Like his contemporary Pindar, Baccylides (c. 520-450 BC) composed songs of praise for princes and victorious athletes and songs for choral performances at religious festivals. Although lost in Late Antiquity, many of them have been recovered from papyri found in Egypt. Their clear formal structure and vivid narrative make them more easily accessible than Pindar's verse and they are elegant specimens of the exclusive and sophisticated choral lyric poetry from the first half of fifth-century BC Greece. (This selection contains the first English commentary since 1905). 'The introduction and notes treat fully, clearly and illuminatingly, and with immense learning, all that can be known of the poems' context in Greek life and literature … this book will be an indispensable boon.' The Journal of Classics Teaching 'Less specialist readers will be grateful to M. and to the Editors of the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics Series for this new Bacchylides … presents a rich selection of Bacchylides' poems … an excellent introduction to Bacchylides poetry …' Journal of Hellenistic Studies A 2004 selection of songs of praise and songs for choral performances composed by Bacchylides (c. 520–450 BC). Herwig Maehler is Emeritus Professor of Papyrology at the Department of Greek and Latin, University College London. His publications include Die Auffassung des Dichterberufs im frühen Griechentum bis zur Zeit Pindars (1963), Die Handschriften der S. Jacobi-Kirche Hamburg (1967), Urkunden römischer Zeit (1968), Papyri aus Hermupolis (1974), Die Lieder des Bakchylides (2 vols.) (1982, 1997); Greek Bookhands of the Early Byzantine Period (with G. Cavallo) 1987; editions of Bacchylides and Pindar. Used Book in Good Condition