The  earliest  of  his  extant  poems  was  written  at  the  age  of
twenty.  His  brilliant  genius  soon  made  him  known  all  over
Greece.  He  was  held  in  equal  honor  at  the  courts  of  princes
and  in  the  capitals  of  republican  states.  He  was  invited  to
Syracuse  by  Hieron,  where  he  remained  about  four  years,  the
brightest  ornament  of  poetical  society.  The  Rhodians  deposit-
ed in  the  temple  of  the  Lindian  Athene  his  seventh  Olympian
ode,  written  in  golden  letters,  —  a  very  beautiful  composi-
tion, in  honor  of  Diagoras,  one  of  their  countrymen.  Though
his  usual  residence  was  at  Thebes,  yet,  like  other  poets  of  hi?
time,  he  made  frequent  journeys  to  i  isit  the  cities  and  men
that  vied  with  one  another  for  his  friendship,  and  to  be  present


190  THE   GREEK  LANGUAGE  AND   POETRY.
