In lyrical poetry, odes are all compositions intended to glorify the existence of a divine person or entity. Formerly, this is how all large compositions were called or those that had to be recited as a song, even being accompanied by typical musical instruments of the time, such as the lyre. The subject of these can vary, depending on the qualities that you want to highlight; important poets of ancient Greece, such as Safos and Anacreon, helped define the themes, these being love, festivals, heroes and gods; in more recent times, Pablo Neruda and Garcilaso de la Vega contributed to form the idea of the ode as a praise, with a subtle implication of philosophical elements.
During ancient times, three lyrics stood out and each one was in charge of cultivating, within literature, stories that would recreate everyday life; these were Safos, Anacreonte and Pindar. While Anacreon delighted the most powerful with his odes to wine and festivals, Safos was devoted to hardship and love desire, while Pindar praised the Empire, athletes and military. Centuries later, writers like Neruda, Victor Hugo, Cowley and Klopstock, would make important contributions to the genre.
Like all lyrical compositions, the odes reflect the inner world of the artist; These take the initiative to express the deepest passions on a person, object or religious figure; It should also be noted that they enjoy great musicality, especially when they are recited accompanied by musical instruments. Traditionally, the odes, because they are also long, are divided into stanzas and these into verses; however, it should be noted that some poems could be written in prose, in the literary phenomenon known as poetic prose.
