# Melesias — Dialogues character guide

> Melesias in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Aristides Melesias

**First appearance:** 0012-laches

## Snapshot

A father haunted by his own unfulfilled ambitions, he joins Lysimachus in asking Athens' finest generals what courage actually is.

## Who they are

Melesias stands beside Lysimachus as one of two older Athenians who feel their sons deserve better teachers than they themselves had. His concern is not abstract: he wants Thucydides to grow into something he never became, and that quiet regret sharpens every question he asks. In the Laches, his presence turns a debate about definitions into something more urgent — a reckoning with what fathers owe their children and what they cannot give.

## In the story

### [Laches](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/laches)

The other father consulting Socrates and the generals about his son's education.

### [Laches](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/laches)

Present as a concerned father, joins Lysimachus in seeking guidance.

## Links

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