Most of Pindar's victory odes contain a mythical narrative as part of their encomiastic strategy. Pythian 1 features the story of Typhon, a mythical giant who challenged Zeus' primacy and was consequently buried beneath Mount Etna. The poem envisions his imprisonment as the cause for a volcanic eruption of Etna, which it then goes on to describe. The eruption constitutes an elaborate ecphrasis and has been considered by critics to be central to the poem's interpretation.