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English 240: Ancient Literature Plato, Gorgias Al Drake | Cyber Cafe M/W 10-11 | ajdrake@ajdrake.com 1. From 3-20, Socrates engages Gorgias and tries to define the nature and sphere of influence of rhetoric. How does Gorgias define rhetoric, and what does he take to be its subject matter? 2. From 21-34, Socrates explains in conversation first with Gorgias and then with Polus the problems he finds with the practice of rhetoric. Why, according to Socrates, isn't rhetoric genuine expertise? What, then, is it, and what is its appeal? 3. From 34-45, Socrates offers a variation on his usual argument that people who do wrong not because they are inherently evil, but rather because they are working from a misguided sense of what is best for themselves. On what grounds might this claim be challenged? Further, how is Socrates beginning, at least indirectly, to describe the proper relationship between the citizens of a state and their rulers? 4. From 46-62, Socrates explains to his listeners why it's better to suffer wrong than to do wrong, and why a person who does wrong would actually benefit from judicious punishment. What are his reasons for these claims? And to what conclusion about rhetoric does all this reasoning lead Socrates? 5. From 63-69, Callicles accuses Socrates of pandering to the multitude. According to Callicles, what really underlies claims about "justice" and "equality"? Upon what does he ground his own claims that inequality in political power and material possessions is not only allowable but necessary? 6. From 70-91, Socrates and Callicles continue their sparring match about "the authentic way of life." How does Socrates attempt to undermine Callicles' praise of pleasure and desire as a basis for measuring personal success and status in the community? Why isn't pleasure to be identified with the good, according to Socrates? 7. From 92-101, how does Socrates connect dramatic poetry to the great politicians Callicles mentions? What, according to Socrates, does a genuine "craftsman" do, and why is the maker of tragedies not such a craftsman? How is democratic politics in Athens similar to the city's dramas? 8. From 102-25, Socrates develops his ideas concerning what would constitute real statesmanship. How ought a good ruler treat his subjects, and with what goals in mind? Is he offering an achievable goal, or is he suggesting that achieving the well-ordered community is impossible under a democratic system? 9. From 126-135, Socrates declares himself the only true statesman, and explains, with prophetic accuracy, why any trial conducted against him is bound to end in his condemnation. Why, according to Socrates, would he lose in court? How does his employment of a fable about the Gods' institution of justice help him cap the reorientation of values towards which his entire dialogue has been building? 10. Socrates asserts straightforwardly throughout Gorgias that when it comes to governance, philosophical truth, art, and ethics, the people of a democratic polity are by no means the source of legitimite standards. How would you update Socrates' complaints to make them apply to C21 American culture and political life? If you disagree with these modernized complaints, how would you counter them? Edition: Plato. Gorgias. Trans. Robin Waterfield. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994.
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