Episode
Hippias Minor (On the Lie) with Dr. Grabowski and Friends
- Published
- Aug 18, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5656
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Summary
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick, Dr. Larson, Dr. Grabowski, and Mr. Thomas Lackey discuss the short, strange, and forgotten dialogue of HIppias Minor or "On the Lie." 8 Questions on Hippias Minor Study Guide Check Ascend out on X, YouTube, Facebook, and More! Plato’s Hippias Minor is a short, strange dialogue with a traditional subtitle that cuts straight to the point: “On the Lie.” After the boastful sophist Hippias finishes a public speech ranking Achilles the best and Odysseus the most polytropos —the man of twists and turns—Socrates is drawn into a conversation that begins with Homer and ends in one of the deepest aporias of the early dialogues. What starts as a dispute over who is the better man, the straightforward Achilles or the wily Odysseus, quickly becomes a rigorous examination of voluntary versus involuntary wrongdoing, the nature of knowledge and power, and the unsettling claim that the man who does injustice on purpose is better than the one who does it by accident. Deacon and the guests work through the dialogue’s sharp arguments and its surprising relevance. The conversation exposes the limits of treating virtue as mere knowledge plus power, raises the question of whether a just person might ever speak falsely for a good end, and serves as a genuine appetizer for the noble lie in the Republic . Come listen—and discover why even Socrates, at the end, cannot agree with himself. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Hippias Minor and its Context 04:55 Setting the Scene: Hippias' Speech and Socrates' Role 09:22 Hippias' Boasts and Socrates' Irony 17:55 The Homeric Heroes: Achilles and Odysseus 25:04 Knowledge, Power, and the Art of Lying 36:15 The Distinction Between Capacity and Action 44:53 The Nature of Truth and Falsehood in Socratic Di…