In Greek mythology, Tartarus is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's Gorgias, souls are judged after death and where the wicked received divine punishment. In Hesiod's Theogony, Tartarus is described as one of the earliest beings to exist, alongside Chaos, Gaia (Earth) and Eros (Love).
Bacchylides was a Greek lyric poet. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets, which included his uncle Simonides. The elegance and polished style of his lyrics have been noted in Bacchylidean scholarship since at least Longinus. Some scholars have characterized these qualities as superficial charm. He has often been compared unfavourably with his contemporary, Pindar, as "a kind of Boccherini to Pindar's Haydn". However, the differences in their styles do not allow for easy comparison, and translator Robert Fagles has written that "to blame Bacchylides for not being Pindar is as childish a judgement as to condemn ... Marvell for missing the grandeur of Milton". His career coincided with the ascendency of dramatic styles of poetry, as embodied in the works of Aeschylus or Sophocles, and he is in fact considered one of the last poets of major significance within the more ancient tradition of purely lyric poetry. The most notable features of his lyrics are their clarity in expression and simplicity of thought, making them an ideal introduction to the study of Greek lyric poetry in general and to Pindar's verse in particular.
HieronI was the son of Deinomenes, the brother of Gelon and tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, Magna Graecia, from 478 to 467 BC. In succeeding Gelon, he conspired against a third brother, Polyzelos.
Pindar was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is by far the greatest, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich exuberance of his language and matter, and his rolling flood of eloquence, characteristics which, as Horace rightly held, make him inimitable." His poems can also, however, seem difficult and even peculiar. The Athenian comic playwright Eupolis once remarked that they "are already reduced to silence by the disinclination of the multitude for elegant learning". Some scholars in the modern age also found his poetry perplexing, at least until the 1896 discovery of some poems by his rival Bacchylides; comparisons of their work showed that many of Pindar's idiosyncrasies are typical of archaic genres rather than of only the poet himself. His poetry, while admired by critics, still challenges the casual reader and his work is largely unread among the general public.
In Greek mythology, Pelops was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region. He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus.
In Greek mythology, Porphyrion was one of the Gigantes (Giants), who according to Hesiod, were the offspring of Gaia, born from the blood that fell when Uranus (Sky) was castrated by their son Cronus. In some other versions of the myth, the Gigantes were born of Gaia and Tartarus.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. They were called Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus.
Kamarina was an ancient city on the southern coast of Sicily in Magna Graecia. The ruins of the site and an archaeological museum are located south of the modern town of Scoglitti, a frazione of the comune Vittoria in the province of Ragusa.
Theron, son of Aenesidamus, was a Greek tyrant of the town of Acragas in Sicily in Magna Graecia from 488 BC. According to Polyaenus, he came to power by using public funds allocated for the hire of private contractors meant to assist with a temple building project, to instead hire a personal group of bodyguards. With this force at his disposal, he was able to seize control of the town's government. He soon became an ally of Gelo, who at that time controlled Gela, and from 485 BC, Syracuse. Gelo later became Theron's son-in-law.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 222 is a list of ancient Olympic victors by an unknown author, written in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a roll. It is dated to the third century. Currently it is housed in the British Library in London.
The Greek lyric poet Pindar composed odes to celebrate victories at all four Panhellenic Games. Of his fourteen Olympian Odes, glorifying victors at the Ancient Olympic Games, the First was positioned at the beginning of the collection by Aristophanes of Byzantium since it included praise for the games as well as of Pelops, who first competed at Elis. It was the most quoted in antiquity and was hailed as the "best of all the odes" by Lucian. Pindar composed the epinikion in honour of his then patron Hieron I, tyrant of Syracuse, whose horse Pherenikos and its jockey were victorious in the single horse race in 476 BC.
Pherenikos was an Ancient Greek chestnut racehorse victorious at the Olympic and Pythian Games in the 470s BC. Pherenikos, whose name means "victory-bearer", was "the most famous racehorse in antiquity". Owned by Hieron I, tyrant of Syracuse, Pherenikos is celebrated in the victory odes of both Pindar and Bacchylides.
Psaumis of Camarina was a charioteer who won the Olympic four-horse chariot race (tethrippon) in the 82nd Olympiad. He probably had already won the two-mule chariot race in the previous edition of the 81st Olympiad and he also competed unsuccessfully in the mounted-horse race. He was the son of Akron, according to one of the odes written about him.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Melia, a daughter of the Titan Oceanus, was the consort of Apollo, and the mother, by Apollo, of the Theban hero and prophet Tenerus. She was also the mother of Ismenus, god of the Theban river of the same name. Melia was an important cult figure at Thebes. She was worshipped at the Ismenion, the Temple of Apollo at Thebes, and was associated with a nearby spring.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Theban hero Tenerus was the son and prophet of Apollo. His mother was Melia, a daughter of the Titan Oceanus.
Pindar's First Pythian Ode is an ancient Greek epinicion praising Hiero of Syracuse for a victory in the Pythian Games. It was to be sing at a grand musical festival, celebrating Hiero of Syracuse's achievements and the founding of the new city, Aetna. Most of Pindar's signature characteristics and signature style appear in this poem. Pindar utilizes religion, local mythology, and his poetic genius to create an ode that outlasts the occasion itself. The motif of the ode is harmony. Harmony of the lyre and moral harmony of a life formed by justice, liberality, and the pleasure of the gods. The one follows the other and link together as one true source of imperishable honor of a man.
Olympian 2, 'For Theron of Acragas', is an ode by the 5th century BC Greek poet Pindar.
Olympian 3, 'For Theron of Acragas', is an ode by the 5th century BC Greek poet Pindar.
Olympian 5, 'For Psaumis of Camarina', is an ode by the 5th century BC Greek poet Pindar.
Olympian 6, 'For Hagesias of Syracuse', is an ode by the 5th century BC Greek poet Pindar.
