Pindar and the Poetics of Repatriation in the 4th Pythian

Abstract

Despite containing one of the only explicit repatriation pleas in classical Greek literature, Pindar’s Fourth Pythian ode has received little attention as an example of repatriation rhetoric and negotiation. Taking the plea seriously, this article considers the work the poem’s structure and contents exert to achieve the exile’s return and how they relate to its concluding plea. It argues that not only do the poem’s constituent parts form a cogent argument for repatriation, but that they are carefully designed to circumvent potential challenges to the exile’s return.