Page:The works of Plato, A new and literal version, (vol 6) (Burges, 1854).djvu/430

418 Callias was in love with Autolycus, the son of Lyco, who gained the victory (while yet a boy) in the Pancratium during the greater Panathenæa, Ol. 89, 4, upon which occasion Callias gave an entertainment to his friends at his house in the Piræus. He had been scholar to the sophists Protagoras, Gorgias, and Prodicus; was very wealthy; and had learned the art of memory from Hippias of Elis, at the recommendation of Antisthenes. He was Προξενος of the Lacedæmonians who came to Athens; was hereditary priest of the Eleusinian deities, ὁ Δᾳδοῦχος; was remarkable for his nobility and the gracefulness of his person; he had two sons, who were instructed by Evenus, the Parian sophist; he entertained Protagoras, Prodicus, and Hippias, and other sophists, their companions, in his house, Ol. 90, 1.

He was son to the famous Nicias ; was present at the symposium of Callias, Ol. 89, 4, and then newly married. He could repeat by heart the whole Iliad and Odyssey, and had been scholar to Stesimbrotus and Anaximander. He was very wealthy and somewhat covetous; was fond of his wife, and beloved by her; was scholar to Damon, the famous musician, who had been recommended to his father by Socrates; and finally, he was put to death by order of the Thirty, with his uncle Eucrates.

He was extremely poor, but with a contempt of wealth; was present in the symposium of Callias, where he proved that riches and poverty are in the mind alone, and not in externals. His way of life was easy and contented: he passed whole days in the company of Socrates, who taught him (he says) to be mentally rich. He was much beloved in the city, and his scholars were esteemed by the public. He recommended Prodicus and Hippias the Elean to Callias; bore great affection to Socrates, and was present at his death.

A man of warmth and eagerness of temper; he was a friend to the liberties of the people; he fled to and returned with Thrasybulus; he died before Socrates's trial, for he is mentioned in Socrates's Apology, as then dead, and in the Gorgias, as then living: