ΚΑΛ. πολέμου καὶ μάχης φασὶ χρῆναι, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὕτω μεταλαγχάνειν.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ ἦ, τὸ λεγόμενον, κατόπιν ἑορτῆς ἥκομεν καὶ ὑστεροῦμεν;
ΚΑΛ. καὶ μάλα γε ἀστείας ἑορτῆς· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ καλὰ Γοργίας ἡμῖν ὀλίγον πρότερον ἐπεδείξατο.
ΣΩ. τούτων μέντοι, ὦ Καλλίκλεις, αἴτιος Χαιρεφῶν ὅδε, ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἀναγκάσας ἡμᾶς διατρῖψαι.
ΧΑΙ. οὐδὲν πρᾶγμα, ὦ Σώκρατες· ἐγὼ γὰρ καὶ ἰάσομαι. φίλος γάρ μοι Γοργίας, ὥστʼ ἐπιδείξεται ἡμῖν, εἰ μὲν δοκεῖ, νῦν, ἐὰν δὲ βούλῃ, εἰς αὖθις.
ΚΑΛ. τί δέ, ὦ Χαιρεφῶν; ἐπιθυμεῖ Σωκράτης ἀκοῦσαι Γοργίου;
ΧΑΙ. ἐπʼ αὐτό γέ τοι τοῦτο πάρεσμεν.
ΚΑΛ. οὐκοῦν ὅταν βούλησθε παρʼ ἐμὲ ἥκειν οἴκαδε· παρʼ ἐμοὶ γὰρ Γοργίας καταλύει καὶ ἐπιδείξεται ὑμῖν.
ΣΩ. εὖ λέγεις, ὦ Καλλίκλεις. ἀλλʼ ἆρα ἐθελήσειεν ἂν ἡμῖν διαλεχθῆναι; βούλομαι γὰρ πυθέσθαι παρʼ αὐτοῦ τίς ἡ δύναμις τῆς τέχνης τοῦ ἀνδρός, καὶ τί ἐστιν ὃ ἐπαγγέλλεταί τε καὶ διδάσκει· τὴν δὲ ἄλλην ἐπίδειξιν εἰς αὖθις, ὥσπερ σὺ λέγεις, ποιησάσθω.
ΚΑΛ. οὐδὲν οἷον τὸ αὐτὸν ἐρωτᾶν, ὦ Σώκρατες. καὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ ἓν τοῦτʼ ἦν τῆς ἐπιδείξεως· ἐκέλευε γοῦν νυνδὴ ἐρωτᾶν ὅτι τις βούλοιτο τῶν ἔνδον ὄντων, καὶ πρὸς ἅπαντα ἔφη ἀποκρινεῖσθαι.
ΣΩ. ἦ καλῶς λέγεις. ὦ Χαιρεφῶν, ἐροῦ αὐτόν.
ΧΑΙ. τί ἔρωμαι;
ΣΩ. ὅστις ἐστίν.
ΧΑΙ. πῶς λέγεις;
ΣΩ. ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ ἐτύγχανεν ὢν ὑποδημάτων δημιουργός, ἀπεκρίνατο ἂν δήπου σοι ὅτι σκυτοτόμος· ἢ οὐ μανθάνεις ὡς λέγω;
ΧΑΙ. μανθάνω καὶ ἐρήσομαι. εἰπέ μοι, ὦ Γοργία, ἀληθῆ λέγει Καλλικλῆς ὅδε ὅτι ἐπαγγέλλῃ ἀποκρίνεσθαι ὅτι ἄν τίς σε ἐρωτᾷ;
Callicles. The wise man, as the proverb says, is late for a fray, but not for a feast.
Socrates. And are we late for a feast?
Callicles. Yes, and a delightful feast; for Gorgias has just been exhibiting to us many fine things.
Socrates. It is not my fault, Callicles; our friend Chaerephon is to blame; for he would keep us loitering in the Agora.
