Conscious Ambiguities in Pindar and Bacchylides Renehan, Robert F Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Fall 1969; 10, 3; ProQuest pg. 217

Conscious Ambiguities in Pindar and 
Bacchylides 

Robert F. Renehan 

I N certain passages of Pindar and Bacchylides, the recognition of the 
literary device of conscious ambiguity can serve to clarify the 
poet's meaning. 'Ambiguity' is a vague term and wants closer 

definition: I mean the deliberate selection of one word intended to 

convey simultaneously several meanings. It is, of course, a common­
place that a poem may admit of a variety of literal, symbolic and 
allegorical interpretations, some conscious, some not, some real and 
some imaginary. My concern in this essay is with no such grand 
theme, rather with but one quite specific, though elusive, poetic 
device. This device consists in the conscious use of a word that either 
(a) has itself several legitimate meanings, each of which is suited to 
a particular context, or (b) suggests at the same time through 
similarity of sight and sound a second distinct word. 

The phenomenon of ambiguity has received more attention from 
English scholars than from classicists; the best known treatment in 
English literature is William Empson's Seven Types of Ambiguity2 

(London 1947). For the Hellenist W. B. Stanford's Ambiguity in Greek 
Literature (Oxford 1939)-a work inspired, in part at least, by Emp­
son's book-is the standard study. Both works, however, with their 
intricate analyses, deal with a variety of ambiguities far beyond the 
scope of this essay; Empson's third type (p.102) comes closest to my 
use of the term: "An ambiguity of the third type, considered as a 
verbal matter, occurs when two ideas, which are connected only by 
being both relevant in the context, can be given in one word simul­
taneously. This is often done by reference to derivation." A single 
passage will illustrate (Aesch. Ag. 699-701): 

'TAtCf} DE KijDo~ op()­
wvvfLOV Tell.eaa{cppwv 

fLijVLS ifll.aaev •.• 

217 



218 CONSCIOUS AMBIGUITIES IN PINDAR AND BACCHYLIDES 

The Kfj80s is Helen; the word means here both <grief' and <marriage 
alliance', as the scholiast correctly perceived: TO Kfj80s U7Jf.LalV€L Ka~ 
T~V E7TLyaf.LfJplav Ka~ TO 7TlvOos. Fraenkel comments "scarcely trans­
latable" and aptly quotes H. Voss's "Eh und Weh." 

In the case of Pindar few would still deny the reality of conscious 
ambiguities, but I may remind the reader that so recently as 1932 
Farnell could write (on 01.9.80-81): H ••• The modern commentators 
mainly agree, and some try to save their consciences by supposing 
that Pindar uses the word in two senses at once-a sin that Pindar 
never commits . .. " (my italics). 

For the passages of Pindar and Bacchylides discussed below I use 
the Teubner editions of Bruno SnelP 
1. PINDAR, Olympian 8.23-25, 70-71: 

e \ \' \ ,,\_~, . . . ° n yap 7TOIlV KaL 7TOI\I\!f P€'TTTl, 

op()fj. 8LaKpLvuL cpp€vi f.L~ 7Tupa KaLpov 

8vcmuMs· 

, ~\ " I I 
7TUTP' O€ 7TaTpos €V€7l1'€VU€V fJ-€VOS 

Y'rJpaos aVTL7TaAov· 

LS] s.v. 8vu7Ta~-rys give "difficult, c. inf., OtaKptV€LV (sic) .. . ovu7TaMs 

[EUTL] Pi.O.8.25, cf. PA.273 ... "; s.v. aVTl7Ta~os they state "properly, 
wrestling against: hence, antagonist, rival ... c.gen., f.Llvos y-rypaos 

aVTt7Ta~ov PLO.S.71 ... " Already in the oldest extant piece of Attic 
prose, the Old Oligarch,2 aVTt1Ta~os occurs in the fully transferred 
sense of <enemy' without any reference to the literal meaning. In this 
ode there can be little doubt that Pindar chose both 8VU7TaMs and 
aVTt7Ta~ov deliberately and intended his audience to understand the 
words in both literal and metaphorical sense at once: the ode was 
composed in honor of Alkimedon, the wrestler. Compare Nem. 11.26 
OT)PLcfJVTwV ••• aVTt7TaAWV, where aVTt7Ta~os suggests both <wrestler' 
and <rival' (note 7Ta~~ in verse 21). Similar is Isthm. 5.59-61: 

