Pindar was born circa 518 BC (the 65th [[Olympiad]]) in [[Cynoscephalae (Boeotia)|Cynoscephalae]], a village in [[Boeotia]], not far from [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. His father's name is variously given as Daiphantus, Pagondas or Scopelinus, and his mother's name was Cleodice.<ref name="Greek Lyric Poets' 1997 page 253">Gerber, p. 253</ref> It is told that in his youth, or possibly infancy, bees built a honeycomb in his mouth and this was the reason he became a poet of honey-like verses. (anAn identical fate has been ascribed to other poets of the archaic period).)<ref>https://livingpoets.dur.ac.uk/w/index.php/Pindar:_A_Guide_to_Selected_Sources</ref><ref>https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33129/Carlson_washington_0250E_14276.pdf?sequence=1</ref> Pindar was about twenty years old in 498 BC when he was commissioned by the ruling family in [[Thessaly]] to compose his first victory ode (''Pythian 10''). He studied the art of lyric poetry in Athens, where his tutor was [[Lasos of Hermione]], and he is also said to have received some helpful criticism from [[Corinna]].
The early- to- middle years of Pindar's career coincided with the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] during the reigns of [[Darius the Great|Darius]] and [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]]. This period included the [[first Persian invasion of Greece]], which endingended at the [[Battle of Marathon]] in 490 BC, and the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]] (480-479 BC).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient Greece - War - The British Museum|url=http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/home_set.html|access-date=18 July 2020|website=www.ancientgreece.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Battle of Marathon|url=https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/battle-of-marathon|access-date=18 July 2020|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref> During the second invasion, when Pindar was almost forty years old, [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] was occupied by Xerxes' general, [[Mardonius (nephew of Darius I)|Mardonius]], who with many Theban aristocrats subsequently perished at the [[Battle of Plataea]]. It is possible that Pindar spent much of this time at [[Aegina]]. His choice of residence during the earlier invasion in 490 BC is not known, but he was able to attend the [[Pythian Games]] forof that year, where he first met the Sicilian prince, Thrasybulus, nephew of [[Theron of Acragas]]. Thrasybulus had driven the winning chariot; and he and Pindar were to form a lasting friendship, paving the way for his subsequent visit to Sicily.
