As he warms up to his defence, and his defence by the way is called the Apology, although that is just a transliteration of the Greek word apologia which means defence by no means is Socrates being apologetic. In the course of warming up to his defence of his own actions, Socrates mentions Sophists, for example, Evenus the Sophist, because he's been accused of teaching, of conveying his alleged knowledge to others about earth and sky and so on. But Socrates says, "I don't have the knowledge that you claim that I've got. If I were a Sophist like if Evenus is, then maybe I would, but I don't claim to be such a thing." These Sophists has travelled typically from one city state or palace to another in ancient Greece. Evenus himself charged 500 drachmas to attend his course, where one drachma is equivalent to about what a daily labourer would earn in one day. Other Sophists include Gorgias, Prodicus, and Hippias, and Socrates says, "I'm envious of these men. I wish I had the knowledge that they claimed to have. Certainly, I would pride and preen myself if I had this knowledge. The kind of knowledge that these Sophists claimed to have, but I do not have any such knowledge, and I can tell you that, I can prove that to you by calling upon my friend Chaerophon, who has been a friend of mine since childhood. Chaerophon, Socrates continues, went to the oracle at Delphi, and ask a oracle question. His question was, "Is anyone wiser than Socrates?", and the oracle came back with the answer, "No." Socrates says, "I was astonished to hear this news. This was shocking to me. I couldn't believe it." But let's stand back from that answer for just a moment before we move on to interpret the answer that Socrates' friend Chaerephon got, and conveyed to Socrates himself. Let's be careful about what it means. When we say for example that, no one is taller than George, that does not mean that George is the tallest one in the room. Everybody might be the same height. Likewise, if we say that no one's wiser than Socrates, that might be that everybody has exactly the same amount of wisdom including such possibilities as that no one has any wisdom at all. Keeping in mind the example of Croesus and the harm that he came to as a result of rashly interpreting the oracle's pronouncement, let's make sure we're careful about what the oracle said to Socrates and his friend. So, Socrates says to the audience, "What does the God mean in saying that no one is wiser than I?" What is his riddle? Socrates then goes on to tell his audience that he went to those reputed wise. He says, "I proceeded systematically. I went to the politicians, and then, to the poets, and then, to the craftsman, and he says, "I found that those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most ignorant while those who were thought inferior were generally the most knowledgeable. That is to say, when I would ask politicians their answers to the questions about things that matter most in life, knowledge, wisdom virtue, justice, etc. I found they had views on these matters but views that they could not justify, and that probably would come to grief if we were to develop those views and try to work out their consequences. Likewise, with the poets. They were able to write wonderful poetry but they couldn't explain what it meant. They didn't seem to understand what they were doing, and likewise the craftsman, the people who were responsible for fashioning oars for our triremes, or building earns for shipping, and preserving goods and so on are wonderful at what they do, but when they get the opportunity to pronounce on things outside of their own expertise such as politics and justice, and the proper organisation of a state, they don't seem to have any more wisdom than even a child. So, Socrates says, "I soon realized that poets don't compose their poems with knowledge, likewise, craftsmen don't do what they do with any special kind of knowledge either, and then he concludes, "I became unpopular, and I've lived in great poverty as a result of my service to the God." "That is to say in trying to understand the riddle that came from the oracle at Delphi. I have become unpopular because I've gone around trying to find someone who's wiser than I am, and I've failed miserably at doing so."