" 'll()" c;.' aLV€W KaL v €av €V YVLOoaf.LaLS 
tPv~aKtS~ 7T~ayav opop.ov €VOV1Topfjua" 

'c;./:' , • , , X€PUL O€~LOV, pocp aVTL1TalloP. 
1 Pindari Carmina cum fragmentis I', 11 3 (Leipzig 1964); Bacchylidis Carmina cum fragmentis 8 

(Leipzig 1961). 
22.12. The most recent editor of this treatise, G. W. Bowersock, dates it between 

445-441 B.C. (HSCP 71 [1967] 38). Despite Bowersock (pp.34-35) the phrase 7TEP~ TOU 7ToMp.ov 
in 3.2, according to normal Greek usage, should refer to a definite war, as Kirchhoff 
maintained. As Bowersock's arguments for the approximate dating of the work seem to 

me to have much force, I would refer 7TEPL TOU 7ToMp.ov specifically to the Samian Revolt 
and propose 440-439 as a date. 



ROBERT F. RENEHAN 219 

Sandys in his Loeb edition of Pin dar, p.389 n.3, makes the observation 
that Pindar " ... uses metaphors suggested by the particular athletic 
contest which he is commemorating." See for example Isthm. 2.2 
€S 8t</>pov MOLoav E{3aLvov; this ode celebrates a victory in the chariot 
race. So also Ol. 6.22-25 (for a victory with the mule chariot): 

JJ t:f>tV'TLS, a'\'\a ~EvtOV ..;;-
~ {JI' I 
07] fl-Ot OUEVOS- 7]fl-toVWV, 

l' I "'/" "{J" () ~ C!- Taxos, 0'fJpa KEI\EVUCfJ T EV Ka apC!-
QI " " I \' <;' ~ fJa00fl-EV OKXOV, LKWfl-at TE TrPOS avopwv 

\ I 

Kat YEVOS. 

Here Fennell comments, "The poet identifies the aTr~V7J of Agesias 
[the victor] with the Motoav stcPpos." Curiously, Farnell, despite his 
stricture about the "sin that Pindar never commits," has the following 
note to verse 23: "KE,\deCfJ €V Kaeapfj,: the epithet may have a double 
value here, (a) clear of obstacles, unencumbered; (b) unsullied, 
referring to the ideal path of song."3 Compare below, verses 72-73 
'TLfl-WVTES 8' apET(ks I €S cPavEpav JSdv EPxovTaL and Isthm. 5.23 KI.'\EVeOV av 

Ka()ap&v. 

2. PINDAR, Olympian 1.7-11: 

<;"'0' ' , ~,/..' '<;,1 .. fl-7]0 I\Vfl-Trtas aywva 'fJEpTEpOV avoao0fl-Ev' 

OeEV J Tro,\.,)cPaTos Vfl-VOS afl-cPt{3&'\'\ETaL 

oOcPwv fl-7]TLEOOt, KE'\aOEtV 

Kpovov Trato' ES acPvEav lK0fl-EVOVS-
I 'Z' " fl-aKatpav EPWVOS EO'TLaV . . . 

al-'cptfJa,\,\ETCtt in verse 8 has prompted the most divergent inter­
pretations: LS] S.v. afl-cPtfJ&'\'\w 1.1.c. render "song is cast (like a net) over 
the minds of poets." Lattimore's translation suggests a similar image: 
"It is thence that the song winds strands in the hearts of the skilled." 
Gildersleeve writes "P.'s usage (see 0.2,98; 9,5; 13,93 al.) indicates a 
shower of poetic {3E,\7] or Kfj'\a whirring about the minds of the bards." 
Farnell and others believe the verb to be a "metaphor from folding 
a cloak round one." According to Fennell, Cookesley and Mezger 

