Poet in Rhodes at the beginning (5)
I believe the answer is:
homer
'poet' is the definition.
(Homer is an example)
'in rhodes at the beginning' is the wordplay.
'in' becomes 'home' ('he's in' can mean 'he's home').
'at the beginning' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'rhodes' is 'r'.
'home'+'r'='HOMER'
(Other definitions for homer that I've seen before include "Bart Simpson's father" , "Great Greek poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey" , "Greek author; pigeon" , "Pigeon; classic writer" , "Cartoon father of Bart and Lisa" .)