Pindar's Eighth Nemean Ode
Ancient Greek poem
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Pindar's Eighth Nemean Ode is an ancient Greek epinikion celebrating a victory of Deinias of Aegina. The poem's exact occasion is uncertain, but a success in the diaulos race at the Nemean games is presumed to be the athletic contest in question.[2] While its presumptive date of composition is 459 BC,[3] the poem is known for its treatment of the Aeacidae and the suicide of Ajax.[4]
| Nemean 8 | |
|---|---|
| by Pindar | |
| Written | 459 BC (?) |
| Language | ancient Greek |
| Genre | Victory Ode |
| Meter | Dactylo-epitrite[1] |
| Lines | 51 |
Recipient
Myth
As is common in Pindaric victory odes, Nemean 8 features a mythical narrative. In honour of the legendary king of Aegina, Aeacus, the poem is concerned with his son Ajax and his failed attempt to win the arms of the deceased Achilles.[7] In line with other treatments of the myth (for example, in Sophocles' Ajax), the arms are instead given to Odysseus, which causes Ajax to take his own life by plunging into a sword.