Source edition
Platonis Opera, Tomus III: Tetralogia V-VII. Burnet, John, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This dialogue explores the elusive definition of "the beautiful" (to kalon). The narrative unfolds through a conversation between Socrates and the renowned Sophist Hippias, who has arrived in Athens filled with self-confidence. When Socrates poses the question of what beauty itself is, Hippias repeatedly offers concrete, relative examples, such as a beautiful maiden or gold, only to have them thoroughly refuted. As the discussion shifts to more abstract concepts—defining beauty as "the appropriate," "the useful," or "pleasure through sight and hearing"—each attempt collapses under logical contradictions and paradoxes. Ultimately, the dialogue ends in a state of aporia (impasse), with Socrates reflecting on the proverb that "fine things are difficult," leaving the true nature of beauty unresolved.