Pindar and the Sublime

Pindarthe Theban eagle, as Thomas Gray famously called himhas often been taken as the archetype of the sublime poet: soaring into the heavens on wings of language and inspired by visions of eternity. In this much-anticipated new study, Robert Fowler asks in what ways the concept of the sublime can still guide a reading of the greatest of the Greek lyric poets. Working with ancient and modern treatments of the topic, especially the poetry and writings of Friedrich Hlderlin (17701843), arguably Pindars greatest modern reader, he develops the case for an aesthetic appreciation of Pindars odes as literature. Building on recent trends in criticism, he shifts the focus away from the first performance and the orality of Greek culture to reception and the experience of Pindars odes as text. This change of emphasis yields a fresh discussion of many facets of Pindars astonishing art, including the relation of the poems to their occasions, performativity, the poets persona, his imagery, and his myths. Consideration of Pindars views on divinity, transcendence, time, and the limits of language reveals him to be not only a great writer but a great thinker.