The sweetness of spirit or song? : on Pindar’s Pythian 6.52-54

Senegačnik, Brane (author)

The last verse of Pindar’s sixth ode (P. 6.54) has traditionally been understood as a praise of Thrasybulus’ generosity, his spirit, which surpasses honey in sweetness. Some more recent interpretations disagree, arguing that the verb ἀμείβεται cannot mean “surpass,” since there is no parallel for this in Greek poetry. Instead, they understand it as “requite” or “get in exchange”; this has broader implications: the expression μελισ σᾶν… τρητὸν πόνον is thus supposed to denote a poem and refer to the ode in which it appears, i.e. P. 6, which the poet dedicates to Thrasybulus in gratitude. The traditional understanding, which is said to originate from the scholiast’s misunderstanding, is therefore impossible. Although this in terpretation is well argued and a new reading is possible, the question re mains open. The article presents arguments that the verb ἀμείβεται can have the figurative meaning “to surpass” and that the traditional reading can therefore still be justified. It also presents possible arguments for the scholiast’s reading of the passage, which is not necessarily the result of a misunderstanding. If the poem was intended to be performed at a sympo sium, this has pragmatic implications for the new reading as well: in frag ment 124ab (in a poem, which is probably an erotic encomium, addressed to Thrasybulus,) Pindar says that the purpose of his poem is to evoke, in synergy with wine, an ecstatic experience for all participants in Thrasybu lus’ symposium, which would not be possible without the latter’s hospita lity. So even if the last line of P. 6 means that Thrasybulus receives the po em as requite, this implies, in close connection with the previous two li nes, praise for his exceptional generosity, the sweetness of his spirit (γλυ κεῖα φρήν): it is the one that provides the pragmatic context for the perfor mance, in which the poem can be fully actualised as a song and prove itself to be a honeycomb, “the perforated labor of bees”.

• Language: English
• Keywords: hvalnice, starogrške ode, epinikij
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 24.07.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 5-16
• Numbering: God. 75, tom 1/2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185150
• UDC: 821.14'02-1.09
• ISSN on article: 2671-3985
• DOI: 10.47054/ZIVA251-205s
• COBISS.SI-ID: 285972995
• Publication date in RUL: 24.07.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Živa Antika
• Publisher: Faculty of Philosophy
• ISSN: 2671-3985
• COBISS.SI-ID: 176324867

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• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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