Difference between revisions of "Ta tou Pindarou Sesosmena"
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|publoc=Glasguae | |publoc=Glasguae | ||
|publisher=Excudebat R. & A. Foulis | |publisher=Excudebat R. & A. Foulis | ||
| − | |year=1754- | + | |year=1754-1758 |
|edition=Ex editione Oxoniensi | |edition=Ex editione Oxoniensi | ||
|lang=Greek | |lang=Greek | ||
|set=4 volumes in 3 | |set=4 volumes in 3 | ||
| − | | | + | |desc=32mo (8 cm.) |
| − | | | + | }}{{BookPageBookplate |
| − | + | |imagename=PindarTaTouPindarou1754v1Bookplate.jpg | |
| − | }}Pindar was a Greek lyric poetry born around | + | |display=left |
| − | <br/>Pindar’s only four works which survive intact—and are contained in this Glasgow edition in the original ancient Greek (''Ta tou Pindarou Sesomena: Olympia, Pythia, Nemia, Isthmia'')—are the celebratory choral victory songs composed for the four great panhellenic athletic festivals: the Olympic Games (in Olympia), the Pythian Games (in Delphi – so named for the mythical Python killed by Apollo prior to establishing his oracle and games there), the Nemean Games (in Nemea), and the Isthmian Games (in Corinth – so named for the fact that Corinth is an isthmus). Athletic competitions were very important to the ancient Greeks, as they provided a measuring ground for the “highest human qualities” of physical fitness and prowess. Pindar’s victory songs, like other poets’, were sung either right after the victory while still at the Games or when the victor went back to his native city. The victory songs consist of a usually elaborate announcement of victory though rarely were details of the victory provided beyond the location and specific victorious event. The victor’s association with any previous victors in his family or his patron is listed, then the song takes a somber turn by delving into moralizing themes reminding the victor of his mortality and the necessity of divine aid. For this moral component, Pindar often chose myths from the victor’s city and describes specific scenes (assuming that the audience has a familiarity with the myth) which highlight his moral message and illuminate particular traits of the victor or his situation.<ref>Ibid.</ref><br/ | + | |caption=Bookplate, front pastedown. |
| − | + | }}[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pindar Pindar] was a Greek lyric poetry born around 518 BCE in Cynoscephalae, Boeotia.<ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-1728 "Pindar"] in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World'', ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).</ref> He already had ''panhellenic'' (across Greece) recognition by the age of 20 when he was commissioned by the rulers of Thessaly, which was followed by many commissions by ruling and aristocratic families which required him to travel all over Greece. His ancient reputation is clearly established through the praise of Herodotus and attribution “by many in antiquity as the greatest of the nine poets of the lyric canon.”<ref>Ibid.</ref><br/> | |
| + | <br/> | ||
| + | Pindar’s only four works which survive intact—and are contained in this Glasgow edition in the original ancient Greek (''Ta tou Pindarou Sesomena: Olympia, Pythia, Nemia, Isthmia'')—are the celebratory choral victory songs composed for the four great panhellenic athletic festivals: the Olympic Games (in Olympia), the Pythian Games (in Delphi – so named for the mythical Python killed by Apollo prior to establishing his oracle and games there), the Nemean Games (in Nemea), and the Isthmian Games (in Corinth – so named for the fact that Corinth is an isthmus). Athletic competitions were very important to the ancient Greeks, as they provided a measuring ground for the “highest human qualities” of physical fitness and prowess. Pindar’s victory songs, like other poets’, were sung either right after the victory while still at the Games or when the victor went back to his native city. The victory songs consist of a usually elaborate announcement of victory though rarely were details of the victory provided beyond the location and specific victorious event. The victor’s association with any previous victors in his family or his patron is listed, then the song takes a somber turn by delving into moralizing themes reminding the victor of his mortality and the necessity of divine aid. For this moral component, Pindar often chose myths from the victor’s city and describes specific scenes (assuming that the audience has a familiarity with the myth) which highlight his moral message and illuminate particular traits of the victor or his situation.<ref>Ibid.</ref><br/> | ||
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library== | ==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library== | ||
| − | Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as | + | Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Pindar. 3.v. p.f. Foul. Gr." and given by [[Thomas Jefferson]] to his grandson [[Thomas Jefferson Randolph]]. The Foulis Press published a four-volume, Greek, trigesimo-segundo (32mo) edition of Pindar between 1754 and 1758. It was the only Greek edition they published.<ref>Philip Gaskell, ''A Bibliography of the Foulis Press'', 2nd ed. (Winchester, Hampshire, England: St Paul's Bibliographies, 1986), 190.</ref> Both [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on November 14, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe </ref> on LibraryThing and the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> include this edition and note a copy of volume two at the University of Virginia with the inscription "T. J. Randolph" inside the front board which may be Wythe's actual copy (there are no Wythe markings). The Wolf Law Library purchased the same edition. |