3 Farnell shows a similar inconsistency in his interpretation of ~1TwvvfL{av xapLv v{Kas 
ay€p<iJxov at 01. 11(10).78: " ... Pindar may have had two simpler expressions in his mind, 
xapLv ri]s vlK'Y/s, 'for the sake of the Victory', and xapLv lmvLK{av, an accusative in apposition 
to the verbal action= 'as a victory-tribute (or thanksgiving) we will sing of the thunder' 
(the scholiasts' doubtful interpretations support the suggestion of a twofold origin of the 
phrase)." 



220 CONSCIOUS AMBIGUITIES IN PINDAR AND BACCHYLIDES 

thought the image to be of a «garland round the head"; in this they 
were following the lead of one of the scholia on the passage: ~ 
J-I-E'racPopa l.i?r6 TWV UTEcP&.VWV (p.22 Drachmann). Fennell himself pro­
nounced «The verb simply means 'comes about,' 'encompasses', 
no definite metaphor being intended" (my italics). For Pin dar of all poets 
this is incredible; the image may be compound and vague, but an 
image there surely is. 

These differences of interpretation are all due to vJ-I-vos: Pindar does 
not seem to have indicated what metaphor he was applying to 
VJ-I-VOS here. Without a knowledge of this we cannot know in what 
sense poetry «is being thrown round." In fact, Pindar's language 
reveals exactly what picture he had in mind; the clue is in the adjec­
tive 1ToAvcPaTos. The scholiasts paraphrase 1TOAVcPTJJ-I-oS, tJ1Td 1TO'A>..WV 
c/>TJJ-I-~~6J-1-EVOS Ka~ AEy6J-1-EVOS, 1ToAv8pv'A>..TJTOS; for a comparable expres­
sion see al. 6.91 ayacP8EYKTWV ao~8av. Etymologically, the epithet of 
course divides into 1ToAv-c/>aTos ( <c/>TJJ-I-t). I suggest that Pindar intended 
simultaneously a second division 1TOA·VcPaTos, as if from vcPatvw. As 
the scholiast observes on Nem. 7.116 (p.133 Drachmann) ... Td 
7TotTJJLa vc/>&'uJ-I-an 1Tap€O~KEV, WS Ka~ aVTdS €V a'A>..ots (fr.179 Snell)· 
vc/>alvw S' 'AJ-I-v(Jaovl8a~u~v 1TotKlAOV avSTJJ-I-a. The vJ-I-vos here, therefore, 
is a garment; the «mantle of poesy is thrown round the minds of 
poets." A glance at LS] will show that a very common (perhaps, in 
fact, the most common) usage of aJLcP~{3a'A>..w is specifically with 
clothing. Supporting evidence for this interpretation, which will 
undoubtedly strike some as outre, is unusually abundant. Whether 
correctly or not, in Pindar's day vJ-I-VOS was thought to be etymologi­
cally connected with vc/>atvw; the figura etymologica vcP&.vas vJ-I-VOV occurs 
in Bacchyl. 5.9-10. Compare 13(12).223-24, where, if the passage is 
correctly restored, this same poet wrote vJ-I-vwv nva TavSE v[ E67TAOKOV 
S6ULV] I c/>alvw . . . 

Even more striking is 19(18).5-10: 

lo{3Mc/>apol 'TEt Kat 
c/>EpEUTEc/>avo~ Xap~TES 

{3aAwu~v &J-I-c/>t nJ-l-av 
~ ~,J,. I , 
VJ-l-VO~U~V' V't'a~vE VVV EV 

TatS 7TOAVTJp&'TOtS Tt Kawov 
oA{3lats • A(J&.va~s ••• 



.. 

