Prodicus of Ceos was probably born before 460 BC. He was a major figure of the sophistic movement in Greece during the latter part of the fifth century BC. He features in a number of Platonic dialogues in ways that suggest he was regarded by Socrates more sympathetically than the other sophists.
He was chiefly a teacher of rhetoric, with a special interest in the correct use of words and the distinction of near-synonyms. He seems to assume that each particular word has a proper object and that no single word has exactly the same meaning as another.
Prodicus of Ceos did a lecture in various Greek cities, especially in Athens. His writings are known to have dealt with physical doctrines, with religious and moral themes, and above all with distinctions between the meanings of words usually treated as synonyms.
Prodicus of Ceos says that the ancients considered as gods the sun, the moon, the rivers, the springs, and in general all the useful things for our life because of the benefit derived from them, just as the Egyptians [sc. considered as god] the Nile.
Prodicus of Ceos
