Athena turned Odysseus into a beggar before he went to the swineherd. This was so Odysseus could gain information about the place even after he had left.
Well no one metaphor or allegory defines or helps explain one thing by it's self. (Especially when it comes to philosophers such as Plato). The easiest way to find the answer is putting it up against different items. While it does seem to describe education and the art of learning, we can also see that it also describes the attitude towards correction as well.
