6 h 38 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 38 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if winning every argument leaves you unable to tell right from wrong?
In Plato’s Gorgias, Socrates meets Gorgias, a visiting teacher of public speaking, in Athens. He asks what rhetoric actually teaches. Gorgias and his followers, Polus and Callicles, face questions that reach far beyond speaking well. Can persuasion guide people toward justice if the speaker does not know what is good?
In a city where speeches shape power, these questions carry real weight. Polus defends the freedom of powerful men to do whatever they please. Callicles argues that the strong should rule. Socrates refuses to give way, testing whether success, pleasure and getting what you want can truly make a good life.
What you’ll discover
- Persuasion under pressure Follow Socrates as he asks whether convincing a crowd means teaching it anything true.
- Three increasingly bold opponents Meet Gorgias, Polus and Callicles as each brings a sharper challenge to the conversation.
- The cost of wrongdoing Consider Socrates’ unsettling claim that doing wrong harms a person more than suffering it.
- Punishment as a cure Explore an argument that treats punishment as help for the wrongdoer, rather than mere suffering.
- Pleasure put to the test Question whether satisfying every desire gives you the life you actually want to live.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love sharp argument, clashes between strong personalities, and questions about power, justice and the good life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Ask what a skill actually does
- Persuasion can leave knowledge behind
- Pleasure can imitate genuine care
- Power must serve a real good
- Correction can heal the wrongdoer
- Callicles defends strength and desire
- A satisfied desire may not help
- Public success must answer to goodness
- Look beyond what pleases you
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Gorgias
by Plato
A teacher of speech debates a man who sees injustice as misery, turning from persuasion to how to live.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What is the difference between a skill that helps you and a skill that only pleases you? A famous teacher of speech sits in a house in Athens, ready to answer any question.
Gorgias at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 10 min1 h 45 min fast, 2 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 31,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- about 380 BCby Plato
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Before praising a skill, ask what it is
The dialogue opens at the house of Callicles. Socrates and his friend Chaerephon arrive to hear Gorgias, a famous teacher of speech. Socrates does not want another display. He wants to know what Gorgias actually is, in the way a shoemaker is a cobbler.
Polus jumps in with a speech praising the art of Gorgias as the noblest of arts, and never says what it is. Socrates points out the gap.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Plato. Gorgias. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/gorgias.
Plato. (2026). Gorgias. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/gorgias (Original work published ca. 380 B.C.E.)
Plato. Gorgias. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/gorgias.
@book{plato2026gorgias,
author = {Plato},
title = {Gorgias},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/gorgias},
note = {First published ca. 380 BCE}
}
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What is Gorgias about?
It is a dialogue in which Socrates questions the speech teacher Gorgias, his follower Polus and the politician Callicles. They begin with what rhetoric is and move to justice, power, pleasure and how a person should live.
Who are Gorgias, Polus and Callicles?
Gorgias is a teacher of rhetoric who claims to answer any question. Polus is his young follower. Callicles is an Athenian host and political figure who argues that the strong should rule and satisfy their desires.
Why does Socrates call rhetoric flattery?
Socrates says rhetoric aims at pleasing an audience, like cookery pleases the palate, without considering what is good for the soul. In Socrates' scheme, rhetoric imitates justice, as cookery imitates medicine.
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