# The Republic — Character guide

> Key figures in The Republic by Plato.

- [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/socrates.md): Socrates narrates the whole dialogue, drawing friends and rivals alike into an argument that begins with an old man's peace of mind and ends by rebuilding the state from scratch. His method is gentle but relentless: he p
- [Glaucon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/glaucon.md): Glaucon is the young Athenian who first urges the group to stay for the torch-race and then pushes the discussion past easy morality. He plays devil's advocate with real relish, laying out the strongest case for injustic
- [Adeimantus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/adeimantus.md): Adeimantus joins Glaucon in refusing to let Socrates off with a clever answer, but his worry is more concrete—he has watched education and reputation reward the appearance of virtue rather than virtue itself. He cites th
- [Polemarchus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/polemarchus.md): Polemarchus is the young man whose playful ambush—'are you stronger than all these?'—drags Socrates and Glaucon into his father's house and sets the whole dialogue in motion. He inherits the old proverb that justice mean
- [Cephalus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/cephalus.md): Cephalus is the wealthy old man whose house hosts the conversation, and his contentment rests on a lifetime of paying debts and telling the truth. He speaks movingly of how conversation replaces desire as the body weaken
- [Thrasymachus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/thrasymachus.md): Thrasymachus is the sharp-tongued Chalcedonian who cannot bear Socrates's irony and forces his way into the discussion with a blunt, cynical definition of justice. He argues that rulers make laws for their own advantage 
- [Cleitophon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/cleitophon.md): A minor interlocutor present at the discussion, who briefly interjects in support of Thrasymachus.
- [Niceratus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/niceratus.md): Son of Nicias; he is among the group that joins Polemarchus and accompanies Socrates to Cephalus's house.
- [Lysias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters/lysias.md): Brother of Polemarchus, present at the house but does not participate significantly in the philosophical discussion.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/1497/characters