b. The moral sentiment pervading Pindar's odes rests on a con stant recognition of the limits imposed by the divine will on human effort, combined with strenuous exhortation that each man should strive to reach the limit allowed in his own case. Native temperament (ovii) is the grand source of all human excellence (apex'), while such excellences as can be acquired by study (6tbaKral aperat, 01. ix. Ioo) are of relatively small scope—the sentiment, we may remark, of one whose thoughts were habitually conversant with the native qualities of a poet on the one hand and of an athlete on the other. The elements of iryitts OX(3os "sane happiness," such as has least reason to dread the jealousy of the gods—are substance sufficing for daily wants and good repute (€i)Xo-yta). He who has these should not "seek to be a god." "Wealth set with virtues" (rXdros apETais MatbaXilivos), as gold with precious gems, is the most fortunate lot, because it affords the amplest opportunities for honourable activity. Pindar does not rise above the ethical standard of an age which said, "love thy friend and hate thy foe" (cf. Pyth. ii. 83; Isthm. 65). But in one sense he has a moral elevation which is distinc tively his own ; he is the glowing prophet of generous emulation and of reverent self-control.
c. The political sentiments of the Theban poet are suggested by Pyth. xi. 52; "In polities I find the middle state crowned with more enduring good; therefore praise I not the despot's portion; those virtues move my zeal which serve the folk." If in Pyth. ii. 87, a democracy is described as 6 X6.13pos arparos, "the raging crowd," it is to be noted that the ode is for Hiero of Syracuse, and that the phrase clearly refers to the violence of those demo cratic revolutions which, in the early part of the 5th century B.C., more than once convulsed Sicilian cities. At Thebes, after the Persian wars, a "constitutional oligarchy" (6Xcyapxia luovoilos, Thuc. iii. 62) had replaced the narrower and less temperate oligarchy of former days (otwaarda ov mera vo,uwv), and in this we may probably recognize the phase of Greek political life most congenial to Pindar. He speaks of a king's lot as unique in its opportunities (0/. i. 113); he sketches the character of an ideal king (Pyth. iii. 71) ; but nothing in his poetry implies liking for the rvpavvis as a form of government. Towards the Greek princes of Sicily and Cyrene his tone is ever one of manly independence; he speaks as a Greek citizen whose lineage places him on a level with the proudest of the Dorian race, and whose office invests him with an almost sacred dignity. In regard to the politics of Hellas at large, Pindar makes us feel the new sense of leisure for quiet pursuits and civilizing arts which came after the Persian wars. He honours "Tranquillity, the friend of cities" (`Ao-vxta
cAtAinroXts, 01. iv. 16). The epic poet sang of wars: Pindar cele brates the "rivalries of peace." Love of Natural Art.—Pindar's genius was boldly original; at the same time he was an exquisite artist. "Mine be it to invent new strains, mine the skill to hold my course in the chariot of the Muses; and may courage go with me, and power of ample grasp" (01. ix. 8o). Here we see the exulting sense of inborn strength; in many other places we perceive the feeling of conscious art —as in the phrase bat66X-yEtv, so apt for his method of inlaying an ode with mythical subjects, or when he compares the opening of a song to the front of a stately building (01. vi. 3). Pindar's sympathy with external nature was deeper and keener than is often discernible in the poetry of his age. It appears, for example, in his welcome of the season when "the chamber of the hours is opened, and delicate plants perceive the fragrant spring" (Jr. 53, Bergle, 75) ; in the passage where Jason invokes "the rushing strength of waves and winds, and the nights, and the paths of the deep" (Pyth. iv. 195) ; in the lines on the eclipse of the sun (fr. 84, 107) ; and in the picture of the eruption, when Etna, "pillar of the sky, nurse of keen snow all the year," sends forth "pure springs of fire unapproachable" (Pyth. i. 20). The poet's feeling for colour is often noticeable—as in the beautiful story of the birth of Iamus—when Evadne lays aside her silver pitcher and her girdle of scarlet web ; the babe is found, "its delicate body steeped in the golden and deep purple rays of pansies" (01. vi. 55).