Pindar is the greatest lyric poet of antiquity. He was born in 522 BC and descended from the Cynoscephalae of Thebes. He was inspired by the bravery of the athletes and not by the military events of his time. He used to attend the great Pan-Hellenic games and had friendly relations with noble houses of all cities. Sometimes, he accompanied the athletes to their home country, conducting the winning procession himself. He wrote hymns, plays, dithyrambs, and victory odes. His work today preserves only the 4 books of victory odes, Pythia, Nemea, Olympia, and Isthmia. The reputation and respect to his face were maintained by his contemporaries even after his death. Arrian states that when Alexander the Great ordered the burning of the entire city of Thebes, he asked for the poet's home to be the only one excluded.