Concept
Callias III
Overview
Callias (Greek: Kαλλίας, known as Callias III to distinguish him from his grandfather and great-great-grandfather) was an ancient Athenian aristocrat and political figure. He was the son of Hipponicus and an unnamed woman (she later married Pericles), an Alcmaeonid and the third member of one of the most distinguished Athenian families to bear the name of Callias. He was regarded as infamous for his extravagance and profligacy.
He apparently inherited his family's fortune in 424 BC. In 371 BC, he was one of the Athenian envoys sent to Sparta to negotiate peace. He is said to have spent his family's enormous wealth on sophists, flatterers, and women, and to have died in poverty. He is a character in several Socratic dialogues: Plato's Protagoras and Xenophon's Symposium are set at his house, and he featured in Aeschines of Sphettus's lost Aspasia.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
Very good, he said. Suppose, said Callias, that we hold a council in which you may sit and discuss.--This was agreed upon, and great delight was felt at the prospect of hearing wise men talk; we ourselves took the chairs and benches, and arranged them by Hippias, where the other benches had been already placed. Meanwhile Callias and Alcibiades got Prodicus out of bed and brought in him and his companions. When we…
Plato, Protagoras
The author is tied to Callias III in the knowledge graph.
Although, if a man were really able to instruct mankind, to receive money for giving instruction would, in my opinion, be an honour to him. There is Gorgias of Leontium, and Prodicus of Ceos, and Hippias of Elis, who go the round of the cities, and are able to persuade the young men to leave their own citizens by whom they might be taught for nothing, and come to them whom they not only pay, but are thankful if they…
Plato, Apology
The author is tied to Callias III in the knowledge graph.
Is it not probable that one who, out of doors, goes thus exposed to the cold, must want food and other necessaries at home? Callias, the wealthiest of the Athenians, does nothing to relieve either him or his wife and children in their poverty, though he is his own cousin, and has made use of him in many cases, and often reaped advantage by his interest with you."
Plutarch, Plutarch
Close in meaning to Callias III; the term itself is not named.
Philosophers who discussed Callias III
Related ideas
- Greek language
- Athens
- Classical Athens
- Ancient Corinth
- Plato
- Protagoras
- Socrates
- Xenophon
- Sparta
- Pericles
- Hackett Publishing Company
- Sophist
- Apology (Plato)
- Symposium (Xenophon)
- Aeschines of Sphettus
Place in the tradition
Part of Cynicism (philosophy).