The date of Pindar's fifthNemeanand Bacchylides' thirteenth ode

Abstract

Just about every odd year in the early fifth century B.C. has been proposed as the date of the Nemean victory of Pytheas from Aegina, celebrated in Pindar's FifthNemeanand Bacchylides' thirteenth ode. Scholars have attempted to date both odes with the help ofIsthmian6 and 5, which celebrate victories of a member of the same family and the latter of which at 48ff. refers to Salamis as a recent event. Various interpretations of the victory catalogues inI.6 and 5 have led to various dates forN.5 and B. 13. The fullest analysis of the material is that by Severyns, who argues thatN.5 and B. 13 must be at least seven years earlier than I. 5. In his conclusion (pp. 50–51), however, he still suggests three possible dates forN.5 and B. 13: 487, 489, and 485 B.C., in what he considers to be the order of likelihood.