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- Title
Pindar's Olympian 3: The Olive Branch as a Symbol of the Cohesion of the Human Community.
- Authors
PAPADIMITROPOULOS, LOUKAS
- Abstract
In Pindar's Olympian 3 Theron is glorified all the more because his victory is connected to the ancient tradition of the olive branch and its concomitant symbolism; it is presented as a link in a chain which ultimately originates from the supreme god, Zeus, and reaches through Heracles and the Dioscuri to the present. On the one hand, the olive branch is suggestively presented as conflating the opposites; it is destined both for every man and for the few, because all are inspired by it to strive for excellence, pursuing therefore, happiness; thus, it ensures the cohesion of mankind. On the other hand, the laudandus, Theron, is also implicitly depicted as fusing the opposites; he has changed by becoming an Olympic victor and he has remained the same, since he continues worshiping the Dioscuri who have granted him this victory; thus, his victory, which has as its recipients not only himself but also his compatriots, secures the coherence of his community. This latent correlation between the implications of the Olympic symbol of victory and those of its present awardee is elicited by Pindar through an intricate network of verbal repetitions, subtle mythological allusions and innuendos.
- Subjects
COHESION; ZEUS (Greek deity); HERACLES (Greek mythological character); SIGNS &; symbols; DIOSCURI (Greek mythology); HUMAN beings; ALLUSIONS; HAPPINESS; WORSHIP; GODS
- Publication
Wiener Studien Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie, Patristik und Lateinische Tradition, 2022, Issue 135, p7
- ISSN
0084-005X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1553/wst135s7