{ "schema": "prokopton42-public-passage-v1", "id": "socrates.plato_gorgias", "canonical_url": "https://prokopton42.com/en/works/plato/plato-gorgias/reference-488/", "language": "en", "title": "Socrates in Plato’s Gorgias", "author": "Plato", "date": "c. 390-380 BCE", "summary": "Facing three defenders of rhetoric and power, Plato’s Socrates argues that speech without knowledge of justice is flattery. He prefers suffering injustice to deforming his soul by committing it.", "learning": "Compare Socrates’ strategies with three interlocutors, connect justice with the soul’s condition, and qualify Plato’s polemical mediation.", "long_summary": "With Gorgias Socrates asks what object and knowledge belong to rhetoric; with Polus he denies that a tyrant truly does what he wants; with Callicles he opposes ordered desire to justice claimed by the stronger.\n\nThe exchange’s increasing harshness constructs a Socrates ready to stand alone against opinion. Plato gives him arguments, medical analogies, and the final myth. This philosophical portrait reveals a Socratic ideal within dialogue, not an independent recording of controversies.", "historical_context": "The corpus manifests do not yet establish the precise place and circumstances of composition. The images below document the author’s world or the text’s transmission. They do not claim to show the exact scene of writing.", "material_world_label": "Classical Greek world, 5th century BCE", "material_world": { "technology": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water.", "science": "Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments.", "medicine": "Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common.", "transport": "Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies.", "agriculture": "Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war.", "communication": "Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media.", "clothing": "Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes." }, "material_world_scenes": [ { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-01.webp", "title": "Technology, science, and care", "description": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water. Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments. Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-02.webp", "title": "Travel and communication", "description": "Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies. Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-03.webp", "title": "Farming and food", "description": "Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-04.webp", "title": "Clothing, women and men", "description": "Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes." } ], "intellectual_tradition": { "id": "platonism", "label": "Socratic and Platonic thought" }, "period": { "id": "ancient", "label": "Antiquity" }, "languages": [ "grc", "en", "fr" ], "manifestations": [ { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/socrates/plato_gorgias/representations/grc.ndjson", "language": "grc", "records": 81, "role": "original_carrier", "sha256": "6375206e2c0f5f63895c63ad84f2e4193caaf0e9b977b3ebbee150a974cdbb45", "source_id": "perseus-plato-gorgias-grc" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/socrates/plato_gorgias/representations/en.ndjson", "language": "en", "records": 81, "role": "historical_translation", "sha256": "9937810691c453868da6ec45248a969dae04575a84bebe600ec35a027685aa0c", "source_id": "perseus-plato-gorgias-en" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/socrates/plato_gorgias/representations/ai-generated/fr-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson", "generated_on": "2026-09-11", "language": "fr", "model": "gpt-5.6-sol", "official_status": "non_official", "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1", "provider": "codex_subscription", "records": 81, "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official", "sha256": "1672b73fb3bffbc60e73a797170f990f81f7705c94337417cbcdc6125e94649f", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/socrates/plato_gorgias_fr_carrier/representations/fr.ndjson", "language": "fr", "records": 1, "role": "historical_translation", "sha256": "4b9564c5c0a6b85cac39c19a5c63e22e96ec784408a36acb9bd633039e4474e7", "source_id": "wikisource-cousin-gorgias-fr-01" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/socrates/plato_gorgias_fr_carrier/representations/ai-generated/en-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson", "generated_on": "2026-09-11", "language": "en", "model": "gpt-5.6-sol", "official_status": "non_official", "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1", "provider": "codex_subscription", "records": 