Sophist in the context of "Iccus of Taranto"

Protagoras (/proʊˈtæɡərəs, -æs/ proh-TAG-ər-əs, -⁠ass; Greek: Πρωταγόρας; c. 490 BC – c. 420 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and rhetorical theorist. He is numbered as one of the sophists by Plato. In his dialogue Protagoras, Plato credits him with inventing the role of the professional sophist.

Protagoras is also believed to have created a major controversy during ancient times through his statement that "Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not" which was usually rendered simply as "Man is the measure of all things," interpreted (possibly wrongly, since he disagreed) by Plato to mean that there is no objective truth; Protagoras seems to have meant that each person's own personal history, experiences and expectations, developed over their lifetime, determine their judgments, opinions, and statements regarding "truth" (which is the title of the book in which Protagoras made this statement). When a person makes a judgment about a certain thing—good or bad or beautiful or unjust—that person will differ from other people's judgments because their experience has been different.

Polycrates (Greek: Πολυκράτης c. 440-370 B.C.) was a sophist from Athens, who later retired to the island of Cyprus.

He wrote a work titled The Indictment of Socrates, thought to have been written during the 390s BC. He wrote works about the Greek mythical characters Clytaemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and Busiris, a king of Egypt. He also wrote verses on cooking pots, mice, counters, pebbles and salt.

Iamblichus (/aɪˈæmblɪkəs/ eye-AM-blik-əs; Ancient Greek: Ἰάμβλιχος, romanized: Iámblichos; Aramaic: 𐡉𐡌𐡋𐡊𐡅, romanized: Yamlīkū; c. 245 – c. 325) was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher who determined a direction later taken by Neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer of the Greek mystic, philosopher, and mathematician Pythagoras. In addition to his philosophical contributions, his Protrepticus is important for the study of the sophists because it preserved about ten pages of an otherwise unknown sophist known as the Anonymus Iamblichi.

Hippias of Elis (/ˈhɪpiəs/; Greek: Ἱππίας ὁ Ἠλεῖος; late 5th century BC) was a Greek sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects, and lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, mathematics, and much else. Most current knowledge of him is derived from Plato, who characterizes him as vain and arrogant.

Himerius (Ancient Greek: Ἱμέριος; c. 315 – c. 386) was a Greek sophist and rhetorician. 24 of his orations have reached us complete, and fragments of 12 others survive.

Favorinus (c. 80 – c. 160 AD) was a Roman sophist and skeptic philosopher who flourished during the reign of Hadrian and the Second Sophistic.

Protagoras (/proʊˈtæɡərəs, -æs/ proh-TAG-ər-əs, -⁠ass; Ancient Greek: Πρωταγόρας) is a dialogue by Plato. The traditional subtitle (which may or may not be Plato's) is "or the Sophists". The main argument is between Socrates and the elderly Protagoras, a celebrated sophist and philosopher. The discussion takes place at the home of Callias, who is host to Protagoras while he is in town. The philosophical issues raised in the Protagoras include the unity and the teachability of virtue, and the relationship between pleasure and goodness.

Diagoras of Melos (Greek: Διαγόρας ὁ Μήλιος) or Diagoras "the Atheist" was a Greek poet and sophist of the 5th century BC. Throughout antiquity, he was regarded as an atheist, but very little is known for certain about what he actually believed. Anecdotes about his life indicate that he spoke out against ancient Greek religion. He allegedly chopped up a wooden statue of Heracles and used it to roast his lentils and revealed the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Athenians accused him of asebeia (impiety) and banished him from their city. He died in Corinth.