I'm reading Plato's Republic for my Theology class, and found this tidbit in the footnotes. I thought it was relevant to the SCLM and punditry-bashing that's been going on lately.
Thrasymachus claims that Socrates is a "sycophant in arguments." 'Sycophant' is noted, with this explanation:
"In modern times the word 'sycophant' has come to mean only a 'flatterer,' especially of the sort who surround kings and tyrants. This meaning is not entirely alien to the Greek sense, but it is at a certain remove from the primary meaning. The sycophants were men who made accusations against Athenian citizens, acting, as it were, as public prosecutors. They were blackmailers; any charge they might make could cause difficulty and, at the least, would be expensive. They distorted the meaning of men's acts and statements, and Socrates, accused of making the worse argument appear the better, could be compared to them. He was trying to cause trouble and make his interlocutors look bad before the public. The sycophants were flatterers of the tyrant public opinion, since their charges usually had to do with alleged crimes against civil society, and since the juries were chosen by lot from the citizen body at large."
What do y'all think? ;-)