Plato, Protagoras, Walter Rangeley Maitland Lamb (Translator), 321

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To those which he invested with smallness he dealt a winged escape or an underground habitation; those which he increased in largeness he preserved 321a by this very means; and he dealt all the other properties on this plan of compensation. In contriving all this he was taking precaution that no kind should be extinguished; and when he had equipped them with avoidances of mutual destruction, he devised a provision against the seasons ordained by Heaven, in clothing them about with thick-set hair and solid hides, sufficient to ward off winter yet able to shield them also from the heats, and so that on going to their lairs they might find in these same things a bedding of their own that was native to each; and some he shod with hoofs, 321b others with claws and solid, bloodless hides. Then he proceeded to furnish each of them with its proper food, some with pasture of the earth, others with fruits of trees, and others again with roots; and to a certain number for food he gave other creatures to devour: to some he attached a paucity in breeding, and to others, which were being consumed by these, a plenteous brood, and so procured survival of their kind. Now Epimetheus, being not so wise as he might be, 321c heedlessly squandered his stock of properties on the brutes; he still had left unequipped the race of men, and was at a loss what to do with it. As he was casting about, Prometheus arrived to examine his distribution, and saw that whereas the other creatures were fully and suitably provided, man was naked, unshod, unbedded, unarmed; and already the destined day was come, whereon man like the rest should emerge from earth to light. Then Prometheus, in his perplexity as to what preservation he could devise for man, stole from Hephaestus and Athena wisdom in the arts 321d together with fire—since by no means without fire could it be acquired or helpfully used by any—and he handed it there and then as a gift to man. Now although man acquired in this way the wisdom of daily life, civic wisdom he had not, since this was in the possession of Zeus; Prometheus could not make so free as to enter the citadel which is the dwelling-place of Zeus, and moreover the guards of Zeus were terrible: but he entered unobserved the building shared by Athena and Hephaestus 321e for the pursuit of their arts, and stealing Hephaestus’s fiery art and all Athena’s also he gave them to man, and hence it is 322a that man gets facility for his livelihood, but Prometheus, through Epimetheus’ fault, later on (the story goes) stood his trial for theft.

Protagoras. Plato. Walter Rangeley Maitland Lamb (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1924.

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Current edition Perseus

Protagoras (English) (Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 2. Lamb, W.R.M., translator. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1924 (printing).)

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Πρωταγόρας Perseus (Platonis Opera, Tomus III: Tetralogia V-VII. Burnet, John, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.) — 321 focus

[321]

ΣΩ.

