By convention epinician poetry claims to be both obligatory and truthful, yet in the intersection of obligation and truth lies a seeming paradox: the poet presents his poetry as commissioned by a patron but also claims to be unbiased enough to convey the truth. In Slater's interpretation Pindar reconciles this paradox by casting his relationship to the patron as one of guest-friendship: when he declares himself a guest-friend of the victor, he agrees to the obligation ‘a) not to be envious of his xenos and b) to speak well of him. The argumentation is: Xenia excludes envy, I am a xenos, therefore I am not envious and consequently praise honestly’. Slater observes that envy may foster bias against the patron, but the problem of pro-patron bias remains: does the poet's friendship with and obligation to his patron produce praise at the expense of truth?
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/622193 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Park, Arum |
| Contributors | University of Arizona |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Rights | This article has been published in The Classical Quarterly (https://doi.org/10.1017/S000983881200078X). This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © The Classical Association 2013 |
| Relation | https://doi.org/10.1017/S000983881200078X |
Page generated in 0.0023 seconds