellenic pre-eminence, redescribing contemporary tyranny as an instantiation of golden-age kingship and consonant with best Greek tradition. In a delicate process of cultural legitimation, the poet's praise deploys athletic victories as a signs of more general preeminence. Three initial chapters set the stage by presenting the history and culture of Syracuse under the Deinomenid tyrants, exploring issues of performance and patronage, and juxtaposing Hieron to rival Greek leaders on the mainland. Subsequent chapters examine in turn all Pindar's preserved poetry for Hieron and members of his court, and contextualizes this poetry by comparing it to the songs written for Hieron by Pindar's poetic contemporary, Bacchylides. These odes develop a specifically "tyrannical" mythology in which a hero from the past enjoys unusual closeness with the gods, only to bring ruin on him or herself by failing to manage this closeness appropriately. Such negative exemplars counterbalance Hieron's good fortune and present the dangers against which he must (and does) protect himself by regal virtue. The readings that emerge are marked by exceptional integration of literary interpretation with the political/historical context. |
Sommario
1 | |
Chapter 2 The Deinomenids and Syracuse | 23 |
Chapter 3 Poets and Patrons in Hierons Syracuse | 87 |
Chapter 4 Placing Hieron | 133 |
A Royal Poetics | 163 |
Feasting at the Kings Hearth | 209 |
Victory over Vicissitude | 260 |
A Civic Symphony | 300 |
Chapter 9 Henchmen Nemean 9 Nemean 1 Olympian 6 | 359 |
Conclusion | 413 |
421 | |
441 | |
455 | |
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Pindar and the Construction of Syracusan Monarchy in the Fifth Century B.C. Kathryn A. Morgan Anteprima limitata - 2015 |
Pindar and the Construction of Syracusan Monarchy in the Fifth Century B.C. Kathryn A. Morgan Anteprima limitata - 2015 |
Parole e frasi comuni
achievement Adrastos Aeschylus Akragas Alpheos Amphiaraos Apollo Asklepios associated Athenian athletic audience Bacchylides banquet barbarian Battle of Himera Carthaginians celebration Chapter chariot victory Chiron Chromios connection context cult cultural dedication Deinomenes Deinomenid Delphi Demeter Diodorus divine Dorian eagle Epicharmus epigram epinician favor festival fifth century focus foundation of Aitna Gela Gelon gods Greece Greek Hagesias Herakles Herodotus Hesiod Homeric honor horses hymn immortality interpretation Ixion king kingship Koronis Kroisos Kumai Luraghi lyre mainland monarch monument mortal Muses myth mythological narrative Nemean 9 odes for Hieron Olympian Olympic one’s panhellenic paradigm Pausanias Pelops performance Persian Wars Pherenikos Phoenician Pindar Pindar’s odes Plataia play poem poet poet’s poetic poetry political Polyzalos Poseidon praise present Pythian reference relationship resonance Salamis sanctuary scepter Sicilian Sicily Simonides slander song Spartan status sympotic Syracusan Syracuse Tantalos temple Themistokles Theron tion tradition triad tripod Typhon tyrant Zeus δὲ ἐν καὶ