ROBERT F. RENEHAN 221 

(Note {laAwaLv aILcP{') In Pindar himself there are numerous parallels 
for the metaphor: Nem. 4.44-45 egucPcxw€ ••• fdAOS 7T€cPLATJILlvov; 

01. 6.86-87 7TMKWV 7TOLK{Aov vlLvov; Nem. 4.94 P~WXTCX 7TMKWV; fro 179 
vcPcx{vw ... 7TOLK{AOV cXVSTJILCX (compare above). It is perhaps significant 
that 7TOAVCPCXTOS recurs in connection with vf-LVOS, Nem. 7.81: 7TOAVCPCXTOV 

Opoov vf-Lvwv. There is further confirmation at OL1.105 where the poet, 
in ring fashion, takes up the same metaphor: KAVTCXtu£ ••• Vf-LVWlI 

7TTVXCXtS. Despite the doubts of some commentatorS,7T'TVXCXtS is surely a 
figure taken from the folds of a garment; see LS] S.v. 7TTVg 1.2 and III. 
More tenuous as evidence is ILTJTt€aaL in verse 9; this noun is fre­
quently coupled with VCPCXtllW in epic poetry. Bacchylides twice uses 
p,fjTLV as the object of vcpcx{lIW, at 16(15).24-25 and 17(16).51. What 
place such associations may have had in our passage I cannot say. 

One final question remains to be considered: is 7TOAUCPCXTOS in fact 
actually cognate with vcpcx{lIW rather than with cpTJfd? I do not think so; 
the resultant compound would normally be *7ToAvvc/>allTos. In Bacchyl, 
13(12).61 7ToAvcpaVToll occurs (from cPa{lIw). The termination -aTos, 

incidentally, is not an insuperable objection. In 01. 8.16 7TpocpaToll= 

7TPOcPCXVTOll (s.v.l.) occurs; in at 6.54 the variant a7T€LptiTlfJ (7T€LpCX{lIW) 

may be correct; in fr.33c.6 (Snell) the Mss have T'Y}Mc/>CXTOV (TTJAlc/>cxVTOV 

Bergk). In such compounds -aTOS would result from -~-TOS; scholars 
are perhaps too quick to emend them away. Pyth. 11.47 aywlIwv 

7ToAvc/>aTwv seems to me to exclude a derivation from vcPcx{lIW; com­
pare also 01. 6.91 ayacp(JEYKTWV aOLSall (cited above). 

3. a. PINDAR, Olympian 2.43-45: 

A€tcp(JTJ SE eEpuavSpos EpL7TElITL llOAV-

lI€{KEL, lIl0LS Ell aE(JAoLS 
" \ I 

Ell fLCXXCXLS TE 7TOIlEfLoV 

TLfLWfLElIOS, 'ASpauTLSall (JaAOS apwyoll SOfLOLS' 

b. PINDAR, Olympian 6.67-71 : 
'" , ~\ ••• €VT cxv 

SE (JpcxuvILaXcxllos EABwlI 

<HpaKAETJS, UEfLvOll BaAOS 'At-KarSall, 7TaTpt 
• I I \ '/3 EOPT(XV TE KTLay) 7TIIELUT0f-L POTOll TE-

B I I , '(J\ fLOll TE fL€YLUTOll CXE IIWlI, 
Z "" I Q TJlIOS €7T CXKPOTCXTlfJ fJW-

~ " '" , (J I (J 1\ fLlfJ TOT (Xv XPTJUTTJpLOV EU CX£ KEIlEVUElI. 



222 CONSCIOUS AMBIGUITIES IN PINDAR AND BACCHYLIDES 

I wish to consider the force of OaAos in these two passages; LS] s. v. 
OaAos state "prop. = OaAA6S, but only ... in metaph. sense of scion, 
child." This is simply not true in the case of Pin dar. He does use it in 
the sense of 'scion' at Parth. 2.36, but consider Isthm. 7.23-24: 

cp"MYETat 8~ lO1TA6KOtUt Moluats, 
I .. lI" I ~ I~ , 1I 1\ p.aTpWt u OJLWVVJLCf:' OEOWKE KOLVOV ual\os •.• 

