Dio Chrysostom, Oration on Kingship 2.33
τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ποιητῶν οὐ σφόδρα ἐφρόντιζε. Στησιχόρου δὲ καὶ Πινδάρου ἐπεμνήσθη, τοῦ μὲν ὅτι μιμητὴς Ὁμήρου γενέσθαι δοκεῖ καὶ τὴν ἅλωσιν οὐκ ἀναξίως ἐποίησε τῆς Τροίας, τοῦ δὲ Πινδάρου διά τε τὴν λαμπρότητα τῆς φύσεως καὶ ὅτι τὸν πρόγονον αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁμώνυμον ἐπήινεσεν Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν φιλέλληνα ἐπικληθέντα ποιήσας εἰς αὐτόν,
ὀλβίων ἐπώνυμε Δαρδανιδᾶν. Fr. 120 Snell-Maehler.
διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ Θήβας ὕστερον πορθῶν μόνην κατέλιπε τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν ἐκείνου κελεύσας ἐπιγράψαι,
Πινδάρου τοῦ μουσοποιοῦ τὴν στέγην μὴ κάετε.
ἦπου πολλὴν ἠπίστατο χάριν τοῖς αὑτὸν ἐγκωμιάζουσι μὴ φαύλως, οὕτως ἄγαν φιλότιμος ὤν.
Alexander the Great did not give much thought to the other poets, but he thought of Stesichorus and Pindar. Of the former, because he seemed to be an imitator of Homer and because he had not undeservedly composed a poem on the Sack of Troy; of the latter, because of the brilliancy of his nature and because he praised his ancestor who shared a name with him, called Alexander “the Philhellene”, and wrote the following for him:
Bearer of the name of the blest sons of Dardanus.
Because of this, in fact, when he destroyed Thebes later, he left untouched only the house of the poet, and ordered to write upon it:
Do not burn the house of the poet Pindar.
Surely he acknowledged a great sense of favour towards those who extolled him not poorly, since he was such a great lover of honour.
| Relevant guides | Pindar |
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