 The Hippias Minor shows Socrates defeating a sophist on an ethical matter: whether it is better to do wrong voluntarily or in ignorance. Socrates concludes, somewhat unhappily, that it is better to do wrong voluntarily. The issue arises in the context of Hippias’ multiple claims to expertise; he can win speaking contests on any topic, and he has excelled in many different arts, from shoemaking to the art of memory (363cd, 368be). Socrates asks a question that at first appears to be about Homer—which is the better man, Achilles or Odysseus? The tradition has been to regard Achilles as honest, and Odysseus as given to lying, but it is this tradition that Socrates intends to bring into question. He argues, by example, that an expert in any given field is best able to speak false in that field, since an amateur liar might stumble on the truth. It follows that a good liar will be an expert in the subject of his lies, and he will also be a good truth teller in that field, and vice versa. So if Achilles is a good truth teller, he will be a good liar as well, and if Odysseus is a good liar, he will be a good truth teller also.