 Diagoras was the son of Telecleides or Teleclytus, and was born in the island of Melos, one of the Cyclades.According to the Suda, he was a disciple of Democritus after Democritus had paid 10,000 drachmas to free Diagoras from captivity following the cruel subjugation of Melos (416 BC); however no early sources mention an association with Democritus.The Suda also states that in his youth Diagoras had acquired some reputation as a lyric poet, and this is probably the cause of his being mentioned with the lyric poets Simonides, Pindar, and Bacchylides.