View source for (Boylove Documentary Sourcebook) - A Combination of Pederastic and Heteroerotic Contents in the Ancient Greek Myth of Poseidon, Pelops and Hippodameia, as Depicted in the "First Olympian Ode" by Pindar

From <i>[[Homosexuality]] in [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]]: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents</i>, edited by Thomas K. Hubbard (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003). Footnotes omitted.

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<center><b>1.87</b> Pindar, <i>First Olympian Ode</i></center>

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<i>This poem was commissioned in 476 B.C.E. to celebrate the Olympic horse-race victory of Hieron, monarch of Syracuse, the most powerful Greek city in Sicily. In the poem Pindar tells the myth of the sea-god Poseidon’s [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|love]] for the young Pelops.</i>
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[...]

Pelops, whom Earth-cradling Poseidon loved, <small>25</small><br>
since Clotho had taken him out of the pure cauldron,<br>
his ivory shoulder gleaming in the hearth-light.

[...]

Pelops, I will tell your story differently from the men of old.<br>
Your father Tantalus had invited the gods<br>
to banquet in his beloved Sipylus,<br>
providing a stately feast in return for the feast they had given him.<br>
It was then Poseidon seized you, <small>40</small><br>
<i>[ant. 2]</i> overwhelmed in his mind with desire, and swept you on golden mares<br>
to [[Zeus (mythology)|Zeus]]’ glorious palace on Olympus,<br>
where, at another time,<br>
[[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]] came also<br>
for the same passion in Zeus.<small>45</small><br>

[...]

For this they hurled his son Pelops back <small>65</small><br>
among the short-lived generations of men.<br>
But when he grew toward the time of bloom<br>
and black down curled on his cheeks,<br>
he thought of a marriage there for his seeking—<br>
<i>[ant. 2]</i> to win from her Pisan father the girl Hippodameia. <small>70</small><br>
Going down by the dim sea, alone in the dark,<br>
he called on the god of the trident,<br>
loud-pounding Poseidon,<br>
who appeared and stood close by.<br>
“If in any way,” Pelops said to him, “the gifts of Aphrodite count in my favor, <small>75</small><br>
shackle the bronze spear of Oenomaus,<br>
bring me on the swiftest chariot<br>
to Elis, and put me within the reach of power,<br>
for he has slain thirteen suitors now,<br>
and so he delays his daughter’s marriage. <small>80</small><br>
<i>[ep. 3]</i> Great danger does not come upon the spineless man,<br>
and yet, if we must die, why squat in the shadows,<br>
coddling a bland old age, with no nobility, for nothing?<br>
As for me, I will undertake this exploit.<br>
And you—I beseech you: let me achieve it.” <small>85</small><br>
He spoke, and his words found fulfillment: the god made him glow with gifts—<br>
a golden chariot and winged horses never weary.<br>
<i>[str. 4]</i> He tore the strength from Oenomaus and took the maiden to his bed.<br>
She bore him six sons, leaders of the people, intent on prowess.<br>
Now in the bright blood rituals <small>90</small><br>
Pelops has his share,<br>
reclining by the ford of Alpheus.<br>
Men gather at his tomb, near the crowded altar. The glory<br>
of the Olympiads shoots its rays afar in his races,<br>
where speed and strength <small>95</small><br>
are matched in the bruise of toil.
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==See also==
*[[Adult friend (dictionary)]]
*[[Age of attraction (dictionary)]]
*[[Athenian pederasty]]
*[[Boylove]]
*[[Cretan pederasty]]
*[[Ephebophilia]]
*[[Erastes]]
*[[Eromenos]]
*[[Greek love]]
*[[Historical boylove relationships in ancient Greece]]
*[[Loved boy (dictionary)]]
*[[Minor-attracted person (dictionary)]]
*[[Pedophilia]]
*[[Philosophy of ancient Greek pederasty]]
*[[Spartan pederasty]]
*[[Theban pederasty]]
*[[Young friend (dictionary)]]

==External links==
*[https://greek-love.com/antiquity/greek-practices/pursuit-and-flight-by-sir-kenneth-dover <i>PURSUIT AND FLIGHT</i> BY SIR KENNETH DOVER (Greek Love Through the Ages)]
*[https://greek-love.com/antiquity/greek-practices/greeks-pedicate-loved-boys-pederasty DID THE GREEKS PEDICATE THEIR LOVED BOYS? (Greek Love Through the Ages)]

[[Category:Boylove Documentary Sourcebook]]
[[Category:Reference material on ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Greek literature]]
[[Category:Boylove in literature]]
[[Category:Poetry]]