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Hippias Major (or What is Beauty? or Greater Hippias, to distinguish it from the Hippias Minor,

which has the same chief character) is one of the dialogues of Plato. It belongs to the Early

Dialogues, written while the author was still young. Its precise date is uncertain, although a date

of c. 390 BCE has been suggested; its authenticity has been doubted.

In the Hippias Major, Socrates and Hippias set out to find a definition for "beauty", but are

destined to fail due to their inability to formulate an answer which encompasses the entireconcept. The actual Greek term that is used in the dialogue is , which as an adjective often

means fine or noble as well as beautiful. For this reason, translators such as Paul Woodruff

typically translate the term (the abstract noun of the adjective) as "the Fine" (things)

instead of "Beauty."

As in Charmides, Lysis and Euthyphro, Hippias Major has an "anatreptic" or self-defeating virtue,

that is the purpose of the author is to defeat commonly held opinions, without necessarily offering

a resolution. The concept of something good in and of itself (if only obliquely) makes its first

appearance in this work. The dialogue can be read as much as a serious philosophical work as a

light satirical comedy with two actors. The astuteness of Socrates in taking refuge under the

authority of a supposed third protagonist in order to direct biting criticism at Hippias, endows the

dialogue with humour.

Personalities

Socrates.

Hippias of Elis: Hippias was a well known Sophist, originally from Elis. Known throughout Ancient

Greece, he was reputed to have mastered mathematics, astronomy and rhetoric; he boasted

that he could speak on any subject at Olympia without preparation. He is presented by Plato,

perhaps somewhat caricatured, as vain, narrow, and of limited intellect; much as he is in Hippias

Minor.

Dialogue summary

Hippias meets Socrates

Hippias, whose business had kept him away fromAthensfor a long time, arrives in the city to give a

lecture at Pheidostratus's[1]

school in the next few days. He meetsSocrates, and the latter asks him why

such a precious and wise man as Hippias has deprived theAtheniansof his presence for so long. It is,

explains the greatSophist, because his nativeEliswas so in need of his services, and entrusted him with

several important diplomatic missions to different cities; notably inSparta. He made use of his travels

throughout theGreek worldto educate a large number of youth and earn large sums of money. But one

example was the small town ofInycus, inSicily, where the modest inhabitants sacrificed a good part of

their savings to see their children educated[2].

Could excessive application of the law lead to lawlessness?

Socrates ironically assures him that this is all admirable. And if Hippias has spent such a large part of his

time in Sparta, he asks, this must be where he earned the most? But Hippias demurs: he did not touch

anobolusthere. It was not because the Spartans did not wish the best possible education for their

children, and not because they did not comprehend the true value of Hippias. The only reason was that "it

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is not the inherited usage of theLacedaemoniansto change their laws or to educate their children

differently from what is customary."

However, Socrates emphasized, the law is precisely made for use and happiness of the citizens, two

things to which Hippias would have been greatly able to contribute. By being too attached to the law and

refusing the services of Hippias, the Spartans contradict the aim of their own laws and this therefore could

be considered as being unlawful. Hippias agrees. Socrates then asks him then how he nevertheless had

so much success in this severe city ofLaconia. It is not, Hippias answers, for his knowledge

ofarithmeticorastronomy, but rather"They are very fond of hearing about the genealogies of heroes and

men, Socrates, and the foundations of cities in ancient times and, in short, about antiquity in

general...[these being] beautiful pursuits".[2]

Socrates reveals his problem

Socrates is happy that Hippias came to reminisce on beautiful things, because this is a subject that

interests Socrates greatly and with good reason. Recently, according to the latter, while criticising the

beauty or ugliness of part of speeches, he claims to have been harassed by an acquaintance, who

reproached him for not really knowing the definition of beauty. Thus embarrassed by this exposure,

Socrates claims to be delighted that finally one as competent as Hippias will be able to provide his

opinion on the nature of beauty. The great Sophist, flattered, does not object; and is goaded on by

Socrates, who offers to reprise the discussion, playing the part of the harasser. This role-play on the part

of Socrates adds to the comic nature of dialogue.

Hippias' three responses

First definition: beauty is a pretty girl

Hippias first response is"For be assured, Socrates, if I must speak the truth, a beautiful maiden is

beautiful ".[2]

Socrates estimates this to be, with his usualirony, a brilliant answer. But cannot they say

that a lyre, a horse or even a pot is beautiful? The most beautiful of pots of course would not stand up to

comparison with a beautiful girl, but then in turn what is the beauty of a girl in comparison to that ofagoddess? In short, there is an infinite number of beautiful things besides beautiful girls. In any case, this

is not really the question; it is not a question of knowing what is beautiful and what isn't, but rather to

define beauty and to say what makes beautiful things "beautiful".

Second definition: beauty is gold

The second response offered by Hippias is: "This that you ask about, the beautiful, is nothing else but

gold... For we all know, I fancy, that wherever this is added, even what before appears ugly will appear

beautiful when adorned with gold."[2]

No doubt, replies Socrates, but what to make then of the great statue

ofAthenaat theParthenon? This masterpiece ofPhidiasis mostly made of ivory and precious stones, and

not of gold. Yet the statue is magnificent. Besides, gold or any other precious metal only gives rise to

beauty if it is properly used. In the case of the pot, for instance, who is to say whether a wooden spoon or

a golden spoon would be better to stir with, or which would be more beautiful?

