Gonzalez Lodge, Commentary on Plato: Gorgias

πανοῦργος: sometimes associated with δεινός, denotes a rather excessive adroitness, bordering on rascality, as “artful,” “sly”; also “knavish.”

ὥσπερ παιδί: by a delicate use of his own comparison, Socrates characterizes Callicles' conduct in acting as if he were dealing with boys, not men, as improper and unworthy.—

τότε μὲν αὖ: it must be confessed that αὖ in this position gives trouble. Cron thinks that it recalls a similar allegation in 491 b; but that is rather far-fetched.

καίτοι κτἑ.: in 495 a Socrates' faith in Callicles' παρρησία is shaken; in 497 a, that in his σοφία, and now, that in his εὔνοια.

ἑκόντος εἶναι: on the use of εἶναι in phrases, see GMT. 780 and H. 956 a.

10 f.

κατὰ τὸν πάλαιον λόγον: a common way of introducing a proverb; cf. Symp. 195 b.

τὸ παρὸν εὖ ποιεῖν κτἑ.: a mixture of two proverbs. The first one means literally, to “treat well what is at hand,” i.e. ‘to make the best of what one has,’ according to the English saying. In almost the same sense we use the more colloquial ‘grin and bear it.’ The second proverb, δέχεσθαι τὸ διδόμενον, applies more exactly to the case in point, the διδόμενον being naturally τὸ λεγόμενον. An English proverb which has much the same force is, ‘do not look a gifthorse in the mouth.’ After τοῦτο, τὸ διδόμενον serves for a relative clause.

κακαί: we should naturally ex