Gorgias

“GORGIAS: I’m talking about the ability to use the spoken word to persuade… to win over any and every form of public meeting of the citizen body. Armed with this ability, in fact, the doctor would be your slave, the trainer would be yours to command, and that businessman would turn to be making money not for himself, but for someone else- for you with your ability to speak and to persuade the masses.” (page 13)

Gorgias is saying that rhetoric is an essential tool for any politician, in that he may convince anyone to do as he pleases, given his rhetoric is up to par.

“SOCRATES: …rhetoric is an agent of the kind of persuasion which is designed to produce conviction, but not to educate people, about matters of right and wrong.” (17)

Here Socrates is saying that while the rhetorician may convince a crowd that a particular action is either morally right or wrong, he has not proved the action to be so; this implies that anyone with sufficient rhetorical skill can best a more knowledgeable opponent in a public debate, thereby nullifying the area of expertise.

“POLUS: …the license to do whatever you think it’s best for you to do in your community- the license to execute people and banish them, and to go to any lengths to see your personal predilections fulfilled.” (41)

It seems as if Polus is trying to entice Socrates toward the field of rhetoric, tempting him with power.

“SOCRATES: …someone might do what he thinks it’s best for him to do in his community, but fail to have a great deal of power and fail to do what he wants.” (39)

Socrates is suggesting to Polus that power is illusory, the powerful often have to bend to the powerless, thereby negating their power.