Third definition: beauty is to be rich and respected

This time Hippias thinks that he understands: Socrates wants to know what no man will ever find ugly: "I

say, then, that for every man and everywhere it is most beautiful to be rich and healthy, and honoured by

the Greeks, to reach old age, and, after providing a beautiful funeral for his deceased parents, to be

beautifully and splendidly buried by his own offspring."[2]

A scene follows, where Socrates shows his fear

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of the beating with a stick he would receive from his harasser if he had given that answer. What then

ofAchillesorHeracles? Was it beautiful for these two heroes, sons of the immortals, to be buried before

their parents, before the gods? Was there no beauty in their lives because they were not buried by their

offspring? Beauty in this sense then applies to ordinary men, but it would be ugliness for heroes. The

definition is thus incorrect.

Socrates's three responses

First definition: beauty is that which is appropriate

Tiring of the errors ofHippias,Socratesoffers a definition in his turn, which he holds came from his

famous harasser: the beautiful is simply that which is appropriate. This response pleases Hippias. But

further examination is needed: first of all, is it the appropriateness which makes things beautiful, or does it

simply make them appear to be beautiful? The second hypothesis is tempting: even a ridiculous man,

dressed in nice clothing, will appear more beautiful. But inside he would still be ridiculous; thus

appropriate and beautiful are not the same.

Hippias suggests that appropriateness provides at the same time the reality and the appearance of

beauty. But then, nothing could be less sure; if everything was that simple, citizens and politicians wouldno longer have to quarrel to decide which action was the nicer.

[2]

Second definition: beauty is that which is useful

Socratesproposes a second solution: if it is beautiful, is it useful? But here again problems surface: it is

through power that men make things useful. Nevertheless, as is well known, power can as much serve

evil as it serves good. And there is difficulty in qualifying actions as bad or good. Which in turn requires

that the definition be refocused; beauty is only usefulness applied to good ends, or those that are

"favourable".[2]

Third definition: beauty is that which is favourable

Identifying the beautiful and the favourable leads to a paradox: the favourable procreates the beautiful, asa father procreates a son. Since the favourable and the beautiful are thus considered to be one and the

same, they arrive at the finding that beauty is the reason of goodness. In logic, a cause and an effect are

two different things, as a father is different from the son. And thus they must conclude that Beauty is not

good, and good is not beauty; an assertion which pleases neither Socrates norHippias.[2]

Fourth definition: beauty is the pleasure that comes from seeing and hearing

To conclude,Socratesbrings out a final definition; at first glance quite amazing: "[what] if we were to say

that that is beautiful which makes us feel joy ; I do not mean all pleasures, but that which makes us feel

joy through hearing and sight?" This hypothesis, while appealing, contains according to Socrates himself

a fundamental flaw; that it ignores the beauty of the more noble pleasures, drawn from the studious

occupations or the study of laws.

On the other hand, it seems striking that only the senses of sight and hearing are taken into account. Is

this a way to submit to common opinion, which is that touch, taste and smell are somehow more shameful

and base than the other senses? Finally, it is not simply because pleasure comes from seeing or hearing

that it is beautiful. Socrates throws himself into a series of considerations: taking into account pairs of

objects, in the Majority of cases the term which they apply to both objects (A and B are beautiful, A and B

are just) can apply also to an object taken separately (A is beautiful and B is beautiful). But in some rare

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cases it can happen that it this is not the case, notably when the sum of A and B forms an even number

and A and B, taken in isolation, are two odd numbers.

In the case of beauty, it is the first category that is appropriate, because if a pair of two objects is

beautiful, it stands to reason that each of them is. But a new paradox appears, since the beautiful, in

discreet definition, must belong to both pleasures of sight and hearing, taken jointly, and cannot belong to

only one of them. The definition as a result proves to be flawed. Exhausted by the many questions they

have considered,Hippiasberates Socrates and urges him instead of "with mere talk and nonsense" to

seek beauty in "the ability to produce a discourse well and beautifully in a court of law or a council-house

or before any other public body before which the discourse may be delivered."[2]

Socrates, taking his

leave, pretends to feel bad about the situation, cornered between the attacks of Hippias and those of his

mysterious opponent. His only certainty, he concludes with a sense of humour, is that from now on he

better understands theGreekproverb "beautiful things are difficult"

Authenticity

The authorship ofHippias Majorhas been in dispute. Although some works previously attributed to Plato

have been determined to be inauthentic, this is one where authorship has still not been firmly established,

though academic consensus tends toward its authenticity. The argument is summarized in (Sider 1977):

"Dorothy Tarrant is the foremost advocate for the cause of spuriousness: cf. her edition ofThe Hippias

Major Attributed to Plato(Cambridge, 1928). Opposing her in a series of articles is G.M.A. Grube, who

wrote in 1926 and 1927.W. K. C. Guthrie, in A History of Greek Philosophy(Cambridge 1975) also

argues for its genuineness."[3]

Sider, writing in 1992 states that G.R.Ledger, in Re-counting Plato(Oxford

1989) carried out a computer text analysis and though not conclusive "On balance the evidence for

genuineness is fairly convincing". He goes on to state that amongst other recent works,P.

Woodruff,Plato: Hippias Major(Oxford 1982) also argues for authenticity and dates the document to

"around 390" BCE.

C.H. Kahn, OSAP 3 (1985) is the lone modern figure maintaining spuriousness.[4]

The Internet

Encyclopaedia of Philosophy states "Of those [of Plato's works] we listed as authentic, above (in the early

group), only the Hippias Majorcontinues occasionally to be listed as inauthentic. The strongest evidence

against the authenticity of the Hippias Majoris the fact that it is never mentioned in any of the ancient

sources.[5]

In summary then, although early 20th century scholarship argued that it was spurious, latest

research indicates that on the balance it is more likely authentic than not.

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