 Socrates, it's smart to be late for a fight, but not for a feast. Are we late for a feast? Yes, a delightful feast. Gorgias just made a splendid presentation. My friend Chyrophon here is to blame Calakles. He kept us loitering in the Aghara. Never mind, Socrates. I'm the cause of the problem, so I'll fix it. Gorgias is a friend of mine, and I'll have him repeat the presentation. What's the matter, Chyrophon? Does Socrates want to hear Gorgias? Yes, Calakles. That's why we came. Well, then let's go to my house. Gorgias is staying with me, and he'll perform for you there. Good, Calakles, but will he answer our questions? I want to hear him tell about what he teaches and about the nature of his art. He can save the presentation for another time. There's nothing like asking him Socrates. Actually, that's part of his presentation. He was just saying that anyone in my house may ask him any question, and he'll answer. I'm glad to hear that. Will you ask him, Chyrophon? What should I ask him? Ask him who he is. What do you mean? I mean the kind of question that he would answer by saying that he is a cobbler if he were a maker of shoes. Do you understand? I understand, and I'll ask him. Tell me, Gorgias, is what Calakles says true that you will answer any question? Quite true, Chyrophon, but it has been many years since anyone has asked me a new question. Then you must be well prepared, Gorgias. Go ahead and try me, Chyrophon. If you like Chyrophon, you may try me instead. Gorgias has been talking for a long time. I think he's probably tired. Polis, do you think that you can answer better than Gorgias? What difference does it make as long as it's good enough for you? No difference. Well, go ahead and answer. Go ahead and ask. Here's my question. If Gorgias had the skill of his brother Herodocus, what should we call him? Shouldn't the name be the same as the one given to his brother? Certainly. Then it would be right to call him a physician. Yes. And if he had the skill of Orestophon, the son of Agliophon, or his brother Polygnatus, what should we call him? Obviously a painter. Now, what should we call Gorgias? What is the art in which he is skilled? Chyrophon, there are many human arts that are experimental and have their origin and experience. Experience allows human life to proceed according to art and inexperience according to chance. Different people are proficient in different arts in different ways. The best people are proficient in the best arts. Our friend Gorgias is one of the best, and the art in which he is proficient is the noblest. Polis has learned to make a fine speech, Gorgias, but he's not keeping the promise he made to Chyrophon. What do you mean, Socrates? I mean, he hasn't answered the question. Well, then ask him yourself. I would rather ask you. I can see from a few words that Polis has spoken that he has paid more attention to rhetoric than to dialectic. Why do you say that, Socrates? Because, Polis, when Chyrophon asked you about the art which Gorgias knows, you praised it as if you were answering someone who had found fault with it. But you never said what the art is. Didn't I say that it is the finest of the arts? Yes, but that's no answer to the question. Nobody asked about the quality. The question is about the nature of the art and about what we ought to call Gorgias. Please tell me in the same short and excellent way you answered Chyrophon when he first asked you about this art and about what we should call Gorgias. Rather, let me turn to you, Gorgias, and ask the same question. What is your art? Rhetoric Socrates. Then am I to call you a rhetorician? Yes, Socrates, and a good one too. If you want to call me what I boast to be, as Homer would put it. I do. Then please do. And also say that you make other men into rhetoricians. Yes, that's exactly what I do. And not only in Athens. Will you continue to ask and answer questions Gorgias as we are doing now and save for later the longer form of speech that Paulus was attempting? Will you keep your promise and give only short answers to the questions asked? Socrates, some answers are necessarily longer, but I will do my best to make them as short as I can. Part of my profession is that I can be as short as anyone. That's what I want Gorgias. Show us the shorter method. Sample complete. Ready to continue?