Isthmian 8.1

The name of Kleandros, I.8.1, who is the primary laudandus in this victory ode, means ‘he who has the glories-of-men [klea andrōn]’. On the technical terms laudandus and laudator, see the Inventory of terms and names. The role of Kleandros as laudandus is matched by the role of Pindar as laudator.  In Homeric diction, the wording klea andrōn ‘glories of men’ refers to songs sung by a laudator about laudandi who are men of the past—about men who were heroes, as at I.09.524. A comparable reference to the glories of heroes is built into the naming of Kleandros as the laudandus, since even his name links him to the epic past. It is as if this person’s family, as a continuation of his ancestors, programmed him to live up to the heroic past. The inherent meaning of the name Kleandros, ‘he who has the glories-of-men [klea andrōn]’, is highlighted by the placement of this name at the very beginning of the song here, I.8.1. In all the attested victory odes of Pindar, Kleandros stands out as the only victor whose name actually begins the ode. The never-ending glory of Achilles as hero is pictured as extending all the way to the glory of the athlete as victor—through the intermediacy of the victor’s ancestors. For another example of a name that links the bearer of the name to ancestral expectations of living up to the heroic past, see the comment at I.8.56–62 on the name Nīkoklēs ‘he who has the glory [kleos] of victory [nīkē]’.