Plato's Gorgias and the Power of Lagos

Recent interpretations of the opening exchange between Socrates and Gorgias in Plato's Gorgias have tended to focus on the question of whether the rhetorician believes that justice and injustice are the subject matter of rhetoric. This paper argues that Gorgias is interested in the just and the unjust only insofar as being a persuasive speaker on these topics is a prerequisite for the successful exercise of power in the political domain. Although Gorgias' orientation by power and overestimation of the power of speech have been noted by many interpreters, my intention is to clarify Gorgias' claims for the power of rhetoric and explain the significance of these claims for one important aspect of Plato's broader condemnation of sophistry.