Croesus (d. 546 b.c.) last king of Lydia (560–546), noted for his great wealth. He is often used as an exemplar of great wealth (as in the simile "rich as Croesus").
Lydia ancient kingdom in western Asia Minor: it flourished in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C.; conquered by Persians and absorbed into Persian Empire (6th century B.C.).
collet a small metal band used in ring settings.
Aeschylus (525?–456 b.c.) Greek writer of tragedies.
Hesiod eighth-century B.C. Greek poet, generally accepted to be the author of the epic Works and Days; Hesiod (with Homer) is one of the earliest sources of the Greek myths in written form.
Musaeus a legendary Greek poet thought to have lived before Homer, believed to be the author of Orphic poems and oracles.
Hades in Greek mythology, the home of the dead, or the Underworld; the traditional belief was that the souls of all who died went to Hades, where they existed as shades, with consciousness but mindless and without strength.
slough a swamp, bog, or marsh, especially one that is part of an inlet or backwater.
"mendicant prophets" prophets or holy men who live by begging; Socrates' implication here is that they are assumed by educated persons to be charlatans.
Orpheus a legendary musician from Thrace; according to myth, he played the lyre with such artistry that his music moved rocks and trees and calmed wild animals. Orpheus figures in numerous myths and, like Musaeus, is associated with religious rites.
Archilochus seventh-century B.C. Greek poet, regarded as the inventor of iambics (a poetic meter).
rhetoric the art of using words effectively in speaking or writing; the "professors of rhetoric" to whom Socrates refers here are Sophists, noted for their adroit, subtle, and often specious reasoning.
panegyrists plural of panegyrist, an orator who presented eulogies (praiseful speeches); here, Socrates means writers and speakers who praise, or have praised, justice.
