Hippias

Relatively little is known about Hippias. He was from Elis which is in the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greece. He appears to have had a broad base of knowledge being familiar with mythology, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, history, and literature among others. Plato portrays him as opposing law as a force both unnatural and unduly limiting of human freedom. Given Socrates enormous respect for the law (which is developed in the dialogue, Crito) we can well imagine this was a major point of disagreement between the men.