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4 volumes octavo, leather bound in a nineteenth century half dark blue morocco, marbled boards. OLIMPICI- engraved frontispiece, vignette title, (xvi), 297 pages and 14 numbered plates. PIZJ, vignette title, (vii), 343 pages and 12 numbered plates. NEMEI, vignette title, (iv), 259 pages and and 11 numbered plates. SIMJ, vignette title, (iv), 156 pages and 8 numbered plates. IN TOTAL, 4 vignette titles and 45 engraved plates. One page in Pizj with an early marginal note - otherwise a good copy of a scarce work, none found on ABPC but a listing on COPAC and Brunet would indicate it is complete. Almost all Pindar's victory odes are celebrations of triumphs gained by competitors in Panhellenic festivals such as the Olympian Games. The establishment of these athletic and musical festivals was among the greatest achievements of the Greek aristocracies. Even in the 5th century, when there was an increased tendency towards professionalism, they were predominantly aristocratic assemblies, reflecting the expense and leisure needed to attend such events either as a competitor or spectator. Attendance was an opportunity for display and self-promotion, and the prestige of victory, requiring commitment in time and/or wealth, went far beyond anything that accrues to athletic victories today, even in spite of the modern preoccupation with sport.] Pindar's odes capture something of the prestige and the aristocratic grandeur of the moment of victory. THE OLYMPIC GAMES. Seller Inventory # 4383
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