δόξαν ... πνοαϊς: One of the harshest combinations in P., at least to our feeling, but the tongue is freely handled in Greek. It is a bow, I. 4 (5), 47: γλῶσσά μοι τοξεύματ᾽ ἔχει. It is a dart, N. 7.71: ἄκονθ᾽ ὧτε χαλκοπάρᾳον (compare the use of γλωχίν, So. Tr. 681). Being a dart, it can be hammered, P. 1.86: χάλκευε γλῶσσαν, or sharpened, as here. The trainer is a Ναξία ἀκόνα, I. 5 (6), 73, and the poet's tongue is to be edged as the spirit of athletes is edged, O. 10 (11), 22. The word λιγυρᾶς is not used in a bad sense; the Greeks liked piercing sounds, and καλλιρόοισι πνοαῖς shows that in this case, at any rate, the sound of the whetstone was the voice of the Muses. The shrill whetstone that P. feels on his tongue accosts him with sweet breathings, and with a welcome message.
γλώσσᾳ: We want the dative and accept the hiatus, as O. 3.30: Ὀρθωσίᾳ ἔγραψεν.