ἃ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν σμικρότητι ἤμπισχεν, πτηνὸν φυγὴν ἢ κατάγειον οἴκησιν ἔνεμεν· ἃ δὲ ηὖξε μεγέθει, τῷδε 321 321a αὐτῷ αὐτὰ ἔσῳζεν· καὶ τἆλλα οὕτως ἐπανισῶν ἔνεμεν. ταῦτα δὲ ἐμηχανᾶτο εὐλάβειαν ἔχων μή τι γένος ἀϊστωθείη· ἐπειδὴ δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀλληλοφθοριῶν διαφυγὰς ἐπήρκεσε, πρὸς τὰς ἐκ Διὸς ὥρας εὐμάρειαν ἐμηχανᾶτο ἀμφιεννὺς αὐτὰ πυκναῖς τε θριξὶν καὶ στερεοῖς δέρμασιν, ἱκανοῖς μὲν ἀμῦναι χειμῶνα, δυνατοῖς δὲ καὶ καύματα, καὶ εἰς εὐνὰς ἰοῦσιν ὅπως ὑπάρχοι τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα στρωμνὴ οἰκεία τε καὶ αὐτοφυὴς ἑκάστῳ· καὶ 321b ὑποδῶν τὰ μὲν ὁπλαῖς, τὰ δὲ θριξὶν καὶ δέρμασιν στερεοῖς καὶ ἀναίμοις. τοὐντεῦθεν τροφὰς ἄλλοις ἄλλας ἐξεπόριζεν, τοῖς μὲν ἐκ γῆς βοτάνην, ἄλλοις δὲ δένδρων καρπούς, τοῖς δὲ ῥίζας· ἔστι δʼ οἷς ἔδωκεν εἶναι τροφὴν ζῴων ἄλλων βοράν· καὶ τοῖς μὲν ὀλιγογονίαν προσῆψε, τοῖς δʼ ἀναλισκομένοις ὑπὸ τούτων πολυγονίαν, σωτηρίαν τῷ γένει πορίζων. ἅτε δὴ οὖν οὐ πάνυ τι σοφὸς ὢν ὁ Ἐπιμηθεὺς ἔλαθεν αὑτὸν 321c καταναλώσας τὰς δυνάμεις εἰς τὰ ἄλογα· λοιπὸν δὴ ἀκόσμητον ἔτι αὐτῷ ἦν τὸ ἀνθρώπων γένος, καὶ ἠπόρει ὅτι χρήσαιτο. ἀποροῦντι δὲ αὐτῷ ἔρχεται Προμηθεὺς ἐπισκεψόμενος τὴν νομήν, καὶ ὁρᾷ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ζῷα ἐμμελῶς πάντων ἔχοντα, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον γυμνόν τε καὶ ἀνυπόδητον καὶ ἄστρωτον καὶ ἄοπλον· ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἡ εἱμαρμένη ἡμέρα παρῆν, ἐν ᾗ ἔδει καὶ ἄνθρωπον ἐξιέναι ἐκ γῆς εἰς φῶς. ἀπορίᾳ οὖν σχόμενος ὁ Προμηθεὺς ἥντινα σωτηρίαν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ εὕροι, 321d κλέπτει Ἡφαίστου καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς τὴν ἔντεχνον σοφίαν σὺν πυρί—ἀμήχανον γὰρ ἦν ἄνευ πυρὸς αὐτὴν κτητήν τῳ ἢ χρησίμην γενέσθαι—καὶ οὕτω δὴ δωρεῖται ἀνθρώπῳ. τὴν μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν βίον σοφίαν ἄνθρωπος ταύτῃ ἔσχεν, τὴν δὲ πολιτικὴν οὐκ εἶχεν· ἦν γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Διί. τῷ δὲ Προμηθεῖ εἰς μὲν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν τὴν τοῦ Διὸς οἴκησιν οὐκέτι ἐνεχώρει εἰσελθεῖν—πρὸς δὲ καὶ αἱ Διὸς φυλακαὶ φοβεραὶ ἦσαν—εἰς δὲ τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ Ἡφαίστου οἴκημα τὸ κοινόν, ἐν ᾧ 321e ἐφιλοτεχνείτην, λαθὼν εἰσέρχεται, καὶ κλέψας τήν τε ἔμπυρον τέχνην τὴν τοῦ Ἡφαίστου καὶ τὴν ἄλλην τὴν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς δίδωσιν ἀνθρώπῳ, καὶ ἐκ τούτου εὐπορία μὲν ἀνθρώπῳ τοῦ 322 322a βίου γίγνεται, Προμηθέα δὲ διʼ Ἐπιμηθέα ὕστερον, ᾗπερ λέγεται, κλοπῆς δίκη μετῆλθεν.

Commentary

Commentary on Plato, Protagoras (Plato. Platonis Protagoras. Adam, James; Adam, Adela Marion, editors. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921.) focus

μή τι γένος ἀϊστωθείη . Aesch. Prom. 232 ἀϊστώσας γένος ; ibid. 668 κεραυνὸν ὃς πᾶν ἐξαϊστώσοι γένος . Note the emphasis with which Protagoras asserts the permanence of the genus : cf. below, 321B σωτηρίαν τῷ γένει πορίζων .

εὐμαρίαν . So Schanz with BT: the editors generally read εὐμάρειαν . The older form is intentionally used here: see above on l. 12.

ὑποδῶν is Cobet's correction for ὑπὸ ποδῶν of B and T. See below on 321C γυμνόν τε καὶ ἀνυπόδητον κτλ.

τὰ δὲ δέρμασιν στερεοῖς καὶ ἀναίμοις . After τὰ δέ the MSS. read θριξὶν καί . The words seem to have been wrongly introduced from l. 20. This (the suggestion of Ast, adopted by Schanz and others) seems better than to read for θριξὶν καί the words ὄνυξιν καί .

οὐ πάνυ τι = non satis : cf. note on Euthyphr. 2B οὐδ’ αὐτὸς πάνυ τι γιγνώσκω. οὐ πάνυis the English ‘not quite’, sometimes equivalent to ‘not at all’ by meiosis : the addition of τι makes the phrase a little less emphatic. πάνυ οὐ is quite a different phrase and means ‘altogether not’.

καταναλώσας τὰς δυνάμεις . After τὰς δυνάμεις , the words εἰς τὰ ἄλογα are found in T, but not in B.

