BACCHYLIDES 17
Bacchylides specialized in writing odes, mainly to the winners of different athletic competitions. However, as one of Pindar’s contemporaries, his work did not gain much recognition during his lifetime.
Many of his works that we know of today were assumed to be lost until his papyrus texts were discovered in the late 19th century. His poems can be categorized by their subjects. While most of his poems fall into the athletic ode (epinicia) category, Bacchylides also wrote a fair number of dithyrambs, songs dedicated to Dionysus.[1] Bacchylides 17 is one of his dithyrambs.
In this text, Bacchylides writes about the challenge that King Minos of Crete issues to Theseus as he is traveling to Crete. Theseus asks Minos to stop the atrocities that have been occurring in his kingdom; in other words, he wishes to put an end to the practice of sending 7 Greek boys and girls each to Crete every nine years to be eaten by the Minotaur.
Minos, in retaliation, prays to his father, Zeus, asking for assistance. Zeus sends lightning down to the earth, signifying that he has heard his son’s prayers. Minos challenges Theseus to dive into the sea in order to receive a signal from his own father, Poseidon. Theseus, without hesitation, makes his way underwater. Fearing his death, the members of his crew begin to mourn.
Dolphins take Theseus to the hall of the gods, where he meets Poseidon’s wife, Amphitrite. She gives her stepson a royal cloak and a wreath that Aphrodite herself had given her on her wedding day. Suddenly, Theseus once again appears on the ship’s deck, and the Athenians rejoice.
This poem, similar to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, once again shows the true extent of the power of the gods. Theseus, as the son of Poseidon, receives privileges that aren’t available to others. Likewise, Minos receives gifts from his own father, the king of the gods. The relationship between the gods and their children is essentially the most dramatic example of nepotism there is.
Additionally, this exchange between Minos and Theseus seems to be foreshadowing what is to come. For every move that the Cretan king makes, Theseus has a countermove that brings him closer to victory. In fact, king’s sole focus on maintaining his kingdom eventually leads his daughter, Ariadne, to change her loyalty to Theseus and the Athenians when she falls in love with him and helps him navigate through the Labyrinth to kill the Minotaur.
What is more, this is one of the first instances where we see Theseus’ heroism come to light. We all know the story of how he defeats the Minotaur due to his skills with a sword. However, another part of Theseus’ greatness is his ability to influence others, as he manages to do here with Minos. He knows how to deal with people so that he can use them for his own gain, without them actually knowing that they are being used. Perhaps there is no greater example of this than his abandonment of Ariadne after the pair works together to kill the Minotaur.
1 Bacchylides, Encyclopedia Britannica.
Bacchylides specialized in writing odes, mainly to the winners of different athletic competitions. However, as one of Pindar’s contemporaries, his work did not gain much recognition during his lifetime.
Many of his works that we know of today were assumed to be lost until his papyrus texts were discovered in the late 19th century. His poems can be categorized by their subjects. While most of his poems fall into the athletic ode (epinicia) category, Bacchylides also wrote a fair number of dithyrambs, songs dedicated to Dionysus.[1] Bacchylides 17 is one of his dithyrambs.
In this text, Bacchylides writes about the challenge that King Minos of Crete issues to Theseus as he is traveling to Crete. Theseus asks Minos to stop the atrocities that have been occurring in his kingdom; in other words, he wishes to put an end to the practice of sending 7 Greek boys and girls each to Crete every nine years to be eaten by the Minotaur.
Minos, in retaliation, prays to his father, Zeus, asking for assistance. Zeus sends lightning down to the earth, signifying that he has heard his son’s prayers. Minos challenges Theseus to dive into the sea in order to receive a signal from his own father, Poseidon. Theseus, without hesitation, makes his way underwater. Fearing his death, the members of his crew begin to mourn.
Dolphins take Theseus to the hall of the gods, where he meets Poseidon’s wife, Amphitrite. She gives her stepson a royal cloak and a wreath that Aphrodite herself had given her on her wedding day. Suddenly, Theseus once again appears on the ship’s deck, and the Athenians rejoice.
This poem, similar to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, once again shows the true extent of the power of the gods. Theseus, as the son of Poseidon, receives privileges that aren’t available to others. Likewise, Minos receives gifts from his own father, the king of the gods. The relationship between the gods and their children is essentially the most dramatic example of nepotism there is.
Additionally, this exchange between Minos and Theseus seems to be foreshadowing what is to come. For every move that the Cretan king makes, Theseus has a countermove that brings him closer to victory. In fact, king’s sole focus on maintaining his kingdom eventually leads his daughter, Ariadne, to change her loyalty to Theseus and the Athenians when she falls in love with him and helps him navigate through the Labyrinth to kill the Minotaur.
What is more, this is one of the first instances where we see Theseus’ heroism come to light. We all know the story of how he defeats the Minotaur due to his skills with a sword. However, another part of Theseus’ greatness is his ability to influence others, as he manages to do here with Minos. He knows how to deal with people so that he can use them for his own gain, without them actually knowing that they are being used. Perhaps there is no greater example of this than his abandonment of Ariadne after the pair works together to kill the Minotaur.
1 Bacchylides, Encyclopedia Britannica.