Chaerephon. Never mind, Socrates; the misfortune of which I have been the cause I will also repair; for Gorgias is a friend of mine, and I will make him give the exhibition again either now, or, if you prefer, at some other time.
Callicles. What is the matter, Chaerephon—does Socrates want to hear Gorgias?
Chaerephon. Yes, that was our intention in coming.
Callicles. Come into my house, then; for Gorgias is staying with me, and he shall exhibit to you.
Socrates. Very good, Callicles; but will he answer our questions? for I want to hear from him what is the nature of his art, and what it is which he professes and teaches; he may, as you (Chaerephon) suggest, defer the exhibition to some other time.
Callicles. There is nothing like asking him, Socrates; and indeed to answer questions is a part of his exhibition, for he was saying only just now, that any one in my house might put any question to him, and that he would answer.
Socrates. How fortunate! will you ask him, Chaerephon—?
Chaerephon. What shall I ask him?
Socrates. Ask him who he is.
Chaerephon. What do you mean?
Socrates. I mean such a question as would elicit from him, if he had been a maker of shoes, the answer that he is a cobbler. Do you understand?
Chaerephon. I understand, and will ask him: Tell me, Gorgias, is our friend Callicles right in saying that you undertake to answer any questions which you are asked?
GORGIAS:
ΓΟΡ. ἀληθῆ, ὦ Χαιρεφῶν· καὶ γὰρ νυνδὴ αὐτὰ ταῦτα ἐπηγγελλόμην, καὶ λέγω ὅτι οὐδείς μέ πω ἠρώτηκε καινὸν οὐδὲν πολλῶν ἐτῶν.
ΧΑΙ. ἦ που ἄρα ῥᾳδίως ἀποκρινῇ, ὦ Γοργία.
ΓΟΡ. πάρεστι τούτου πεῖραν, ὦ Χαιρεφῶν, λαμβάνειν.
ΠΩΛ. νὴ Δία· ἂν δέ γε βούλῃ, ὦ Χαιρεφῶν, ἐμοῦ. Γοργίας μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀπειρηκέναι μοι δοκεῖ· πολλὰ γὰρ ἄρτι διελήλυθεν.
ΧΑΙ. τί δέ, ὦ Πῶλε; οἴει σὺ κάλλιον ἂν Γοργίου ἀποκρίνασθαι;
ΠΩΛ. τί δὲ τοῦτο, ἐὰν σοί γε ἱκανῶς;
ΧΑΙ. οὐδέν· ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ σὺ βούλει, ἀποκρίνου.
ΠΩΛ. Ἐρώτα.
ΧΑΙ. ἐρωτῶ δή. εἰ ἐτύγχανε Γοργίας ἐπιστήμων ὢν τῆς τέχνης ἧσπερ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ Ἡρόδικος, τί ἂν αὐτὸν ὠνομάζομεν δικαίως; οὐχ ὅπερ ἐκεῖνον;
ΠΩΛ. πάνυ γε.
ΧΑΙ. ἰατρὸν ἄρα φάσκοντες αὐτὸν εἶναι καλῶς ἂν ἐλέγομεν.
ΠΩΛ. ναί.
ΧΑΙ. εἰ δέ γε ἧσπερ Ἀριστοφῶν ὁ Ἀγλαοφῶντος ἢ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ἔμπειρος ἦν τέχνης, τίνα ἂν αὐτὸν ὀρθῶς ἐκαλοῦμεν;
ΠΩΛ. δῆλον ὅτι ζωγράφον.