ἐμμελῶς πάντων ἔχοντα : like ἱκανῶς τοῦ βάθους ἔχοντα in Theaet. 194D and the genitive after καλῶς ἔχειν and the like.

γυμνόν τε καὶ ἀνυπόδητονκαὶ ἄστρωτονκαὶ ἄοπλον . Cf. the description of Ἔρως in Symp. 203C : ἀνυπόδητος καὶ ἄοικος, χαμαιπετὴς ἀεὶ ὢν καὶ ἄστρωτος. ἀνυπόδητον contrasts with ὑποδῶν in 321B (l. 23), and justifies Cobet's emendation for ὑπὸ ποδῶν . Aristotle ( περὶ ζῴων μορίων , IV. 10, p. 687 a . 23) alludes to this passage of the Protagoras : ἀλλ’ οἱ λέγοντες ὡς συνέστηκεν οὐ καλῶς ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ χείριστα τῶν ζῴων ( ἀνυπόδητόν τε γὰρ αὐτὸν εἶναί φασι καὶ γυμνὸν καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντα ὄπλον πρὸς τὴν ἀλκήν ), οὐκ ὀρθῶς λέγουσιν .

ἐν ᾖ . See above on ἐν τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ( 318A . All the θνητὰ γένη then according to Protagoras issued forth on the same day. Plato thought otherwise: see on 320D l. 1.

ἐχόμενος : so T: ‘ σχόμενος B, sed in marg. vitii nota’ (Schanz). σχόμενος is occasionally found in this passive sense, especially in compounds (Sauppe quotes Soph. 250D συνεσχόμεθαand Isocr. XIX. II φθόῃ σχόμενον ), but the present participle is at least equally well attested here and suits the meaning better: cf. (with Kroschel) Laws, VI. 780B ὑπὸ πολλῆς ἀπορίας ἐχομένοις.

τὴν ἔντεχνον σοφίαν σὺν πυρί . Aesch. Prom. 252-4 πρὸς τοῖσδε μέντοι πῦρ ἐγώ σφιν ὤπασα. καὶ νῦν φλογωπὸν πῦρ ἔχουσ’ ἐφήμεροι, ἀφ’ οὗ γε πολλὰς ἐκμαθήσονται τέχνας —which is the usual form of the story. In Polit. 274C Plato attributes fire to Prometheus, and the arts to Hephaestus and Athena. σύν denotes a much closer connection than μετά : it is seldom used by Plato except in a few adverbial phrases, or in religious uses (like ξύν τισι Χάρισι καὶ Μούσαις Laws, III. 682A ), or in semi-poetic passages like the present: see on οὐδενὶ ξὺν νῷ in Crito, 48C .

ἔσχεν is ‘obtained’: see on ἔσχετε in Apol. 19A . ἦν γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Διί reminds one of Sophocles' Δίκη ξύνεδρος Ζηνός , O.C. 1382.

οὐκέτι means that Prometheus had to draw the line there; he had been able to steal the fire, but farther he could not go—no doubt because time pressed. The same idiomatic use of οὐκέτι )( ἤδη occurs above in 312E μὰ Δί’, ἔφη, οὐκέτι ἔχω σοι λέγειν : it is extremely common in Plato and in Greek generally: see note on Euthyphr. 3E and Cope on Arist. Rhet. A, 1. 1354 b . 7 referred to there.

Διὸς φυλακαί are no doubt Κράτος and Βία , as in the Prometheus. Cf. Hesiod, Theog. 385 ff. (quoted by Heindorf) καὶ Κράτος ἠδὲ Βίην ἀριδείκετα γείνατο τέκνα (sc. Στύξ ) τῶν οὐκ ἔστ’ ἀπάνευθε Διὸς δόμος οὐδέ τις ἕδρη οὐδ’ ὁδὸς ὅππῃ μὴ κείνοις θεὸς ἡγεμονεύει· ἀλλ’ αἰεὶ πὰρ Ζηνὶ βαρυκτύπῳ ἑδριόωνται .

εἰς δὲ τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς κτλ. Protagoras reverts to the story of the theft. Similarly in 346D below Socrates reverts to a part of the poem which he has quoted some time before in 345C

ἔμπυρον τέχνην is τέχνη which works by πῦρ , as ἔντεχνος σοφία in line 40 is σοφία working by τέχνη .

