Sophists

Protagoras ( ; ; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and rhetorical theorist. He is numbered as one of the sophists by Plato. In his dialogue Protagoras, Plato credits him with inventing the role of the professional sophist.

Gorgias ( ; ; – ) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years younger. W. K. C. Guthrie writes that "Like other Sophists, he was an itinerant that practiced in various cities and giving public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to ask miscellaneous questions from the audience and gi

A sophist () was a professional travelling teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, mathematics, and arete: "virtue" or "excellence". The sophists sold their tutoring expertise predominantly to young statesmen and nobility. Certain sophists are regarded as philosophers in their own right. The first credited sophist, Protagoras, argued that "man is the measure of all things", and he controversially would strive to "make the weaker argument the stronger".

thumb|The Choice of Hercules, by Annibale Carracci, depicting the fable recounted by Prodicus Prodicus of Ceos (; , Pródikos ho Keios; c. 465 BC – c. 395 BC) was a Greek philosopher, and part of the first generation of Sophists. He came to Athens as ambassador from Ceos, and became known as a speaker and a teacher. Plato treats him with greater respect than the other sophists, and in several of the Platonic dialogues Socrates appears as the friend of Prodicus. One writer claims Socrates used his method of instruction. Prodicus made linguistics and ethics prominent in his curriculum. The conten

Hippias of Elis (; ; late 5th century BC) was a Greek sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects, and lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, mathematics, and much else. Most current knowledge of him is derived from Plato, who characterizes him as vain and arrogant.

Thrasymachus (; ; c. 459 – c. 400 BC) was a sophist of ancient Greece best known as a character in Plato's Republic.

Alcidamas (), of Elaea, in Aeolis, was a Greek sophist and rhetorician, who flourished in the 5th-4th century BC .

5th-century BC Greek poet and sophist

Callicles (; ; c. 484 – late 5th century BC) is thought to have been an ancient Athenian political philosopher. He figures prominently in Plato’s dialogue Gorgias, where he "presents himself as a no-holds-barred, bare-knuckled, clear-headed advocate of Realpolitik". In terms of dramatic action, his function in the dialogue is to provide a counter-argument to Plato's philosophical ideas. The absence of contemporaneous sources external to this single text attesting to his existence has suggested to some that he may be no more than a character created by Plato for the dialogue. In this vein, it h

5th-century BC Greek sophist

late 5th-century BCE Greek mathematician

Athenian sophist (late 5th-early 4th century BC)

5th-century BC Greek sophist and logographer

Greek sophist born in Chios

ancient Greek philosopher

5th-century BC Greek sophist philosopher