Ancient · c. 465–395 BC
Who did Prodicus influence?
Students and legacy
Sophist of precise language whose 'Choice of Heracles' made ethics a parable.
Prodicus influenced Socrates. That is 1 line of the 448 documented lines of influence between the 279 thinkers on this map.
Read on Wikipedia Portrait: Annibale Carracci, Public domain See the whole map
Who was Prodicus?
Prodicus of Ceos belonged to the first generation of sophists. He came to Athens as an envoy from Ceos and stayed as a speaker and teacher, putting language and ethics at the centre of his teaching.
Plato treats him with more respect than the other sophists and shows Socrates as his friend. One of his speeches survives in content: the fable of Heracles choosing between Virtue and Vice. He also explained religion in naturalistic terms.
Summarized from the lead of the Wikipedia article.
Who did Prodicus influence?
1 thinker on this map draws directly on Prodicus.
- Socrates c. 470–399 BC
Two steps away from Prodicus
The second generation
- Through Socrates: Antisthenes, Aristippus, Xenophon, Plato, Diogenes of Sinope, Søren Kierkegaard
Contemporaries of Prodicus
Thinkers on this map born within 25 years of Prodicus, with no direct line between them.
- Democritus c. 460–370 BC
- Aspasia c. 470–400 BC
- Philolaus c. 470–385 BC
- Antisthenes c. 446–366 BC
- Gorgias c. 485–380 BC
- Protagoras c. 490–420 BC
Prodicus by the numbers
- Direct influences
- 0
- Direct followers
- 1
- Thinkers upstream
- 0
- Thinkers downstream
- 215
- Wikipedia languages
- 37 — #48 of 54 among ancient philosophers
- Card rarity
- Rare
Questions about Prodicus
- Who influenced Prodicus?
- No earlier thinker on this map is recorded as a direct influence on Prodicus.
- Who did Prodicus influence?
- Socrates.
- When did Prodicus live?
- c. 465–395 BC. The map files Prodicus under the ancient world.
- How rare is the Prodicus card?
- Wikipedia carries an article on Prodicus in 37 languages, which makes it a Rare card. Legendary starts at 100 languages, Epic at 50 and Rare at 25.
More ancient philosophers
- Confucius 551–479 BC
- Aristotle 384–322 BC
- Plato c. 428–348 BC
- Socrates c. 470–399 BC
- Pythagoras c. 570–495 BC
- Laozi c. 6th c. BC
- Cicero 106–43 BC
- Thales of Miletus c. 624–546 BC