Pherenikos (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Φερένικος;

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: Pherenicus) was an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

victorious at the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and Pythian Games in the 470s BC. Pherenikos, whose name means "victory-bearer", was "the most famous racehorse in antiquity". Owned by

Hieron I Hiero or hieron (; grc, ἱερόν, "holy place") is a holy shrine, temple, or temple precinct in ancient Greece. Hiero may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Hieron, Caria, an Ancient city and former bishopric in Asia Minor, now Avs ...

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, Pherenikos is celebrated in the victory odes of both

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...

and

Bacchylides Bacchylides (; grc-gre, Βακχυλίδης; – ) was a Greek lyric poet. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets, which included his uncle Simonides. The elegance and polished style of his lyrics have been noted i ...

Career

In ''Pythian Ode III'', Pindar recalls "the

crowns A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

of the Pythian Games" which Pherenikos had won previously; according to the

scholiasts Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of t ...

or ancient commentators, Hieron was victorious in the single horse race at

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

during the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh

iterations Iteration is the repetition of a process in order to generate a (possibly unbounded) sequence of outcomes. Each repetition of the process is a single iteration, and the outcome of each iteration is then the starting point of the next iteration. ...

of the games, in 482 and 478 BC; alternatively "crowns" may simply function as a poetic plural. In 476 BC, Hieron was victorious in the single horse race at

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

; this victory is celebrated by Pindar in '' Olympian I'' and Bacchylides in '' Ode 5'', with Pherenikos named and prominent in both; the date is confirmed by the list of Olympian victors in

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 222 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 222 (P. Oxy. 222 or P. Oxy. II 222) is a list of ancient Olympic victors by an unknown author, written in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a roll. It is dated to the ...

, which includes a further Olympic victory for Hieron in 472, also mentioned in the scholia. Whether Pherenikos was the winning horse also on this last occasion is unknown; if first victorious in 482, it would suggest a long career, but the shape of the course may have called for horses with experience as well as speed.

Celebration

In ''Olympian I'', the graceful Pherenikos speeds to victory beside the Alpheus, " ungoaded in the race"; giving his body freely, he elevates his master, and plants sweet thoughts in people's minds (lines 18–22). In ''Ode 5'', the "golden-maned" Pherenikos is "storm-swift" (a ''

hapax In corpus linguistics, a ''hapax legomenon'' ( also or ; ''hapax legomena''; sometimes abbreviated to ''hapax'', plural ''hapaxes'') is a word or an expression that occurs only once within a context: either in the written record of an entire ...

''), racing like the North Wind, and his jockey by

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

a "helmsman"; the poet swears, touching the earth, that "never yet in a race has dust raised by horses in front sullied him"; and the speeding horse brings victory to " hospitable" Hieron (lines 37–49; also 176–86). A fragment of an

encomium ''Encomium'' is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek ''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is ''laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something. Originally was the song sung by the c ...

by Bacchylides preserved in another of the

Oxyrhynchus Papyri The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (, mo ...

(1361) praises Pherenikos once more: victorious with his "swift hooves" at Delphi and Olympia, he brought grace to his master. According to

Maurice Bowra Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra, (; 8 April 1898 – 4 July 1971) was an English classical scholar, literary critic and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Univer ...

, since both poets speak of the same horse, this enables comparison of their respective approaches to the

epinikion The ''epinikion'' or ''epinicion'' (plural ''epinikia'' or ''epinicia'', Greek , from ''epi-'', "on," + '' nikê'', "victory") is a genre of occasional poetry also known in English as a victory ode. In ancient Greece, the ''epinikion'' most often ...

or victory ode: Bacchylides "enters thoroughly into the excitement of the race", while Pindar's concern, more than "beauty as revealed in action", is moral character and ''

kleos ''Kleos'' (Greek: κλέος) is the Greek word often translated to "renown", or " glory". It is related to the English word "loud" and carries the implied meaning of "what others hear about you". A Greek hero earns ''kleos'' through accomplishing ...

''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

A Race-Horse Called Pherenikos
Ancient Olympic competitors Delphi Horse racing in Greece Racehorses in history

Career

Celebration

See also

References

External links