Bacchylides (c. 520-450 BC) was one of the nine Greek lyric poets selected as models of this genre by the Alexandrian scholars who first collected and edited their songs in the 3rd century BC. Bacchylides' songs did not survive the end of antiquity, but substantial portions of at least three books h[...]
Discovered in an Egyptian papyrus in 1896, the lyrics of Bacchylides are one of the great treasures of Greek poetry. These exquisite choral odes celebrate victories in the Pythian, Isthmian, Nemean, and Olympic games and chronicle the classical gods and heroes, eloquently revealing to us the spirit [...]