Hieron Tantalized: Tantalus’ Rock in Olympian 1

In this paper I use a new historicist lens—following Nicholson (2007)—to argue that Pindar is using his account of Tantalus in Olympian 1.54-64 as an implicit comparison with and warning to Hieron, tyrant of Syracuse, whose victory in the keles in 476 BCE this ode celebrates. Although Kirkwood (1982) is hesitant to read the historical Hieron into the ode, I follow Clay (2011) and Morgan (2015), who make a strong case that we should. While Morgan associates Hieron with Pelops, however, I argue instead for a connection with Tantalus. Hieron, to Pindar, is favored by the gods: he is a king, has extraordinary wealth, and has won an equestrian race at Olympia. Yet he must be careful to avoid the fate of Tantalus, whose story—Morgan argues—paints a picture of what happens to those favored by the gods when their arrogance runs amok. Pindar, therefore, advises Hieron to gain eternal glory by emulating Pelops’ accomplishments rather than Tantalus’ hubris.

I first argue that we can associate Tantalus and Hieron through their wealth and their punishment. Regarding Tantalus’ punishment, unlike the Homeric tradition (Od. 11.582-592), in which Tantalus is unable to quench his hunger and thirst, Pindar’s version describes a rock that hangs over Tantalus’ head, hindering him from having any joy. Pindar’s adaptations, as Pitotto (2014) argues convincingly, are not ornamental. Hieron, Pindar suggests, has a metaphorical rock hanging over his head. To elucidate the symbolism of this rock, I analyze works that portray Tantalus similarly—including Archilochus’ fragment 91, Pindar’s Nemean 8, Euripides’ Orestes, and Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura—and conclude that the rock over Tantalus is a metaphor for fear and impending destruction, a metaphor that can be read into Olympian 1.

I then describe the historical context surrounding Olympian 1 to show how the rock over Tantalus’ head and the reason for his condemnation are related to Hieron. While Tantalus is punished in most sources because he either served Pelops to the gods (Eur. Or. 814; Stat. Theb. 1.247) or divulged their secrets (Diod. Sic. 4.74.2; Ov. Ars. am. 2.605-606), he is punished in Pindar’s ode because he stole ambrosia and distributed it to his friends. As Tantalus sought to immortalize his “companions” (σύμποταις, Ol. 1.61), thus Hieron enriched his sympathizers at the expense of his other subjects. In the year that Pindar’s ode was first performed, Sicilians were suffering as a result of Hieron’s actions: he had wrested power from his brothers, forcibly removed the inhabitants of Catana, and re-founded the depopulated city with supporters and renamed it Aetna. These policies affected many under his rule and might have provoked revolt (cf. Diod. Sic. 11.67.3-4.) To Pindar, if Hieron does not change his policies and imitate a benevolent ruler like Pelops, he will become “Tantalized,” doomed with constant fear—for Hieron, fear of impending revolt—and remembered not for his accomplishments, but for his misdeeds and destruction.