1, "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official", "sha256": "cf12413957fc07735d82d9845e2dd3a40ff64aaefde16714f85c1a63d0206994", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation" } ], "concepts": [ { "id": "care_of_soul", "label": "Care of the soul" }, { "id": "elenchus", "label": "Elenchus" }, { "id": "ether_field", "label": "Ether and field" }, { "id": "family", "label": "Family" }, { "id": "human_wisdom", "label": "Human wisdom" }, { "id": "justice", "label": "Justice" }, { "id": "law", "label": "Law" }, { "id": "memory", "label": "Memory" }, { "id": "messiah", "label": "Messiah" }, { "id": "nature", "label": "Nature" }, { "id": "philosophical_eros", "label": "Philosophical eros" }, { "id": "reason", "label": "Reason" }, { "id": "sin", "label": "Sin" }, { "id": "time", "label": "Time" }, { "id": "war_and_peace", "label": "War and peace" } ], "source_work_ids": [ "socrates.plato_gorgias", "socrates.plato_gorgias_fr_carrier" ], "passages": 81, "word_count": 42811, "word_counts_by_language": { "en": 42811, "fr": 43834, "grc": 27405 }, "editorial_status": "gpt_5_6_semantic_draft_v1", "structure": { "citation_scheme": "carrier-explicit-ancient-reference-v1", "kind": "native", "levels": [ { "key": "reference", "label_fr": "Référence", "label_en": "Reference" } ], "leaf_fr": "Passage", "leaf_en": "Passage" }, "canonical_passage_id": "passage:socrates.plato_gorgias:488", "canonical_ref": "488", "canonical_parent_ref": null, "canonical_parent_id": null, "representations": [ { "language": "grc", "text": "ΣΩ. πάντων δὲ καλλίστη ἐστὶν ἡ σκέψις, ὦ Καλλίκλεις, περὶ τούτων ὧν σὺ δή μοι ἐπετίμησας, ποῖόν τινα χρὴ εἶναι τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τί ἐπιτηδεύειν καὶ μέχρι τοῦ, καὶ πρεσβύτερον καὶ νεώτερον ὄντα. ἐγὼ γὰρ εἴ τι μὴ ὀρθῶς πράττω κατὰ τὸν βίον τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ, εὖ ἴσθι τοῦτο ὅτι οὐχ ἑκὼν ἐξαμαρτάνω ἀλλʼ ἀμαθίᾳ τῇ ἐμῇ· σὺ οὖν, ὥσπερ ἤρξω νουθετεῖν με, μὴ ἀποστῇς, ἀλλʼ ἱκανῶς μοι ἔνδειξαι τί ἔστιν τοῦτο ὃ ἐπιτηδευτέον μοι, καὶ τίνα τρόπον κτησαίμην ἂν αὐτό, καὶ ἐάν με λάβῃς νῦν μέν σοι ὁμολογήσαντα, ἐν δὲ τῷ ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ μὴ ταὐτὰ πράττοντα ἅπερ ὡμολόγησα, πάνυ με ἡγοῦ βλᾶκα εἶναι καὶ μηκέτι ποτέ με νουθετήσῃς ὕστερον, ὡς μηδενὸς ἄξιον ὄντα. ἐξ ἀρχῆς δέ μοι ἐπανάλαβε πῶς φῂς τὸ δίκαιον ἔχειν καὶ σὺ καὶ Πίνδαρος τὸ κατὰ φύσιν; ἄγειν βίᾳ τὸν κρείττω τὰ τῶν ἡττόνων καὶ ἄρχειν τὸν βελτίω τῶν χειρόνων καὶ πλέον ἔχειν τὸν ἀμείνω τοῦ φαυλοτέρου; μή τι ἄλλο λέγεις τὸ δίκαιον εἶναι, ἢ ὀρθῶς μέμνημαι; ΚΑΛ. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα ἔλεγον καὶ τότε καὶ νῦν λέγω. ΣΩ. πότερον δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν βελτίω καλεῖς σὺ καὶ κρείττω; οὐδὲ γάρ τοι τότε οἷός τʼ ἦ μαθεῖν σου τί ποτε λέγοις. πότερον τοὺς ἰσχυροτέρους κρείττους καλεῖς καὶ δεῖ ἀκροᾶσθαι τοῦ ἰσχυροτέρου τοὺς ἀσθενεστέρους, οἷόν μοι δοκεῖς καὶ τότε ἐνδείκνυσθαι, ὡς αἱ μεγάλαι πόλεις ἐπὶ τὰς σμικρὰς κατὰ τὸ φύσει δίκαιον ἔρχονται, ὅτι κρείττους εἰσὶν καὶ ἰσχυρότεραι, ὡς τὸ κρεῖττον καὶ τὸ ἰσχυρότερον καὶ βέλτιον ταὐτὸν ὄν, ἢ ἔστι βελτίω μὲν εἶναι, ἥττω δὲ καὶ ἀσθενέστερον, καὶ κρείττω μὲν εἶναι, μοχθηρότερον δέ· ἢ ὁ αὐτὸς ὅρος ἐστὶν τοῦ βελτίονος καὶ τοῦ κρείττονος; τοῦτό μοι αὐτὸ σαφῶς διόρισον, ταὐτὸν ἢ ἕτερόν ἐστιν τὸ κρεῖττον καὶ τὸ βέλτιον καὶ τὸ ἰσχυρότερον; ΚΑΛ. ἀλλʼ ἐγώ σοι σαφῶς λέγω, ὅτι ταὐτόν ἐστιν. ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν οἱ πολλοὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς κρείττους εἰσὶν κατὰ φύσιν; οἳ δὴ καὶ τοὺς νόμους τίθενται ἐπὶ τῷ ἑνί, ὥσπερ καὶ σὺ ἄρτι ἔλεγες. ΚΑΛ. πῶς γὰρ οὔ; ΣΩ. τὰ τῶν πολλῶν ἄρα νόμιμα τὰ τῶν κρειττόνων ἐστίν. ΚΑΛ. πάνυ γε. ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν τὰ τῶν βελτιόνων; οἱ γὰρ κρείττους βελτίους πολὺ κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον. ΚΑΛ. ναί. ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν τὰ τούτων νόμιμα κατὰ φύσιν καλά, κρειττόνων γε ὄντων; ΚΑΛ. φημί.", "edition": "perseus-plato-gorgias-grc", "source_id": "perseus-plato-gorgias-grc", "translation_type": "original" }, { "language": "en", "text": "Soc. And on no themes could one make more honorable inquiry, Callicles, than on those which you have reproached me with—what character one should have, and what should be one’s pursuits and up to what point, in later as in earlier years. For I assure you that if there is any fault of conduct to be found in my own life it is not an intentional error, but due to my ignorance: so I ask you not to break off in the middle of your task of admonishing me, but to make fully clear to me what it is that I ought to pursue and by what means I may attain it; and if you find me in agreement with you now, and afterwards failing to do what I agreed to, regard me as a regular dunce and never trouble any more to admonish me again—a mere good-for-nothing. Now, go right back and repeat to me what you and Pindar