Farnell's note is as follows: "KOLVOV OaAos, 'a share in his wreath of 
fame'. Wilamowitz, [Pindaros] pAll, n. 1, comments on this use of 
OaAos as unique; elsewhere it only = 'scion' of the human family: 
the word used for 'shoot' or 'bough' is OaAA6s, very frequently in 
association with UT€cpavos. If OaAos was a variant for OaAA6S, it is 
strange that the metaphorical use of a word should be expressed 
by such a difference of form. This passage suggests that this distinction 
between the two forms was not rigidly observed." OaAos in the sense 
of 'wreath' is now fully confirmed for Pindar by a papyrus fragment, 
Dith. 1.14 (Snell): 

, 'i: ,,, 11K ~ OJ.\ ' ~ ~ 
aE~ET ETt, lr.LOLUaL, U/\OS aOLOav. 

The only other extant example of OaAos in Pindar is Nem. 1.1-2. 

" , 'A\.I.. A aJL1TVEVJLa UEJLVOV l\'f'EOV, 
KAELVav EvpaKouuav OaAos 'OP71.J'Yla ••• 

Since Ortygia was the original settlement at Syracuse, scholars have 
been puzzled by the expression EvpaKouuav f}aAos, which they took 
to mean 'scion of Syracuse'. The evidence cited above shows that 
there is no need to interpret f}aAos as 'scion' here; Pindar is calling 
Ortygia the' crown of glory' of Syracuse. Some scholars, heeding the 
demands of context, have understood this: Farnell rendered the 
phrase "Flowering-branch of famed Syracuse" (?); Paley translated 
OaAos 'pride'. Thus, in three of the six occurrences of f}aAos in Pindar 
the word is used metaphorically in the sense of 'wreath of glory', 
despite the lexica. 

What is its meaning in the two Olympian passages given above? 
'Scion' gives an appropriate sense in each place and has always been 
so interpreted there. Both passages, however, mention specifically 

hI . (" , 'f)\ f}' I "f}\). at etIC contests VEOLS EV aE 1\0tS, TE JLov JLEYLUTOV aE I\WV ; It seems 
to me not impossible, in the light of Pindar's usage elsewhere, that he 



ROBERT F. RENEHAN 223 

selected OaAos precisely because this word would also suggest the 
victor's chaplet. 

4. PINDAR, Nemean 9.28-32: 

£l ovvaT6v, Kpovlwv, 

TTE'ipav J1-EV ayavopa c]JOWtKOUTOAwv 
" 1 () 1 1 'Y EYXEWV TaVTav avaTOV TTEpt Kat ",w-

~ , Q 1\ \ r, ~~, " as ava,...al\l\0J1-at WS TTOPULUTct, fLotpav ° EvvofLoV 
, I , ~ 'A' I , Iy aLTEW UE TTaLULV oapov LTVatWV OTTa",EtV, 

Z ~ I '\.A. ~" 1 , ~c 
EV TTaTEp, aYl\ctWLaLV ° aUTVV0J1-0tS ETTtfLELsaL 

'\aov. 

This ode was composed in honor of Chromius of Aetna, probably 
in 474. cJ>OLVLKOUTOAwv in verse 28 has caused difficulty; L5] s.v. rpmvLKo­

uToAos state "epith. of EYXEa, i.e. EYXEa TOU TWV cJ>mv{Kwv uToAov 

[Pi.] N.9.28." Farnell's note reads in part "c]JOtVLKOUTOAwv €YX'wv can 
only mean what the scholiasts and most modern editors have seen 
in the phrase, 'spears-i.e. a spear-bearing host-sent by the Punic 
people'. Mezger was the first to propose the far-fetched and 
impossible explanation 'purple-mantled'-'mit Blut uberzogen' 
(adopted by Bury and Sandys), as if the last part of the compound 
were uToA~ and not uToAos: that is the case in AtVouTOAos applied to 
someone who can wear a uToA~; but a spear cannot ... " This last 
objection is not valid; a spear can quite easily be described as "clothed 
in blood" if the poet so chose to express himself. cP0LvLKoEavwv ••• rQpav 

