Plato's Hipparchus with Dr. Frank Grabowski

Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick and Dr. Grabowski discuss a short, strange, and somewhat forgotten Platonic dialogue - The Hipparchus.

Check out our 15 Q&A Written Guide to the Hipparchus - great for small groups, homeschooling, autodidacts, and more!

What begins as a simple question—“What is the love of gain?”—quickly becomes a sharp and unsettling examination of the democratic soul. With no dramatic setting and a nameless interlocutor, the dialogue feels almost like overhearing Socrates in the marketplace, pressing an ordinary Athenian citizen on whether the desire for more is always shameful, or whether the soul might rightly love higher forms of gain: nobility, honor, and even wisdom itself.

What makes the conversation especially rewarding is how Socrates deliberately chooses a shocking example—the tyrant Hipparchus—and reimagines him as a lover of wisdom who sought to educate the city. In doing so, the dialogue quietly draws a parallel between the supposed tyrant and Socrates himself, both of whom attract the youth, challenge conventional order, and are ultimately rejected by a democratic culture that cannot tolerate excellence.

Along the way, listeners encounter an early sketch of the tripartite soul, a critique of the leveling effects of egalitarianism, and an aporetic ending that leaves the interlocutor “compelled rather than persuaded.” Brief, strange, and surprisingly profound, this episode is an excellent preparation for the Republic and a compelling invitation to reconsider what the soul truly seeks.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Plato's Hipparchus and its significance

01:54 Main themes: Love of gain, democracy, and wisdom

04:03 The character of Socrates and the setting of the dialogue

06:03 Hipparchus as a figure in political myth and history

07:58 Translation choices and interpretive approaches

10:00 The dialogue's structure and lack of dramatic setting

11:56 The definition of love of gain and greed

13:54 Socrates' critique of the love of worthless things

16:06 Hipparchus as a symbol of love of wisdom and fame

18:04 The political implications of Hipparchus' love of wisdom

20:00 The role of the democratic man and the love of gain

21:49 Socrates' pedagogical method and the nature of knowledge

23:52 The significance of the tyrant example and Hipparchus' myth

26:04 The character of the interlocutor and the setting of the dialogue

28:03 The introduction of Hipparchus and its layers of meaning

30:10 The political myth of Hipparchus and its revisionist history

32:00 Hipparchus' love of wisdom and the Herms

34:08 The allegory of knowledge and the tripartite soul

35:53 The love of gain as a love of wisdom and truth

38:08 The democratic man, shame, and the pursuit of philosophy

40:00 The role of philosophers in democratic society

42:01 The character of Socrates as a gadfly and teacher

43:48 The process of being compelled towards truth

45:54 Bloom's interpretation: Socrates as a political and epistemological figure

48:00 The significance of the short dialogues for understanding Socrates

50:12 The importance of humility and piety in reading Plato

51:57 Next week's discussion: Rival Lovers and the nature of wisdom

Key words: Plato Hipparchus, love of gain, philokerdia, Socratic dialogue, political philosophy, Alan Bloom, Thomas Pangle, Roots of Political Philosophy, democratic man, egalitarianism, leveling effect, tripartite soul, thumos, nous, appetitive soul, tyrant Hipparchus, Herms, Socrates as gadfly, aporetic dialogue, compulsion versus persuasion, preparation for Plato’s Republic, philosopher-king, Great Books podcast, Ascend the Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick, Frank Grabowski, classical education, ancient philosophy, Plato short dialogues, forgotten Platonic dialogues.