Socrates The term "gadfly" (,
mýops) was used by
Plato in the
Apology to describe
Socrates' acting as an uncomfortable goad to the
Athenian political scene, like a spur or biting fly arousing a sluggish horse. During
his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's account, pointed out that
dissent, like the
gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high: "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me" because his role was comparable to that of a gadfly: "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth". Dominic Scott notes that in the
Apology, the allusion speaks well of Socrates, whereas in the
Meno, the image which compares Socrates to a
stingray who "numbs" his interlocutors into silence and confusion has the opposite effect.
Modern politics The image used by Socrates is applied in modern
politics: For example,
Morris Kline wrote, "There is a function for the gadfly who poses questions that many specialists would like to overlook.
Polemics is healthy." ==See also==