occurs (s.v.l.) in fr.75.14 (Snell); in Epicharmus, frA5 Porson con­
jectured rpOLVLKE{J1-0VctS. For the connotation of <bloody' connected 
with the root rpOLVLK- see L5] s.v. rpotV{uuw, where abundant examples 
are cited; e.g. aLfLan "Ap7]s TTOVTOV rpOLV{gEL Orac. ap. Hdt. 8.77.2. 
Sandys, following Mezger's interpretation, translates <empurpled 
spears' and comments "rpOLVLKOUTOAwv is an adjective (like '\LVOUTO'\OS, 

rpOtVLKOE{fLwv, not a proper name, as supposed by the scholiast. But the 
adjective, while referring primarily to such a sanguinary enterprise 
as that of the Seven against Thebes above-mentioned, also alludes to 
the Phoenicians of Carthage, who were continually threatening 
Sicily." I myself, contrary to Sandys, have no doubt that the primary 
reference is to the Carthaginians and that the adjective should be 
printed with a capital (so Bowra, Turyn, Snell). At the same time it 
seems to me perfectly apposite that Pindar should choose a word 

4-G.R.B.S. 



224 CONSCIOUS AMBIGUITIES IN PINDAR AND BACCHYLIDES 

which also had <bloody' overtones. There is no need for scholars to 

decide between the two meanings; both are intended. Eur. Phoen. 
818-21 offers a parallel: 

€T€K€~, cL raL', ET€Ke~ 170T€, 

f3 I f3 ", '<:' I '<:' I "., ap apov w~ aKoav €oa7Jv €oa7Jv 170T €V OLKOL~, 

TtXV a170 ()7JPOTP0cP0V cP0LVLKOA0cP0LO 8paKoVTo~ 
yevvav dSOVTOcPVfj, e~f3aL~ KaAALO'Tov OV€LOO~. 

cP0LVLKOA0cP0LO in verse 820 certainly means <purple-crested' (or better 
<of blood-red crest'?); the SpaKwv referred to, however, is the one 
whom Cadmus the Phoenician killed. The speakers are the chorus of 
Phoenician women, and they refer explicitly to a report which they 
once heard Hat home" (ev OLKOL~), that is, in Phoenicia. How much the 
context determined Euripides' choice of cPOLVLKOAocPo~ and whether 
his audience would make the association I cannot say. In such a case 
coincidence cannot be excluded-but neither can purposeful selection. 
Those who would dismiss this example as being certainly nothing but 
coincidence err in method. 

5. PINDAR, Isthmian 4.27-31: 

~ ~"'" () I " oO'O'a 0 €17 av PW170VC; a7JTat 

IWpT1JPLa cP8LfLevwv ~wwv T€ cPWTWV 

a17MTov Sagas, E17e~av-
, , 1\ :) I ~" I 

O'av KaTa 17av T€I\O~· avop€aL~ 0 €O'xaTatO'Lv 

OLK08€v O'TaAaLO'LV ,x17Tov8' 'HpaKA€{aLS· 
" , I~" I KaL fL7JK€TL fLaKpOT€paV 0'17€VO€LV ap€Tav· 

In the phrase avopeats EO'xaTaLO'Lv (29) the adjective EuxaTos is used 
in a metaphorical sense, to indicate the highest degree of avopea 

(= summus, extremus). In place of it Pindar had to hand a wide selection 
of alternative epithets, including the approximate synonyms mraTos 

and V~LUTO~. See for instance Pyth. 6.42 ... mraTo~ •.• 17POC; ap€Tav. 

