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THE TWELFTH. OLYMPICK ODE.
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This Ode is inscribed to Ergoteles the Son of Philanor of Himera, who, in the Seventy seventh Olympiad, gained the Prize in the Foot-Race called Dolichos or the Long Course.

ARGUMENT.

Ergoteles was originally of Crete, but being driven from thence by the Fury of a prevailing Faction, he retired to Himera, a Town of Sicily, where he was honourably received, and admitted to the Freedom of the City; after which he had the Happiness to obtain, what the Greeks esteemed the highest Pitch of Glory, the Olympick Crown. Pausanias says he gained two Olympick Crowns; and the same Number in each of the other three Sacred Games, the Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean. From these remarkable Vicissitudes of Fortune in the Life of Ergoteles, Pindar takes Occasion to address himself to that powerful Directress of all human Affairs, imploring her Protection for Himera, the adopted Country of Ergoteles. Then, after describing in general Terms the universal Influence of that Deity upon all the Actions of Mankind, the Uncertainty of Events, and the Vanity of Hope, ever fluctuating in Ignorance and Error, he assigns a Reason for that Vanity, viz. That the Gods have

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not given to mortal Men any certain Evidence of their future Fortunes, which often happen to be the very Reverse both of their Hopes and Fears. Thus, says he, it happened to Ergoteles, whose very Misfortunes were to him the Occasion of Happiness and Glory; since, had he not been banished from his Country, he had probably passed his Life in Obscurity, and wasted in domestick Broils and Quarrels that Strength and Activity, which his more peaceful Situation at Himera enabled him to improve, and employ for the obtaining the Olympick Crown.

This Ode, one of the shortest, is, at the same time, in its Order and Connection, the clearest and most compact of any to be met with in Pindar.

STROPHE.

Daughter of Eleutherian Jove,
To thee my Supplications I prefer!
For potent Himera my Suit I move;
Protectress Fortune, hear!
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Thy Deity along the pathless Main
In her wild Course the rapid Vessel guides;
Rules the fierce Conflict on th'embattled Plain,
And in deliberating States presides.
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Toss'd by thy uncertain Gale
On the Seas of Error sail
Human Hopes, now mounting high
On the swelling Surge of Joy;
Now with unexpected Woe
Sinking to the Depths below.

ANTISTROPHE.

For sure Presage of Things to come
None yet on Mortals have the Gods bestow'd;
Nor of Futurity's impervious Gloom
Can Wisdom pierce the Cloud.
Oft our most sanguine Views th'Event deceives,
And veils in sudden Grief the smiling Ray:
Oft, when with Woe the mournful Bosom heaves,
Caught in a Storm of Anguish and Dismay,
Pass some fleeting Moments by,
All at once the Tempests fly:
Instant shifts the clouded Scene;
Heav'n renews its Smiles serene;
And on Joy's untroubled Tides
Smooth to Port the Vessel glides.

EPODE.

Ergoteles.

Son of Philanor! in the secret Shade
Thus had thy Speed unknown to Fame decay'd;
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Thus, like the crested Bird of Mars, at home
Engag'd in foul domestick Jars,
And wasted with intestine Wars,
Inglorious hadst thou spent thy vig'rous Bloom;
Had not Sedition's Civil Broils
Expell'd thee from thy native Crete,
And driv'n thee with more glorious Toils
Th'Olympick Crown in Pisa's Plain to meet.
With Olive now, with Pythian Laurels grac'd,
And the dark Chaplets of the Isthmian Pine,
In Himera's adopted City plac'd,
To all, Ergoteles, thy Honours shine,
And raise her Lustre by imparting Thine.
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