ΧΑΙ. νῦν δʼ ἐπειδὴ τίνος τέχνης ἐπιστήμων ἐστίν, τίνα ἂν καλοῦντες αὐτὸν ὀρθῶς καλοῖμεν;
ΠΩΛ. ὦ Χαιρεφῶν, πολλαὶ τέχναι ἐν ἀνθρώποις εἰσὶν ἐκ τῶν ἐμπειριῶν ἐμπείρως ηὑρημέναι· ἐμπειρία μὲν γὰρ ποιεῖ τὸν αἰῶνα ἡμῶν πορεύεσθαι κατὰ τέχνην, ἀπειρία δὲ κατὰ τύχην. ἑκάστων δὲ τούτων μεταλαμβάνουσιν ἄλλοι ἄλλων ἄλλως, τῶν δὲ ἀρίστων οἱ ἄριστοι· ὧν καὶ Γοργίας ἐστὶν ὅδε, καὶ μετέχει τῆς καλλίστης τῶν τεχνῶν.
ΣΩ. καλῶς γε, ὦ Γοργία, φαίνεται πῶλος παρεσκευάσθαι εἰς λόγους· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὃ ὑπέσχετο Χαιρεφῶντι οὐ ποιεῖ.
ΓΟΡ. τί μάλιστα, ὦ Σώκρατες;
ΣΩ. τὸ ἐρωτώμενον οὐ πάνυ μοι φαίνεται ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
ΓΟΡ. ἀλλὰ σύ, εἰ βούλει, ἐροῦ αὐτόν.
ΣΩ. οὔκ, εἰ αὐτῷ γε σοὶ βουλομένῳ ἐστὶν ἀποκρίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πολὺ ἂν ἥδιον σέ. δῆλος γάρ μοι πῶλος καὶ ἐξ ὧν εἴρηκεν ὅτι τὴν καλουμένην ῥητορικὴν μᾶλλον μεμελέτηκεν ἢ διαλέγεσθαι.
ΠΩΛ. τί δή, ὦ Σώκρατες;
ΣΩ. ὅτι, ὦ Πῶλε, ἐρομένου Χαιρεφῶντος τίνος Γοργίας ἐπιστήμων τέχνης, ἐγκωμιάζεις μὲν αὐτοῦ τὴν τέχνην ὥσπερ τινὸς ψέγοντος, ἥτις δέ ἐστιν οὐκ ἀπεκρίνω.
ΠΩΛ. οὐ γὰρ ἀπεκρινάμην ὅτι εἴη ἡ καλλίστη;
Quite right, Chaerephon: I was saying as much only just now; and I may add, that many years have elapsed since any one has asked me a new one.
Chaerephon. Then you must be very ready, Gorgias.
Gorgias. Of that, Chaerephon, you can make trial.
Polus. Yes, indeed, and if you like, Chaerephon, you may make trial of me too, for I think that Gorgias, who has been talking a long time, is tired.
Chaerephon. And do you, Polus, think that you can answer better than Gorgias?
Polus. What does that matter if I answer well enough for you?
Chaerephon. Not at all:—and you shall answer if you like.
Polus. Ask:—
Chaerephon. My question is this: If Gorgias had the skill of his brother Herodicus, what ought we to call him? Ought he not to have the name which is given to his brother?
Polus. Certainly.
Chaerephon. Then we should be right in calling him a physician?
Polus. Yes.
Chaerephon. And if he had the skill of Aristophon the son of Aglaophon, or of his brother Polygnotus, what ought we to call him?
Polus. Clearly, a painter.
Chaerephon. But now what shall we call him—what is the art in which he is skilled.
Polus. O Chaerephon, there are many arts among mankind which are experimental, and have their origin in experience, for experience makes the days of men to proceed according to art, and inexperience according to chance, and different persons in different ways are proficient in different arts, and the best persons in the best arts. And our friend Gorgias is one of the best, and the art in which he is a proficient is the noblest.
Socrates. Polus has been taught how to make a capital speech, Gorgias; but he is not fulfilling the promise which he made to Chaerephon.
Gorgias. What do you mean, Socrates?
Socrates. I mean that he has not exactly answered the question which he was asked.
Gorgias. Then why not ask him yourself?
