Pindar, Pythian 11.39-42
“Friends, did I really get turned around
At the fork in the road and lose my way
When I had just been following a straight path?
Or did some wind knock me aside as if
I were a boat on the sea?
Muse! It’s your job to keep things moving here and there,
since you agreed to sell your voice for silver
ἦρ᾿, ὦ φίλοι, κατ᾿ ἀμευσίπορον τρίοδον ἐδινάθην,
ὀρθὰν κέλευθον ἰὼν
τὸ πρίν· ἤ μέ τις ἄνεμος ἔξω πλόου
ἔβαλεν, ὡς ὅτ᾿ ἄκατον ἐνναλίαν;
Μοῖσα, τὸ δὲ τεόν, εἰ μισθοῖο συνέθευ παρέχειν
φωνὰν ὑπάργυρον, ἄλλοτ᾿ ἄλλᾳ ταρασσέμεν