Why did he choose specifically €O'xaTo~? Such questions are more 
often answered with assurance than certainty. Nevertheless, in some 
cases the evidence justifies speculation; the present passage comes, 
I believe, under this category. The <Pillars of Herakles' represented 
to Pindar a geographical boundary; they were, in a local sense, quite 
literally <furthest'. In Greek the one adjective which specifically 
denotes furthest geographical limits is €UxaTO~; apparent synonyms 



ROBERT F. RENEHAN 225 

such as V7TCXTOS and Vif;WTOS have a quite different literal denotation, 
however similar they may be when used metaphorically. Pindar 
chose EGxa.TCUGW here for two reasons: to express 'ultimate' virtue 
and to serve as a suggestive link with GTaACaGLV ••• rHpCXKAElcxLS. To 
demonstrate that this interpretation is not so fanciful as it might at 
first appear, I append for comparison the following passages: 

(a) 01. 3.42-45: 

EL 0' apwTeVEL Il-f:V vowp, KTEavwv of: 

XPVGOS CXlOOtEaTCXTOS, 
-~, \, , 

vvv OE 7TpOS EGxanaV 
£\1 ) ..... f' ~ 
l!:!rTJpwv apETaLGLV LKavwv a7TTETat 

o LKOOEV r H paKItEOS 

GTaAav. TO 7TapGW 0' €GTt GO~OLS af3aTOv 
, ,'/'' 

Kcxa0'f'0LS. 

(b) Pyth. 10.27-30: 

o xaAKEos ovpavos ou 7TOT' afLf3aTos aVTijJ· 
" ~\ Q \ "0 '\.. < OGaLS OE JJPOTOV E vos aYl\aLCttS a-

I 0 I \" 7TTOIl-EG a, 7TEpaLVEL 7TpOS EGxaTOV 
\ I \ <;<." y \ , I ., 

7TI\OOV· VaVGL 0 OVTE 7TE'::,OS LWV (KEV> EVpOLS 
, ry Q I '~O \ r<;< I 

ES 7TEPJJOPEWV aywva aVll-aGTaV ooov. 

6. PINDAR, Paean 6.123-31 (Snell): 

, \ I , " " '" OVOfLaKI\VTa Y EVEGGL.£..I WpLE L 
~ I I 

fLEoEOwa 7TOVTc.p 

vaao'), J) L1LOS 'EA-
, ,'/'' \" 
I\avwv 'f'aEWOV aaTpov. 

~I " , 
OVVEKEv OV GE 7TaL1Jovwv 
,,~ , 't"" , ~ '" 

aoop7TOv EVVas OfLEV, al\l\ aowav 

poOLa OEKOfLEva lCaTEpELS, 

7TOOEV EAa{3E,) vaV7TpVTavLV 

~ I \ \ 0 'e. • I oatil-ova Kat Tav Ell-ts EVOV apETCXV. 

The poet is addressing the island Aegina in these splendid verses; 
aotoav paOw in verses 128-29 is rendered «surging songs" by Sandys 
and «the torrent-flow of our songs" by Farnell. The adjective paOLOS 



226 CONSCIOUS AMBIGUITIES IN PINDAR AND BACCHYLIDES 

is used especially of waves; L5] define Ta p6fJux 'waves dashing on the 
beach, breakers, waves'. The whole context of the passage (1T6V'TctJ, 

vauos, vaV7Tp,)Tavw) shows that Pindar chose his image with the 
literal meaning of p6fJLa clearly and simultaneously present to him. 
For a modern parallel to the figure, compare perhaps the familiar 
lines from Dylan Thomas' Fern Hill-

Time held me green and dying 
Though I sang in my chains like the sea. 

7. BACCHYLIDES 17(16).86-90: 

'-I.. "" if' f\ "'" fJ Ta'f'€V O€ .LI LOS VLOS €VOO €V 
, 1\ I '1" 

K€ap, K€II€Va€ T€ KaT OV-

pOV iaX€V €v8al8aAov - - "'.., ., ..'" , vaa' fLOLpa 0 €T€pav €7TOpavV ooov • 

., "'." '" ' L€TO 0 WKVTTOfLTTOV Oopv' 

Is &86v in verse 89 to be taken literally or metaphorically? D. A. 
Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry (London/New York 1967) p.438, anno-H. , .'" , , d'II ' b .'" , C I h tates: €T€pav ••• ooov: a l11erent course ut ooov relers a so to t e 
voyage." A. E. Housman discussed this passage in CR 12 (1898) 218: 
« ••• but fate ordained another course. The Greek word &86v, between 
the words iuX€V vaa and i€TO 86pv, means the course of the ship ... " 
Notice the ambiguity of Housman's English, especially the words 
which I have italicized. It is not clear, at least to me, whether he 
interpreted &86v in a double sense here; it is not even clear whether 
he was conscious of the possibility. The Greek is fully as ambiguous 
as the English and I cite this passage to demonstrate that Bacchylides 
as well as Pindar affects this device. 

