# Callicles — Poetry character guide

> Callicles in Poetry by Matthew Arnold.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** young Callicles

**First appearance:** 0057-the-strayed-reveller

## Snapshot

A young poet whose harp follows Empedocles up Etna, offering music as a last, gentle counter to the philosopher's settled gloom.

## Who they are

Callicles is the youthful singer whom Pausanias brings along in secret, instructed to play from a distance and hope the strains might soothe Empedocles' man-hating mood. He is skeptical of miracles and quick to see that the philosopher's bitterness has roots deeper than the times or the sophists. His presence matters because he embodies the possibility of beauty and companionship against Empedocles' isolation, a voice that may or may not reach the man who has laid music by.

## Relationships

### [Pausanias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/pausanias)

_friendship_

Callicles and Pausanias are philosophical companions, engaging in dialogues about ethics and power in ancient Greek settings.

## In the story

### [Act I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/chapters/act-i)

Sings at the end of the chapter, providing a lyrical contrast with the tale of Cadmus and Harmonia finding peace in the Illyrian hills.

### [Act II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/chapters/act-ii)

Sings below the summit, his lyre music contrasting with Empedocles' despair, telling of Typho and the Olympian gods.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/callicles
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_16_se/characters