The First Olympic Ode [excerpt]

^{translated from the ancient Greek by Gilbert West}

Chief is water of the elements; gold too, amid ennobling wealth, shines eminent, like fire, flaming in the night: but my soul, if thou desire to blazon combats, seek not, during day, any brilliant star, wheeling through the desert air, more radiant than the sun: neither any list, more excellent than Olympia’s, (whence, to resound Saturn’s son, proceeds the song of fame, framed by the poets’ skill) can we speak, coming to the wealthy, happy mansion of Hiero.