Editing Aristaeus (section)

==Pindar's account==
According to [[Pindar]]'s ninth Pythian Ode and Apollonius' ''[[Argonautica]]'' (II.522ff), Cyrene despised spinning and other womanly arts and instead spent her days hunting and [[shepherd]]ing, but, in a prophecy he put in the mouth of the wise [[centaur]] [[Chiron]], Apollo would spirit her to [[Ancient Libya|Libya]] and make her the foundress of a great city, [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], in a fertile coastal plain.<ref>Thus Pindar set into a mythological past a prophecy of the comparatively recent founding of Cyrene (630 BCE).</ref> When Aristaeus was born, according to what Pindar sang, [[Hermes]] took him to be raised on [[nectar]] and [[ambrosia]] and to be made immortal by [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]].

"Aristaios" ("the best") is an [[epithet]] rather than a name:<blockquote>For some men to call [[Zeus]] and holy [[Apollo]].<br>Agreus and Nomios,<ref>[[Agreus]] ("hunter") and [[Agreus|Nomios]] ("shepherd") are sometimes given distinct identities among the [[Pan (mythology)|Panes]], sons of Pan.</ref> and for others Aristaios ([[Pindar]])</blockquote>