Pindar · c. 518 – after 446 BC
Pythian Odes
ΠυθιονῖκαιThe twelve Pythian Odes celebrate victories at the Pythian Games at Delphi, in honour of Apollo. They include the longest ode Pindar wrote, Pythian 4, which tells the voyage of the Argonauts, and Pythian 3 on Asclepius.
Contents · 12 passages
- 1.1–100Pythian 1: for Hieron — the golden lyre and Aetna1376 words
- 2.1–96Pythian 2: for Hieron — Ixion1233 words
- 3.1–115Pythian 3: for Hieron — Asclepius and Coronis1430 words
- 4.1–142Pythian 4: for Arcesilas — Medea's prophecy and Jason at Iolcus1824 words
- 4.143–299Pythian 4: for Arcesilas — the Argonauts and the golden fleece2038 words
- 5.1–125Pythian 5: for Arcesilas — the Battiads and the colonists of Cyrene1048 words
- 6.1–50Pythian 6: for Xenocrates — Thrasybulus and Antilochus432 words
- 7.1–8.100Pythians 7-8: the Alcmaeonidae of Athens; Aristomenes and Alcmaeon1083 words
- 9.1–125Pythian 9: for Telesicrates — Cyrene and Apollo1463 words
- 10.1–72Pythian 10: for Hippocleas — Perseus and the Hyperboreans745 words
- 11.1–64Pythian 11: for Thrasydaeus — Orestes and Agamemnon700 words
- 12.1–32Pythian 12: for Midas — Perseus, Medusa and the flute362 words
More by Pindar
English translation by Sir John Sandys (1915). Original text: Sir John Sandys (ed.), The Odes of Pindar, Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Putnam, 1915 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus from the 1937 reprint).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library, Greek text); translation public domain (OCR from the Internet Archive scan). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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Pindar. "Pythian Odes." Translated by Sir John Sandys (1915). GreekMythology.com, 05 Oct. 2026, https://www.greekmythology.com/sources/pindar/pythian-odes. Accessed 20 October 2026.
Pindar. (2026, October 05). Pythian Odes (Sir John Sandys, Trans.). GreekMythology.com. https://www.greekmythology.com/sources/pindar/pythian-odes
Pindar. "Pythian Odes." Translated by Sir John Sandys (1915). GreekMythology.com, October 05, 2026. https://www.greekmythology.com/sources/pindar/pythian-odes.
Pindar, Pythian Odes: GreekMythology.com - Oct 20, 2026