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Lyric poet, native of Cynoscephalae in *Boeotia. He was born probably in 518 bce (Suda, fr. 193, if the latter refers to Pindar). The tradition (one of several competing accounts) that he lived to the age of eighty is at least roughly correct, since his last datable composition (Pyth. 8) belongs in or shortly after 446. On the basis of Pyth. 5. 72 it is widely believed that he belonged to the aristocratic family of the Aegeidae. He achieved panhellenic recognition early; at the age of 20 he was commissioned by the ruling family of *Thessaly to celebrate the athletic victory of a favourite youth, Hippocleas (Pyth. 10). His commissions covered most of the Greek world, from *Macedonia and *Abdera in Thrace in the north (fr. 120–1, Pae. 2) to *Cyrene in Africa in the south (Pyth. 4, 5, 9), from *Italy and *Sicily in the west (Ol.