Dio Chrysostom’s Charidemos: A Study

Abstract

This contribution is a study of structure, imagery, Platonic allusions, and meaning in Dio Chrysostom’s dialogue Charidemos. It focuses on the frame dialogue as well as the deathbed speech of Charidemos which constitutes the core of the text, and examines the dualities and dramatized oppositions between conflicting worldviews represented by the two interlocutors in the frame conversation and the two logoi in the deathbed speech. In particular, it studies Dio’s creation of a dramatic sense of contrast between “pessimistic” and “optimistic” visions and argues that the Charidemos is a work of purposeful ambiguity, testifying to Dio’s interest in juxtaposing divergent personalities and worldviews.