by Elucubrator » Sun May 04, 2003 11:52 pm
No doubt William, that you are the first to open up this post. Did I catch you? ;D<br /><br />And now that we're talking about Pindar, I was wondering if you have read that phenomenal book called Pindar and Dance, by William Mullen. What a beautiful book! <br /><br />For those of us who do not know, Greek poetry was actually a combination of words beautifully arranged in metrical patterns, together with music, from which (for the ancients) poetry was inseparable. Pindar was a lyric poet who wrote Choral Lyric poetry. What remains to us of Pindar are his victory odes which he wrote for victors at the Olympic Games. He was a genius, and probably was as famous in the Greece of his day for his Odes as Verdi was in Italy for his Opera.<br /><br />Greek Choral Lyric was a genre that not only combined words and music, but dance as well. It was this tripartite art through which Pindar expressed his genius. <br /><br />Mullen's book, wonderfully written, shows us what we can learn from reading the Odes of Pindar by keeping it's musical and performative nature in mind. Truly a brilliant work! Once you read a couple of chapters it will make you eager to find a copy of Pindar. Though as a word of warning to the timid. I have heard Pindar described as some of the most difficult ancient Greek that remains.<br /><br />-S.