| − | + | [[File:PindarTaTouPindarou_v2_1754Inscription.jpg|left|thumb|200px|<center>Inscription, front flyleaf, volume two.</center>]] | |
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy== | ==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy== | ||
Bound in mottled crimson calf with covers framed in gilt beaded roll. Spines with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations and board edges with gilt roll. Each front fly-leaf with early inked inscription of Henry Moore, Worcester College, Oxford. Front pastedowns have bookplate of H.M. Purchased from SessaBks. | Bound in mottled crimson calf with covers framed in gilt beaded roll. Spines with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations and board edges with gilt roll. Each front fly-leaf with early inked inscription of Henry Moore, Worcester College, Oxford. Front pastedowns have bookplate of H.M. Purchased from SessaBks. | ||
Revision as of 16:51, 27 February 2014
by Pindar
| Ta tou Pindarou Sesosmena | |
 Title page from Ta tou Pindarou Sesosmena, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. | |
| Author | Pindar |
| Published | Glasguae: Excudebat R. & A. Foulis |
| Date | 1754-1758 |
| Edition | Ex editione Oxoniensi |
| Language | Greek |
| Volumes | 4 volumes in 3 volume set |
| Desc. | 32mo (8 cm.) |
Pindar was a Greek lyric poetry born around 518 BCE in Cynoscephalae, Boeotia.[1] He already had panhellenic (across Greece) recognition by the age of 20 when he was commissioned by the rulers of Thessaly, which was followed by many commissions by ruling and aristocratic families which required him to travel all over Greece. His ancient reputation is clearly established through the praise of Herodotus and attribution “by many in antiquity as the greatest of the nine poets of the lyric canon.”[2]
Pindar’s only four works which survive intact—and are contained in this Glasgow edition in the original ancient Greek (Ta tou Pindarou Sesomena: Olympia, Pythia, Nemia, Isthmia)—are the celebratory choral victory songs composed for the four great panhellenic athletic festivals: the Olympic Games (in Olympia), the Pythian Games (in Delphi – so named for the mythical Python killed by Apollo prior to establishing his oracle and games there), the Nemean Games (in Nemea), and the Isthmian Games (in Corinth – so named for the fact that Corinth is an isthmus). Athletic competitions were very important to the ancient Greeks, as they provided a measuring ground for the “highest human qualities” of physical fitness and prowess. Pindar’s victory songs, like other poets’, were sung either right after the victory while still at the Games or when the victor went back to his native city. The victory songs consist of a usually elaborate announcement of victory though rarely were details of the victory provided beyond the location and specific victorious event. The victor’s association with any previous victors in his family or his patron is listed, then the song takes a somber turn by delving into moralizing themes reminding the victor of his mortality and the necessity of divine aid. For this moral component, Pindar often chose myths from the victor’s city and describes specific scenes (assuming that the audience has a familiarity with the myth) which highlight his moral message and illuminate particular traits of the victor or his situation.[3]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Pindar. 3.v. p.f. Foul. Gr." and given by Thomas Jefferson to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The Foulis Press published a four-volume, Greek, trigesimo-segundo (32mo) edition of Pindar between 1754 and 1758. It was the only Greek edition they published.[4] Both George Wythe's Library[5] on LibraryThing and the Brown Bibliography[6] include this edition and note a copy of volume two at the University of Virginia with the inscription "T. J. Randolph" inside the front board which may be Wythe's actual copy (there are no Wythe markings). The Wolf Law Library purchased the same edition.
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Bound in mottled crimson calf with covers framed in gilt beaded roll. Spines with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations and board edges with gilt roll. Each front fly-leaf with early inked inscription of Henry Moore, Worcester College, Oxford. Front pastedowns have bookplate of H.M. Purchased from SessaBks.
View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.
References
- ↑ "Pindar" in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World, ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Philip Gaskell, A Bibliography of the Foulis Press, 2nd ed. (Winchester, Hampshire, England: St Paul's Bibliographies, 1986), 190.
- ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on November 14, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
