Pindar

Description

Though Pindar is a notoriously difficult author who calls for considerable elucidation if he is to be understood and enjoyed, books on him are very rare in English. Sir Maurice Bowra now provides an extensive and fully documented introduction which surveys his work from several different angles. Sir Maurice begins by considering his view of poetry, his religious convictions, and his relation to contemporary political events, then turns to ask what he saw in athletic success, reviews his art in its manners and mannerisms, its imagery and its use of myths, and ends by examining the principles on which he constructs an ode and making an assessment of his poetical personality. Though the main plan of the book is comprehensive, it pays full attention to details and is well abreast with modem Pindaric scholarship. Though Greek is freely quoted, translations are provided, and the book should be of interest also to lovers of poetry who are not strictly classical scholars.