Socrates. But I would much rather ask you, if you are disposed to answer: for I see, from the few words which Polus has uttered, that he has attended more to the art which is called rhetoric than to dialectic.
Polus. What makes you say so, Socrates?
Socrates. Because, Polus, when Chaerephon asked you what was the art which Gorgias knows, you praised it as if you were answering some one who found fault with it, but you never said what the art was.
Polus. Why, did I not say that it was the noblest of arts?
Socrates. Yes, indeed, but that was no answer to the question: nobody asked what was the quality, but what was the nature, of the art, and by what name we were to describe Gorgias.
ΣΩ. καὶ μάλα. ἀλλʼ οὐδεὶς ἐρωτᾷ ποία τις ἡ Γοργίου τέχνη, ἀλλὰ τίς, καὶ ὅντινα δέοι καλεῖν τὸν Γοργίαν· ὥσπερ τὰ ἔμπροσθέν σοι ὑπετείνατο Χαιρεφῶν καὶ αὐτῷ καλῶς καὶ διὰ βραχέων ἀπεκρίνω, καὶ νῦν οὕτως εἰπὲ τίς ἡ τέχνη καὶ τίνα Γοργίαν καλεῖν χρὴ ἡμᾶς. μᾶλλον δέ, ὦ Γοργία, αὐτὸς ἡμῖν εἰπὲ τίνα σε χρὴ καλεῖν ὡς τίνος ἐπιστήμονα τέχνης.
ΓΟΡ. τῆς ῥητορικῆς, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. ῥήτορα ἄρα χρή σε καλεῖν;
ΓΟΡ. ἀγαθόν γε, ὦ Σώκρατες, εἰ δὴ ὅ γε εὔχομαι εἶναι, ὡς ἔφη Ὅμηρος, βούλει με καλεῖν.
ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ βούλομαι.
ΓΟΡ. κάλει δή.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν καὶ ἄλλους σε φῶμεν δυνατὸν εἶναι ποιεῖν;
ΓΟΡ. ἐπαγγέλλομαί γε δὴ ταῦτα οὐ μόνον ἐνθάδε ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοθι.
ΣΩ. ἆρʼ οὖν ἐθελήσαις ἄν, ὦ Γοργία, ὥσπερ νῦν διαλεγόμεθα, διατελέσαι τὸ μὲν ἐρωτῶν, τὸ δʼ ἀποκρινόμενος, τὸ δὲ μῆκος τῶν λόγων τοῦτο, οἷον καὶ πῶλος ἤρξατο, εἰς αὖθις ἀποθέσθαι; ἀλλʼ ὅπερ ὑπισχνῇ, μὴ ψεύσῃ, ἀλλὰ ἐθέλησον κατὰ βραχὺ τὸ ἐρωτώμενον ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
ΓΟΡ. εἰσὶ μέν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἔνιαι τῶν ἀποκρίσεων ἀναγκαῖαι διὰ μακρῶν τοὺς λόγους ποιεῖσθαι· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ πειράσομαί γε ὡς διὰ βραχυτάτων. καὶ γὰρ αὖ καὶ τοῦτο ἕν ἐστιν ὧν φημι, μηδένα ἂν ἐν βραχυτέροις ἐμοῦ τὰ αὐτὰ εἰπεῖν.
ΣΩ. τούτου μὴν δεῖ, ὦ Γοργία· καί μοι ἐπίδειξιν αὐτοῦ τούτου ποίησαι, τῆς βραχυλογίας, μακρολογίας δὲ εἰς αὖθις.
ΓΟΡ. ἀλλὰ ποιήσω, καὶ οὐδενὸς φήσεις βραχυλογωτέρου ἀκοῦσαι.
