Heroes and hooves: Outstanding horses in Posidippus' Hippika

When hippic victors presented their agonistic success in epinicia and victory epigrams, the horses usually got their share of the praise: poets call them “swift” or “prize-bringing”, but mostly without any reference to the circumstances of the victory or to the actual performance of the horses. In some cases, however, the hippic praise is more specific; that is, when the poets describe particular qualities of the horses or memorable situations in the race. On the surface, such presentations of hoofed heroes seem to detract the reader's attention from the victor, but a more careful reading shows the poetic techniques, for example intertextual references to Homer and Pindar in Posidippus’ Hippika: praising the horses is a method of praising the victor, examples include the horse that runs without being whipped (Posidippus, 73 AB), the filly that wins the same race twice (Posidippus, 74 AB), and the “my horse and me” motif in Posidippus, 71 AB