Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Thrasymachus

It's not completely fair to cast Thrasymachus as our villain, but he definitely exhibits some antagonistic qualities. What makes him into a kind of rival to Socrates isn't simply that he disagrees with Socrates's positions—lots of people do that. Rather, what Thrasymachus attacks is Socrates's methods, his question-and-answer mode and his unwillingness to reveal his own opinions until way later. While Thrasymachus eventually calms down, his challenge to Socrates is never completely answered, and he might be the only character in this dialogue that successfully reveals a potential weakness of Socrates.