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and going to see the ridge of Corinth, famous for its feasts. But nothing can be equally delightful to all men. If I have, in my song, exalted the glory of Melesias for his training of beardless youths,
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let envy not strike me with a rough stone. For I will tell how he himself won the same grace at Nemea, and later, among men, in the battle
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of the pancratium. To teach
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is easier for one who has knowledge himself. And it is foolish not to learn in advance; for the minds of those with no experience are insubstantial. Melesias, beyond all others, could speak of those deeds: what manner of training will advance a man who is going to win the most longed-for glory from the sacred games.
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Now it is his honor that his thirtieth victory has been won for him by Alcimedon,
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who, with divine good fortune, yet without falling short in his own manliness, thrust off from himself and onto the four limbs of other boys a hateful homecoming with contemptuous talk and a secret way back,
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and breathed into his father’s father the force that wrestles off old age. Hades is forgotten by a man with good accomplishments.
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But I must awaken memory and tell
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of the choicest victory of hands for the Blepsiads, who are now crowned with their sixth garland from the contests flourishing with leaves. Even the dead have a share in rites performed according to law; the dust does not cover
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the good grace of their kinsmen.
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Having heard the voice of Hermes’ daughter, Angelia, Message Iphion might tell Callimachus of the splendid adornment at Olympia, which Zeus gave to their race. May he be willing to grant noble deeds upon noble
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deeds, and to ward off bitter diseases. I pray that, for the share of fine things allotted to them, Zeus may not cause the mind of Nemesis to waver; rather, may he grant a painless life, and thus give new growth to themselves and their city.
Olympian 9 For Epharmostus of Opus Wrestling-Match 466 B. C. E.
