 Socrates invokes a comparison between athletic competitions and debate.He argues that a runner or wrestler who throws the contest by doing worse than he is capable of doing is a more skillful combatant than the one who does his best and loses.Socrates multiplies the analogy, adding that, whether it is a singer off key, a gymnast who appears ungraceful, or a man who pretends to be lame, it is always better to have the power to do it right and pretend to do it wrong than to be helpless to do it right.