In the maze of Pindaric metrics

Keisz, Ágoston (2024) In the maze of Pindaric metrics. CAMOENAE HUNGARICAE, 9 (1). pp. 77-92. ISSN 1786-5484

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Abstract

In July 1818, László Ungvárnémeti Tóth published a bilingual volume of poetry in Ancient Greek and Hungarian, containing imitations of various Ancient Greek genres (odes, epigrams, idylls, and epistles). Four imitations of Pindar’s victory odes in Ancient Greek and Hungarian are the most fascinating of these poems. In June 1818, the poet also published a treatise on the importance of early Greek literature and Pindar’s poetry, particularly his metric patterns. In this article, Tóth published a Hungarian imitation of Pindar on the death of Archduchess Hermina, following the exact metre of a specific ode by Pindar (Pythian X). The various traditions of interpretation of the difficult Pindaric metre can be traced in the author’s imitations and theoretical works. In his treatise, the author presents the traditional metric interpretation of the scholia on which the metre of the imitation published there is based. The ancient Greek poems published in the bilingual volume and a modified version of the Hungarian text of the Hermina Ode follow the innovative metric analysis of Gottfried Hermann (1798), while the Hungarian texts of Odes I, II, and IV use a method of free metre construction dating back to the Renaissance. This article shows how the poet used the various traditions of Pindar’s metric analysis in his work.

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