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Anytus
A Sophist known throughout Athens for teaching his pupils to employ fanciful rhetoric in order to provide an answer to any question they might encounter. Meno has studied with Gorgias and learned this style of debate, which is why he’s so surprised to hear that Socrates does not profess to know the nature of virtue.
Gorgias Quotes in Meno
The Meno quotes below are all either spoken by Gorgias or refer to Gorgias. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Meno
Quotes
In particular, he accustomed you to give a bold and grand answer to any question you may be asked, as experts are likely to do. Indeed, he himself was ready to answer any Greek who wished to question him, and every question was answered. But here in Athens, my dear Meno, the opposite is the case, as if there were a dearth of wisdom, and wisdom seems to have departed hence to go to you. If then you want to ask one of us that sort of question, everyone will laugh and say: “Good stranger, you must think me happy indeed if you think I know whether virtue can be taught or how it comes to be; I am so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught or not that I do not even have any knowledge of what virtue itself is.”
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Gorgias Quotes in Meno
The Meno quotes below are all either spoken by Gorgias or refer to Gorgias. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Meno
Quotes
In particular, he accustomed you to give a bold and grand answer to any question you may be asked, as experts are likely to do. Indeed, he himself was ready to answer any Greek who wished to question him, and every question was answered. But here in Athens, my dear Meno, the opposite is the case, as if there were a dearth of wisdom, and wisdom seems to have departed hence to go to you. If then you want to ask one of us that sort of question, everyone will laugh and say: “Good stranger, you must think me happy indeed if you think I know whether virtue can be taught or how it comes to be; I am so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught or not that I do not even have any knowledge of what virtue itself is.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