ΣΩ. φέρε δή· ῥητορικῆς γὰρ φῂς ἐπιστήμων τέχνης εἶναι καὶ ποιῆσαι ἂν καὶ ἄλλον ῥήτορα· ἡ ῥητορικὴ περὶ τί τῶν ὄντων τυγχάνει οὖσα; ὥσπερ ἡ ὑφαντικὴ περὶ τὴν τῶν ἱματίων ἐργασίαν· ἦ γάρ;
ΓΟΡ. ναί.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡ μουσικὴ περὶ τὴν τῶν μελῶν ποίησιν;
ΓΟΡ. ναί.
ΣΩ. νὴ τὴν Ἥραν, ὦ Γοργία, ἄγαμαί γε τὰς ἀποκρίσεις, ὅτι ἀποκρίνῃ ὡς οἷόν τε διὰ βραχυτάτων.
ΓΟΡ. πάνυ γὰρ οἶμαι, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐπιεικῶς τοῦτο ποιεῖν.
ΣΩ. εὖ λέγεις. ἴθι δή μοι ἀπόκριναι οὕτως καὶ περὶ τῆς ῥητορικῆς, περὶ τί τῶν ὄντων ἐστὶν ἐπιστήμη;
ΓΟΡ. περὶ λόγους.
ΣΩ. ποίους τούτους, ὦ Γοργία; ἆρα οἳ δηλοῦσι τοὺς κάμνοντας, ὡς ἂν διαιτώμενοι ὑγιαίνοιεν;
ΓΟΡ. οὔ.
ΣΩ. οὐκ ἄρα περὶ πάντας γε τοὺς λόγους ἡ ῥητορική ἐστιν.
ΓΟΡ. οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ μὴν λέγειν γε ποιεῖ δυνατούς.
ΓΟΡ. ναί.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν περὶ ὧνπερ λέγειν, καὶ φρονεῖν;
ΓΟΡ. πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
And I would still beg you briefly and clearly, as you answered Chaerephon when he asked you at first, to say what this art is, and what we ought to call Gorgias: Or rather, Gorgias, let me turn to you, and ask the same question,—what are we to call you, and what is the art which you profess?
Gorgias. Rhetoric, Socrates, is my art.
Socrates. Then I am to call you a rhetorician?
Gorgias. Yes, Socrates, and a good one too, if you would call me that which, in Homeric language, “I boast myself to be.”
Socrates. I should wish to do so.
Gorgias. Then pray do.
Socrates. And are we to say that you are able to make other men rhetoricians?
Gorgias. Yes, that is exactly what I profess to make them, not only at Athens, but in all places.
Socrates. And will you continue to ask and answer questions, Gorgias, as we are at present doing, and reserve for another occasion the longer mode of speech which Polus was attempting? Will you keep your promise, and answer shortly the questions which are asked of you?
Gorgias. Some answers, Socrates, are of necessity longer; but I will do my best to make them as short as possible; for a part of my profession is that I can be as short as any one.
Socrates. That is what is wanted, Gorgias; exhibit the shorter method now, and the longer one at some other time.
Gorgias. Well, I will; and you will certainly say, that you never heard a man use fewer words.
Socrates. Very good then; as you profess to be a rhetorician, and a maker of rhetoricians, let me ask you, with what is rhetoric concerned: I might ask with what is weaving concerned, and you would reply (would you not?), with the making of garments?
Gorgias. Yes.
Socrates. And music is concerned with the composition of melodies?
Gorgias. It is.
Socrates. By Here, Gorgias, I admire the surpassing brevity of your answers.
Gorgias. Yes, Socrates, I do think myself good at that.
Socrates. I am glad to hear it; answer me in like manner about rhetoric: with what is rhetoric concerned?
Gorgias. With discourse.
Socrates. What sort of discourse, Gorgias?—such discourse as would teach the sick under what treatment they might get well?
Gorgias. No.
Socrates. Then rhetoric does not treat of all kinds of discourse?
Gorgias. Certainly not.
Socrates. And yet rhetoric makes men able to speak?
Gorgias. Yes.
Socrates. And to understand that about which they speak?
Gorgias. Of course.
Socrates. But does not the art of medicine, which we were just
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