8. BACCHYLIDES 16(15).30-35 (Snell): 

..,. ~ , 1""\' of' " 
a oVUfLOPOS, a TallaLV , OLOV €fLYJaaTo' 

cPfJ6vos €vpvfilas VLV a7Tl,j,,€U€V, 

8v6cp€6v T€ Ka"vfLfLa 'TC.OV 
., , , 
VaT€pOV €PXOfL€VWV, 

""'{ -}''''' A' OT €TTL TTOTafLctJ POOO€V'TL VKOPfL~ 

'" ,(; 7H' , "', , 
O€~ aTO .LV €aaov TTapa oaLfLoVLOV T€pas. 

These verses, which conclude the dithyramb, refer to Deianeira 
and the blood-drenched garment with which she killed Herakles. 



ROBERT F. RENEHAN 227 

Kenyon renders OVOcfo€ov T€ KaAvJLl-ux TWV VOT€POV €PXOJLEVWV "and the 
dark veil which hid the things to come"; similarly, Edmonds trans­
lates "and the murky veil that hid the future." They seem to be 
taking KaAvJLJLa in a metaphorical sense; TWV VUTEpOV €PXOJLEVWV is, as 
Kenyon observes, an objective genitive. This interpretation, so far as 
it goes, seems to me to be correct. KaAvJLJLa, however, though it 
usually means specifically 'head-covering', 'veil', does not invariably 
do so. Literally, the word means 'that which covers' and when applied 
to clothing is not used exclusively of veils. Thus Aesch. Cho.494 uses 
it of the garment which Clytaemnestra threw over Agamemnon, and 
this surely was no mere veil (it is called 7TAoi7Tov ELJLaTos KaKOV at 
1383). Here KaAvJLJLa seems to be used in a double sense: the "murky 
concealment of things to come" is soon to stand revealed as the deadly 
covering, the NEUUOV ••• oaLJLovwV TEpaS. Those who would dismiss 
this reading of the passage as mere fancy must reckon with the words 
which the poet has set down immediately above (verses 23-25): 

I ., " ~ , TOT aJLaXos vaLJLwv 
L1arav€tp~ 7ToAvoaKpvv vcfoav€ 

.... ",I.. ., JLTJTtV €7TL'f'pOV ••• 

What is the lLij'TtS" which the irresistible divinity has "woven" for 
Deianeira? It is the death-bringing garment. iJ4>av€ here is used with a 
half-literal, half-metaphorical force. Compare the similar pregnant 
usage of ToAv7T€VW in Gd. 19.136-40: 

Penelope is the speaker. ToAv7T€VW (137) is the denominative verb to 
ToAv7TTJ, 'clew', 'ball of wool for spinning', and liter all y means' to make 
a clew'. LS] render 'wind off carded wool into a clew for spinning'; for 
this meaning see Ar. Lys. 587. Normally, however, the verb is used 
metaphorically, in two senses: (1) 'to wind off, achieve, complete', 
and (2) 'to endure'. The Latin exanclo, though the image is different, 
shows a similar semantic development. Here literal and metaphorical 



228 CONSCIOUS AMBIGUITIES IN PINDAR AND BACCHYLIDES 

meaning are both intended, for Penelope's MAOS is her cpapos, of which 
she says below (verses 149-50): 

" II " I '~,J.. I It, 
EVUa Kat 'T}/LaTL'T} /LEV V",atVEGKOV JLEyav tGTOV, 

VVKTas 0' &X\VEGKOV ••• 

The poet chose the verb ToAmTEVW deliberately; Penelope "winds off" 
both wile and wool (compare LS] s.v.). 

BOSTON COLLEGE 

August, 1969