Callias (, known as Callias III to distinguish him from his
grandfather and great-great-grandfather) was an
ancient Athenian aristocrat and political figure. He was the son of
Hipponicus and an unnamed woman (she later married
Pericles), an
Alcmaeonid and the third member of one of the most distinguished
Athenian
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
families to bear the name of Callias. He was regarded as infamous for his extravagance and profligacy.
He apparently inherited his family's fortune in 424 BC. In 371 BC, he was one of the Athenian envoys sent to Sparta to negotiate peace. He is said to have spent his family's enormous wealth on
sophists, flatterers, and women, and to have died in poverty. He is a character in several Socratic dialogues: Plato's ''
Protagoras'' and Xenophon's ''
Symposium '' are set at his house, and he featured in
Aeschines of Sphettus's lost ''Aspasia''.
Life
Callias' family was unusually wealthy: the major part of their fortune came from the leasing of large numbers of slaves to the state-owned
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
mines of
Laurium. In return, the ''Calliai'' were paid a share of the mine proceeds, in silver. Accordingly, they were considered the richest family in Athens and quite possibly in all of Greece, and the head of the family was often simply referred to as "''ho plousios''" (
Greek: "ὁ πλούσιος", "the wealthy"). The only other family that could rival their wealth were the
tyrants of Syracuse.
Callias must have inherited the family's fortune in 424 BC, which can be reconciled with the mention of him in the
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
the ''Flatterers'' of
Eupolis, 421 BC, as having recently entered into his inheritance. In 400 BC, he was involved in an attempt to destroy the career of the Attic orator,
Andocides, by charging him with profanity in having placed a supplicatory bough on the altar of the temple at
Eleusis during the celebration of the Mysteries. However, according to Andocides, the bough was actually placed there by Callias himself.
In 392 BC, he was placed in command of the Athenian heavy-armed troops at
Corinth
Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...
on the occasion of their defeat of a
Sparta
Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
n regiment, or
Mora, by
Iphicrates. Callias was hereditary
proxenus (roughly the equivalent of the modern consul) to Sparta, and, as such, was chosen as one of the envoys empowered to negotiate a peace with Sparta in 371 BC. On this occasion
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
reports that Callias gave an absurd and self-glorifying speech.
It is said that Callias dissipated all his inherited wealth on
sophists, flatterers, and women. These behaviours became quite evident early in his life so that he was commonly spoken of, before his father's death, being the "evil genius" of his family. He is acclaimed in Plato's
Apology as having "paid more money to sophists than all the others."
The scene of Xenophon's ''
Symposium'', and also that of
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's ''
Protagoras'', is set at Callias' house during a banquet hosted by him for his beloved
Autolykos in honour of a victory gained by the handsome young man in the
pentathlon at the
Panathenaic Games. In the latter especially Callias' character is drawn with some vivid sketches as a dilettante highly amused with the intellectual fencing of
Protagoras and
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
. Callias III is also an interlocutor with Socrates in
Aeschines of Sphettus' dialogue, ''Aspasia''.
[Nails, D., ''The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics'' ( Hackett Publishing, 2002), p. 73.]
Callias is said to have ultimately reduced himself to absolute beggary, to which the sarcasm of Iphicrates in calling him ''metragyrtes'' instead of ''daduchos'' refers. Callias died so poor that he could not afford the common necessities of life. He left a legitimate son named Hipponicus.
See also
*
List of speakers in Plato's dialogues
*
Pederasty in ancient Greece
Notes
References
*
Smith, William (editor); ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', ,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, (1867)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callias 03
4th-century BC Athenians
4th-century BC deaths
4th-century BC diplomats
5th-century BC Athenians
5th-century BC births
Alcmaeonidae
Ancient Greek LGBTQ people
Proxenoi
Year of birth unknown