Group A Post Week of 9/17

My post this week will focus on Pindar's Olympian I: For Hieron of Syracuse. The first thing that caught my eye about this poem was the title; we live just over an hour away from another city named Syracuse. Upon investigation, I found that Syracuse, New York's name dates back to an Italian salt-making city from 700 B.C.  It is likely that the name of Syracuse, New York and the "Hieron of Syracuse" have common origins.
In the first stanza of the poem, Pindar likens the Olympics as the greatest sports competition, analogous to water and gold in their respective uses. This suggestst that even thousands of years ago, the Olympics were as or even more important than they are today. In this poem, the Olympics are used for more than just a sports competition; they are used to grant political power and to determine the leaders of society. A "scepter" is used to describe political power in this poem when it is usually used to describe a battle tool used in the Olympics. This is Pindar's way of representing the stakes held in the Olympics, and the Hieron of Syracuse clearly beat the odds. He is instructed to "walk high for the time that is yours" as he becomes the "crowned summit" of the town.
Something that confuses me about this poem is the relationship between the humans and the gods. Firstly, gods in this literature are different than "God" when I think about it from theology class. For example, Tantalos gets in trouble for giving food to the humans, although that seems characteristic for a "god" to do. When the gods pose themselves as humans in other poems confuses me even further. Does anyone have a way they use to understand the relationship between the humans and the gods they would be willing to share?

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2018 at 11:38 AM

    I had the same question about the role of the gods in our readings so far as well. I am thinking that sense there are a number of gods in this literature, and no one all powerful God, that there are stricter guidelines in terms of the involvement in the lives of humans.
    Your connection to the significance of the Olympiad and the modern day Olympics is interesting. Even though the Olympics are growing in the number of sports and worldwide participation, the honor that resulted from winning Olympic events in the past impacted the lives of the victors even more than they do today.

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2018 at 8:33 PM

    I think that your connection and comments about Syracuse is very interesting. The facts about Syracuse that you found are fascinating as well. I also find the connections between the Gods and humans a little confusing. Looking at your question I do not have an easier way to understand the relationship between the humans and the gods.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 24, 2018 at 5:56 PM

    It is very interesting that it mattered so much more to them compared to us. Enough to where they would put the city in the hands of a man who won an athletic competition. The question is have our athletes not evolved or has our society evolved. Obviously back then the athletes were evolved or adapted enough to their cities needs where they could run the city. You talked about the relationship between the humans and the Gods, but I found it even more interesting about the victors and the Gods. The athletes get all the glory and blessings from the Gods when they win.

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  4. Jordan SilversmithSeptember 30, 2018 at 12:14 PM

    Your point about the importance of the Olympic games is very interesting. Today it would be absurd to have an athletic competition play a role in deciding our leaders. However, in Pindar's odes, it is evident that the Olympics, as well as other athletic events, play a major role in proving your worth as a leader.

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