# Charmides — Dialogues character guide

> Charmides in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the beautiful Charmides, the virtuous Charmides, Dialogues Charmides

**First appearance:** 0005-charmides

## Snapshot

A young Athenian of startling beauty and noble family whose composure is tested when Socrates asks him to define temperance.

## Who they are

Charmides enters the dialogue like a vision — every head turns, lovers trail behind him, and Socrates admits he is undone by the sight. He is Critias's cousin and Plato's relative, a youth whose beauty and lineage have always preceded him, and who now must speak for himself. When Socrates draws him into a conversation about self-knowledge, his initial confidence gives way to genuine perplexity, and that shift — from being admired to being questioned — is what makes him memorable.

## In the story

### [Charmides](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/charmides)

The beautiful young man whose temperance is being examined; initially offers definitions of temperance.

### [Charmides](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/charmides)

The beautiful young man being questioned; he admits he does not know if he possesses temperance and agrees to be charmed by Socrates.

## Links

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