Gonzalez Lodge, Commentary on Plato: Gorgias

τοὺς ἀγαθούς, τοὺς κακούς: the art. as in 490 e collects the individuals into a class or species. ἀγαθῶν is used on account of its nearness to ἀγαθούς, otherwise we should expect ἀρετῶν as in 506 d. The way in which we arrive at these ideas of distinction between species is shown by the same expressions which are employed in other places to explain the relation of the ideas to the things themselves. So besides παρουσία (παρεῖναι) we find κοινωνία and of things also μετέχειν employed.

23 f.

ἄφρονας καὶ δειλούς: “unreasoning and cowardly creatures.” The absence of the art. does not cause obscurity, because the connexion shows ἀγαθούς to be the predicate. In the words ἀνδρείους κτἑ. Socrates is referring to 489 e and 491 b.

τί τοῦτο: see on 448 b above.

εἶδον: the tense is due to the preceding question. English would require ‘I have seen.’ This would be permissible also in Greek. The aor. of verbs of perception states the fact; the pf. retains the image. The negation of the fact involves the negation of the image; hence the neg. is usually followed by the aorist. The pf. with the neg. is, however, also found; cf. Prot. 310 e. But the difference in the force is evident. In 38, below, the tense may be due to the desire for consistency, or to ἤδη.