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Pindar's victory odes, written in the fifth century B.C. to honor the heroes of the great athletic festivals, are some of the most powerful and intricate works of ancient Greek poetry--and among the most difficult to bring to modern readers. With precise translations that retain Pindar's poetic intentions, Frank Nisetich provides the only contemporary English version that captures the brilliance and density of the original odes without sacrificing their subtlety and clarity. In his comprehensive introduction, Nisetich explains the genre of the vistory song and reviews Pindar's life and times. He also prefaces each of the Olympian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian odes with a description of its historical background. For students of Greek civilization, mythology, and lyric poetry--and for readers of poetry in general--this highly acclaimed translation justifies the praise of the ancients who called Pindar "far and away the best of the nine lyric poets."