# Glaucon — Dialogues character guide

> Glaucon in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** 215 Glaucon, Glaucon impatiently

**First appearance:** 0057-book-i

## Snapshot

Plato's brother, a restless Athenian who wants to hear the whole story of love retold and never tires of arguing on the road.

## Who they are

Glaucon appears as the eager listener who catches Apollodorus on the road to Athens and demands a full account of the speeches at Agathon's feast, insisting the walk itself was made for conversation. He is impatient, curious, and hungry for philosophy, pressing for the tale to be rehearsed again rather than letting it fade into hearsay. His appetite for the argument makes him the reader's stand-in, the one whose questions keep the dialogue moving forward.

## Relationships

### [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/socrates)

_friendship_

Glaucon is Socrates' brother and a spirited debater, pushing Socrates to defend justice more rigorously.

## In the story

### [Dialogues](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/dialogues)

Challenges Socrates on the nature of justice in the Republic.

### [Republic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/republic)

Challenges Socrates to defend justice for its own sake.

### [Introduction and Analysis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/introduction-and-analysis)

Socrates' interlocutor, who is urged to follow the argument and is addressed directly in the search for justice.

### [The Republic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/the-republic)

Socrates' interlocutor; responds to Socrates' arguments about justice and the philosopher's role.

### [Book II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-ii)

Challenges Socrates to defend justice intrinsically, excluding reputations and rewards.

### [Book III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-iii)

Responds to Socrates, agreeing on the principles of education and the need to control tales about death.

### [Book IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-iv)

Engages actively with Socrates, agreeing that the question of justice vs. injustice is now ridiculous, and follows the argument about the forms of vice and virtue.

### [Book V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-v)

Challenges Socrates to explain the community of women and children; agrees with the resolution to press Socrates for an answer.

### [Book VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-vii)

Socrates' primary interlocutor, questioning and responding to the proposals for the philosopher-kings.

### [Book VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-viii)

Socrates' interlocutor; responds to and questions Socrates' analysis of political change.

### [Book IX: The Tyrannical Soul and the Superiority of Justice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-ix)

Responds to Socrates' questions, agreeing with the parallels between the tyrannical state and the tyrannical soul, and affirming the conclusions about pleasure and justice.

### [Book X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/book-x)

Socrates' primary interlocutor; expresses astonishment at the claim of the soul's immortality and engages in the subsequent arguments.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/glaucon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters