# Nicias — Dialogues character guide

> Nicias in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The more enlightened Nicias, Nicias Laches

**First appearance:** 0012-laches

## Snapshot

A cautious, pious Athenian general who defines courage as the knowledge of what is to be feared and dared, and means every word.

## Who they are

Nicias arrives in the Laches as one of Athens' most respected commanders, a man whose caution is both his strength and his reputation. Where his fellow general Laches speaks from instinct and battlefield experience, Nicias reaches for definitions — courage as a kind of knowledge — and his precision reveals a mind that trusts theory more than impulse. His exchange with Socrates exposes the tension between a soldier's life and a philosopher's demand for exactness, a tension that will shadow his career.

## Relationships

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

_friendship_

Nicias is a general and friend of Socrates, portrayed as a thoughtful but cautious figure in the Laches.

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

_friendship_

Nicias is a general and friend of Socrates, portrayed as a thoughtful but cautious figure in the Laches.

## In the story

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

A more enlightened general who proposes courage as knowledge of what is to be feared and hoped for.

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

Defines courage as knowledge of the fearful and hopeful, but is challenged by Socrates.

## Links

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