# Carneades — The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers character guide

> Carneades in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0044-carneades

## Snapshot

The Academy's great skeptic, famed for arguing both sides of justice and for the quip that turned an ugly lover toward a prettier woman for ten talents.

## Who they are

Carneades stands at the head of the skeptical Academy, a philosopher whose dialogues on justice, the gods, and pleasure made him a formidable and unsettling presence in Rome and Athens alike. His wit is as sharp as his arguments—his advice to the rich man smitten with an ugly woman captures the blend of irony and worldly sense that runs through his teaching. He matters because he pushes the Academy's suspension of judgment to its most public and provocative extreme, forcing every dogmatic school to answer him.

## In the story

### [Lacydes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/lacydes)

Successor to Hegesinus, continuing the line after Lacydes.

### [Carneades](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/carneades)

Main subject of the chapter; a native of Cyrene, student of Stoic works, especially Chrysippus, known for his ethical focus, powerful voice, and fear of death.

### [Clitomachus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/clitomachus)

Clitomachus's teacher, who instructed him in literature and philosophy, and whom Clitomachus succeeded in the Academy.

### [Chrysippus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/chrysippus)

Called Chrysippus 'Crypsippus' (hidden horse) because his statue in the Ceramicus is nearly hidden by an equestrian statue.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters/carneades
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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters