“Boasting for Thebes”: A Thebanocentric Reading of Pindar’s Fourth Pythian Ode

Abstract

Over the last three decades, the salience of the ancient Greek poet Pindar’s Theban identity and its role in his poetics has found greater awareness among critics. Nevertheless, such discussions of Pindar’s “Thebanicity” have largely been focused on the poems that were performed at Thebes or were limited to his use of Theban myth. This thesis examines the role of Thebes in Pindar’s Fourth Pythian ode and, in so doing, shows that Pindar’s Theban poetics are not limited to his Theban poetry or mythic narratives. As an ode performed at Kyrēnē, Pythian 4 provides an excellent opportunity to examine the city’s significance in Pindar’s songworld, especially due to the unusual historical circumstances of the ode’s composition, in which Thebes plays a role. In Pythian 4, Pindar employs Thebes and Theban myth to realize his chief poetic objectives: repatriating the exile Damophilos and ending the threat of stasis at Kyrēnē. By drawing on an idealized mythopoetic Thebes, Pindar rehabilitates Damophilos in the eyes of Arkesilas, the king of Kyrēnē and the honoree of the poem, and promotes himself as a wise poetic advisor, allowing him to better assist the king in healing the rifts in the city. On the other hand, the poet exploits Theban mythohistorical ties with Kyrēnē to draw a series of exemplary parallels that serve as a warning to the king. These mythic connections allow Pindar to advance Thebes as Kyrēnē’s ultimate metropolis, which both heightens Theban prestige and enhances Pindar’s status as a consultatory figure. Accordingly, this thesis establishes that Thebanicity is an important structural motif within Pythian 4 and serves as the primary means by which Pindar achieves his poetic goals.