Gonzalez Lodge, Commentary on Plato: Gorgias

ἐθελήσειεν ἄν: Socrates uses the opt. with ἄν a great deal, esp. when he first meets a person. It is the mood of courtesy, but not of argument. In this dialogue the opt. preponderates at the beginning, but the subjv. overtakes it in the argumentative passage 471, 472; while in the whole dialogue the proportion of subjs. to opt. is 3 to 2.

διαλεχθῆναι: emphasized in order to contrast Socrates' method with the ἐπίδειξις of Gorgias.

δύναμις (vis): i.e. the power and inner meaning of the art, with which the ἐπάγγελμα should correspond,—the scope or compass.

ἐπαγγέλλεται κτἑ.: cf. Apol. 33 b ὧν μήτε ὑπεσχόμην μάθημα μήτε ἐδίδαξα. ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι is the regular word in Greek for ‘advertise,’ ‘profess.’

τὴν δὲ ἄλλην ἐπίδειξιν: it does not follow from this that Socrates considered the διαλεχθῆναι as a kind of ἐπίδειξις. It is only an example of the idiomatic Greek usage of ἄλλος, which does not include but excludes the word with which it is connected. Cf. 473 c πολιτῶν καὶ ἄλλων ξένων, Apol. 36 b. See G. 142, 2, N. 3; H. 705. We must use a circumlocution, or another word, in English. In Cal licles' answer, however, the attributive force is regained.

ὥσπερ σὺ λέγεις: const. closely with εἰσαῦθις, as referring to the invitation of Callicles to come to his home.

οὐδὲν οἷον τὸ αὐτὸν ἐρωτᾶν: there is nothing like asking the man himself. The articular infinitive is a favorite with Plato. He uses it most commonly in the acc. The nom. comes next in frequency, with the gen. a close third. The dat. is much less frequent. The pr. tense occurs nine times oftener than the aor., showing a great advance on Pindar. See Am. Jour. Phil. III. 193-201.

αὐτῷ: on account of its meaning (“the master,” Kr. 51. 5, 4; H. 681 c) is placed in this emphatic position. On the matter itself see Introd. § 7, and the passage from Meno quoted Introd. N. 12. Auditors are present also at the following dialogue (cf. Introd. § 17 end).

ἐκέλευε: imperf., because the same bidding or invitation was given to the different members of the group. He bade us all.

καλῶς λέγεις: expresses more satisfaction than εὖ λέγεις just before.