Pindar’s Pythian 7: a Petition for the Civic Reinstatement of the Victor

Abstract

Abstract: Building on the contentions of Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Vrakas and
Athanassaki, the purpose of this article is to demonstrate that in Pythian 7 Pindar intended
to suggest to the Athenians through a web of interconnected verbal repetitions
and indirect mythological allusions that Megacles was actually indispensable
to his homeland, petitioning thus for his civic reinstatement, a purpose which Pindar
achieves mainly through presenting the honorand as an integral member of a family
that has benefited Athens in the past, a presentation that, naturally, highlights his
strengths and effaces his weaknesses.