institutionalized proxenia has any relevance to Pindar’s use of the term in Ol. 9.[16] In one of the only accounts to try to rationalize the appearance of proxenos here, Pavlou focuses on the early evidence for proxenia in Lokris specifically; she is skeptical that Pindar would use a technical term so loosely and she contends that by the fifth-century, proxenia was firmly entrenched as an institution.[17] Pavlou follows the opinion of one of the scholiasts and regards Lampromachos as the proxenos of the Thebans at Opous, and thus a relevant personage to Pindar’s presence and the commissioning of the ode.[18] The Pindaric usage of proxenia and related words, however, suggests that proxenia could also signify vaguer “hospitality.” Isthm. 4.8, for example, teams proxenia with the adverb which renders it unlikely that the word refers to a contemporary institution; it is probable that appropriate hospitality is simply another component of the praise of the Kleonymidai.[19] In fr. 94b, Pindar uses the plural dative προξενίαισιdescribes a tradition of hospitality, which began in the past and extends to the present day (38-45), and once again, it is unlikely that the combination of a temporal adverb referring to the past and proxenia refers to the institution.[20] Nem. 7 has presented its own issues of interpretation, in terms of situating the passage in the larger organization of the poem, but proxenia, nonetheless, likely remains general rather than specific.[21] At Nem. 7.64-65, the reference to proxenia probably has little to do with the “Achaian man”, and rather, proxenia evokes the previous reference to xenia at Nem. 7.61 ( “I am a guest-friend”).[22] Again, an institutionalized meaning is highly unlikely. Get help with your essay today, from our professional essay writers! Qualified writers in the subject of classics are ready and waiting to help you with your studies. Get help with your essay View professionally written samples In other poetic uses from the early fifth-century, the term can refer to general hospitality: in Aeschylus’ Suppliant Women, proxenia refers to general “protection” by a powerful patron (or deity), rather than an institutionalized system of city-sponsored hosting (Aesch. Supp. 420, 491, 919). A fragment of Aeschylus’ Diktyouloi uses proxenia but then glosses it with the word προπράκτωρ “champion” (TrGF III: fr. 47a.768-770). Therefore, proxenia in Ol. 9, and throughout the Pindaric corpus, can occur as a metaphor for hospitality, guest-friend relations, and philia, rather than a reference to the civic institution; the term is not evidence for a civic commissioning or biographical speculation but rather reinforces the intimate connection of city and victor. Lampromachos opens the victory catalogue – two other Isthmian wins are recorded separately in the following line (Ol. 9.86). The mention of Lampromachos is likely a flourish with which to open the catalogue, an instance in which Epharmostos and his countryman both won at a pan-Hellenic festival on the same day. Pindar begins with a special victory, and then proceeds to begin the catalogue-proper of Epharmostos, proceeding, as is normal, from victories in the Crown Games.[23] The victory with Lampromachos is given special prominence (it begins the catalogue) because of its significance to the city of Opous, a city poorly represented in victories at the Crown Games.[24] Considering>