SOURCE: The introduction to his translation of The Odes of Pindar, London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1972, pp. xi-xxvi.

In the following excerpt, Conway presents an overview of Pindar's odes, including principal themes, structure, and historical background.

The Odes of Pindar were written in honour of victors in the events of the four great national athletic meetings of ancient Greece, held at regular intervals at Olympia, at Delphi (the Pythian Games), on the Isthmus of Corinth and at Nemea. These Games were in each case part of one of the four Panhellenic festivals, the most important of all the religious festivals of ancient Greece.

The Panhellenic Games and The Epinician Ode

Competitive athletic meetings had from early times been a regular part of Greek life, and by the time of Pindar, whose working years covered the first half of the fifth century B.C., these were widespread amongst the...