Dialogues · Character

Critias

Plato's own uncle and an ambitious Athenian who matches wits with Socrates over self-knowledge, later becoming one of the Thirty Tyrants.

supporting

First appearance: Charmides

As a supporting figure in Dialogues, Critias is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Charmides' guardian and cousin; takes over the argument, proposing that temperance is self-knowledge.

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Critias moves through the early dialogues as a polished aristocrat with a taste for poetry, politics, and definitions, and in the Charmides he presses Socrates to say what temperance really is. His confidence in his own wisdom sits uneasily beside his willingness to let Socrates lead, hinting at a man who wants mastery without submitting to the discipline of philosophy. He matters because his presence shadows the whole Socratic circle: the relative who heard the arguments and, in the end, helped destroy the city that produced them.

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Character Web

6 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Extended Cast of Dialogues
Philosophers and Interlocutors
Protagonist

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point

In this excerpt, the dramatic climax occurs when Erasistratus’s boastful praise of the Syracusan envoy’s immen…

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In the story

Critias appears across 11 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Charmides
Charmides' guardian and cousin; takes over the argument, proposing that temperance is self-knowledge.
Charmides
Charmides' guardian and cousin; he asserts Charmides' temperance and commands him to follow Socrates.
Timaeus
Present; introduces the Atlantis story as a prelude to Timaeus's cosmology.
Timaeus I
Relays the story of Solon and the Egyptian priests about Atlantis, as told by his grandfather.
Timaeus
Tells the ancient tradition of Solon and the story of Atlantis, as heard from his grandfather.
Critias
The primary narrator, recounting the story of Atlantis and ancient Athens as told by Solon.
Introduction and Analysis
Critias is the narrator of the Atlantis story, claiming to repeat what Solon was told by Egyptian priests.
Critias
Critias accepts the argument from Timaeus and begins his discourse on Atlantis, requesting indulgence for the difficulty of speaking about human affairs.
Appendix II
Discusses with Socrates the utility of wealth, hearing, and medicine for virtue, and reluctantly considers whether bad means can serve good ends.
Eryxias
Argues that wealth can be bad for some men, and engages in a dialectical exchange with Eryxias and Socrates.
Eryxias
Engages in the discussion with Socrates, reluctantly accepting arguments about the uselessness of certain antecedents and the condition of the wealthy.

Chapter companion notes

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