hold natural justice to consist in: is it that the superior should forcibly despoil the inferior, the better rule the worse, and the nobler have more than the meaner? Have you some other account to give of justice, or do I remember aright? Call. Why, that is what I said then, and I say it now also. Soc. Is it the same person that you call better and superior ? For I must say I was no more able then to understand what your meaning might be. Is it the stronger folk that you call superior, and are the weaker ones bound to hearken to the stronger one—as for instance I think you were also pointing out then, that the great states attack the little ones in accordance with natural right, because they are superior and stronger, on the ground that the superior and the stronger and the better are all the same thing; or is it possible to be better and yet inferior and weaker, and to be superior and yet more wicked? Or is the definition of the better and the superior the same? This is just what I bid you declare in definite terms—whether the superior and the better and the stronger are the same or different. Call. Well, I tell you plainly, they are all the same. Soc. Now, are the many superior by nature to the one? I mean those who make the laws to keep a check on the one, as you were saying yourself just now. Call. Of course. Soc. Then the ordinances of the many are those of the superior. Call. Certainly. Soc. And so of the better? For the superior are far better, by your account. Call. Yes. Soc. And so their ordinances are by nature fair, since they are superior who made them? Call. I agree.", "translator": "Benjamin Jowett", "edition": "perseus-plato-gorgias-en", "source_id": "perseus-plato-gorgias-en", "translation_type": "historical_human_translation" }, { "language": "fr", "text": "Soc. Et il n'est aucun sujet d'enquête plus honorable, Calliclès, que ceux au sujet desquels tu m'as fait des reproches : quel caractère faut-il avoir, à quelles occupations faut-il se consacrer et jusqu'à quel point, dans la vieillesse comme dans la jeunesse ? Car je t'assure que si l'on trouve quelque faute dans la conduite de ma propre vie, ce n'est pas une erreur volontaire, mais l'effet de mon ignorance. Je te demande donc de ne pas interrompre au milieu ta tâche d'admonestation, mais de me montrer pleinement ce que je dois poursuivre et par quel moyen je puis l'atteindre. Et si tu me trouves maintenant d'accord avec toi, puis me vois ensuite manquer à ce dont nous étions convenus, tiens-moi pour un parfait imbécile et ne te donne jamais plus la peine de m'admonester, car je ne vaudrais absolument rien. Reviens donc au début et répète-moi en quoi, selon toi et Pindare, consiste la justice naturelle : est-ce que le supérieur doit dépouiller de force l'inférieur, que le meilleur doit commander au pire, et que le plus noble doit avoir davantage que le plus vil ? As-tu une autre définition de la justice à donner, ou ma mémoire est-elle fidèle ? Cal. C'est ce que je disais alors et ce que je dis encore maintenant. Soc. Est-ce la même personne que tu qualifies de meilleure et de supérieure ? Car je dois avouer que, pas plus alors que maintenant, je n'ai pu comprendre ce que tu voulais dire. Sont-ce les plus forts que tu appelles supérieurs, et les plus faibles sont-ils tenus d'obéir au plus fort ? Tu montrais aussi, me semble-t-il, que les grands États attaquent les petits conformément au droit naturel parce qu'ils sont supérieurs et plus forts, en supposant que le supérieur, le plus fort et le meilleur sont une seule et même chose. Ou peut-on être meilleur tout en étant inférieur et plus faible, et supérieur tout en étant plus mauvais ? Ou bien la définition du meilleur et du supérieur est-elle la même ? Voilà précisément ce que je t'ordonne de déclarer en termes définis : le supérieur, le meilleur et le plus fort sont-ils identiques ou différents ? Cal. Eh bien, je te le dis clairement : ils sont tous identiques. Soc. Maintenant, la multitude est-elle par nature supérieure à l'individu ? Je parle de ceux qui établissent les lois pour tenir l'individu en bride, comme tu le disais toi-même à l'instant. Cal. Bien sûr. Soc. Les prescriptions de la multitude sont donc celles du supérieur. Cal. Certainement. Soc. Et par conséquent celles du meilleur ? Car les supérieurs sont de beaucoup les meilleurs, d'après ce que tu dis. Cal. Oui. Soc. Leurs prescriptions sont donc belles par nature, puisque ceux qui les ont établies sont supérieurs ? Cal. Je l'accorde.", "translator": "Codex gpt-5.6-sol", "edition": "Prokopton42 non-official AI translation, 2026-09-11", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation", "official_status": "non_official", "generation_model": "gpt-5.6-sol" } ], "content_checksum": "c1945207d6402463d6a9dadd83c167164ee19946271ce73fad69edb551fc09ec" }