Student Victory Odes

Among the exercises Alanna Heatherly, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Classical Studies, assigns her students as the graduate student instructor for the course Greek Sport and the Modern World is the composition of a victory ode.

Also called an epinikion in Greek, these odes date back to the ancient Olympic Games, where they were composed to celebrate the prowess and victories of contestants. Such commemorations tie back to Heatherly’s doctoral research on the relationship between pain and identity, including around athletic competition, in the Roman Empire.

Below are three examples composed by Heatherly’s students.

For Muhammed Ali, champion of peace

1 O Muses, I call upon you and ask to sing

2 To he who floats as a butterfly, and like a bee his sting

3 Brought Liston, Frazier and Patterson to their knees

4 The greatest boxer to ever live: Muhammad Ali.

5 Ali, while your activism they all mocked,

6 I come to tell you the story of a man named Fox.

7 He was born in Manitoba, in the land of the Canucks

8 But during college, cancer came and took his luck

9 Soon, Fox had one leg granted by the gods

10 And the other: made of metal, and thick iron rods

11 While Fox had survived, he was left sad and distraught

12 Of the plight he saw of those, with the disease he had fought

13 And so his training began, for one year and two months more

14 Fox practiced day in and day out, none but his task at the fore

15 On the twelfth of April, he had finally climbed up the slope

16 And so started on his greatest journey: The Marathon of Hope

17 He ran every day, the pain of one leg driving him to damnation

18 But Fox carried on, determined to cross the nation.

19 Slowly but surely, Fox’s legend grew and grew

20 And when he entered Toronto, thousands cheered him through

21 Tragically, Fox never quite finished his run

22 The cancer had returned, and soon, Fox’s life was done

23 But Ali, I give you this story and tell you not to fear

24 For now the Terry Fox Run is the largest of the year

25 And standing up for what’s right, even if it causes pain

26 From now until time’s end, shall never be in vain.

Ode to Rapinoe

I may not be a famous sports broadcaster, but I will praise one of the greatest of all times

Stadiums fill to watch her, World Cups have been won by her, barriers have fallen because of her

The United States is represented by her

Megan Rapinoe is one of the greatest soccer players of all time

Her chiseled thighs, firm abdominal, and impressive stamina make her unstoppable

2 world cup championships, 1 olympic gold medal, a player of the year award

Rapinoe is unlike any other player on the pitch

 

Carrying her team into the quarter finals of the Olympics in 2016

A couple of soccer game wins were not the only thing Rapinoe gained from this trip

Going through the same fate as those before them

The tale of two athletes falling in love

Despite what the world around them had to say about it

Like Apollo and Hyacinthus

Drawn to each other over sports

Fallen in love secretly

Yet met with a fateful end

 

However, Rapinoe and Bird have the chance to undergo a much better fate

Through times changing the lovers will be accepted

And will be able to pursue each other as pleased

As long as they ignore distractions and focus on love

Which I hope this Ode may help them do.

Pindaric Ode for Serena Williams

I call upon Hermes, to whisper the name of Serena, where it lives in solitude in my mind,

next to the glimmering tennis courts, where the boys hold fistfuls of fuzz and stare

longingly at the victor. Her muscles ripple in the sun while she runs

the competition back and forth across the court. It’s silly that her opponents

should even show up! If I were foolish enough to imagine it, I could say Happy is Sharapova

But instead, I will say blessed is Williams! In truth, everyone knows a woman from Saginaw is a

woman untamable. Someone, who walks the Land of Sauks is cut from the cloth that has seen

the likes of Stevie Wonder, such a place that could only have been touched by Zeus. But no,

perhaps that isn’t true – that was only a place such an athlete was born, but not molded, she was

beholden in Compton like many greats before and after her. Zeus,

 

He rewards those who are gracious and steadfast in their offerings, as a poet I wish I could be

the sole one to sing this praise—but what an error that would be. Every tongue that gifts praise to

Serena, must first meander and give an offering to Athena. Let it be marked, that before she sets

up the first pitch, her hands have already been gilded for glory, which I can earnestly attest to!

However, the role of a champion is not given, it is made and shaped, her father was the one who

helped her through the gate. We shouldn’t forget how he taught her and left her with so much to

offer. When she steps on the court they yell: Could that be her coming down the bend? The

tennis player who was ranked number one for hundreds of weeks on end—with her baubles

blowing in the wind!