τοῦ βίου—δῑ Ἐπιμηθέα. βίουis ‘means of living’ as in l. 43. The words δῑ Ἐπιμηθέα mean ‘thanks to Epimetheus’: cf. Ar. Clouds, 12-14 ἀλλ’ οὐ δύναμαι δείλαιος εὕδειν δακνόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς δαπάνης καὶ τῆς φάτνης καὶ τῶν χρεῶν, διὰ τουτονὶ τὸν υἱόν, and in Rep. I. 354A οὐ μέντοι καλῶς γε εἱστίαμαι, δῑ ἐμαυτόν, ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ σέ. The words are rejected by Schanz (after Sauppe), but without reason: the jingle ( Προ‐μηθέα δὲ δῑ Ἐπι‐μηθέα ) is quite in Protagoras' style.

ᾗπερ λέγεται . Aeschylus relates the punishment but not the trial: cf. Prom. 7-9 τὸ σὸν γὰρ ἄνθος, παντέχνου πυρὸς σέλας, θνητοῖσι κλέψας ὤπασεν· τοιᾶσδέτοι ἁμαρτίας σφε δεῖθεοῖς δοῦναι δίκην .

ἀπώλλυντο οὖν ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων . Cf. Polit. 274B τῆς γὰπ τοῦ κεκτημένου καὶ νέμοντος ἡμᾶς δαίμονος ἀρεπημωθέντες ἐριμελείας, τῶν ρολλῶν αὖ θηπίων, ὄσα χαλερὰ τὰς φύσεις ἦν, ἀραγπιωθέντων, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀσθενεῖς ἄνθπωτοι καὶ ἀφύλακτοι γεγονότες διηρπάζοντο ὑπ’ αὐτῶν .

ἧς μέρος πολεμική. πολεμικήis recognised as a part of πολιτική in Rep. II. 373D ff.

σῴζεσθαι κτίζοντες πόλεις . The insufficiency of the individual for his own wants is assigned as the cause of city life in Rep. II. 369B γίγνεται τοίνυν—πόλις, ὡς ἐγᾦμαι, ἐπειδὴ τυγχάνει ἡμῶν ἕκαστος οὐκ αὐτάπκης ἀλλὰ ρολλῶν ἐνδεής· ἢ τίν’ οἴει ἀρχὴν ἄλλην πόλιν οἰκίζειν; οὐδεμίαν, ἦ δ’ ὄς.

αἰδῶ τε καὶ δίκην . The editors cite Hesiod ( Works and Days, 192) δίκη δ’ ἐν χερσὶ καὶ αἰδὼς οὐκ ἔσται (of the γένος σιδήρεον , where man is corrupt). αἰδώς is a part of δέος ( Euthyphr. 12C): it keeps men together by making them fear the censure of their fellows ( Laws, I. 647A -B); cf. Hom. Il. XV. 561 ff. ὦ φίλοι, ἀνέρες ἔστε, καὶ αἰδῶ θέσθ’ ἐνὶ θυμῷ, ἀλλήλους τ’ αἰδεῖσθε κατὰ κρατερὰς ὑσμίνας. αἰδομένων δ’ ἀνδρῶν πλέονες σόοι ἠὲ πέφανται· φευγόντων δ’ οὔτ’ ἂρ κλέος ὄρνυται οὔτε τις ἀλκή. δίκη is here the abstract principle ‘law’ like Latin ius : for the original meaning of the word see Verrall on Eur. Med. 411.

πόλεων κόσμοι—συναγωγοί . The phraseology no less than the rhythm is highly poetical.

τίνα οὖν τρόπον . For οὖν retained in the indirect the editors cite Symp. 219D ὥστε οὔθ’ ὅπως οὖν ὀργιζοίμην εἶχον οὔθ’ ὅπῃ προσαγαγοίμην αὐτὸν ηὐπόρουν. Cobet's δῶ for δοίη is attractive but unnecessary.

πότερον ὡς κτλ. ‘Eleganter omissum ἔφη , ut obliqua oratio statim in rectam transeat’ Heindorf, quoting ( inter alia ) Xen. Cyrop. I. 4. 28 ἐνταῦθα δὴ τὸν Κῦρον γελάσαι τε ἐκ τῶν ρπόσθεν δακπύων καὶ εἰρεῖν αὐτῷ ἀριόντα θαππεῖν ὅτι ραπέσται αὖθις ὀλίγου χρόνου· ὥστε ὁρᾶν σοι ἐξέσται κἂν βούλῃ ἀσκαρδαμυκτεί . Sauppe quotes an exact parallel in 338B below εἶπον οὖν ἐγὼ ὅτι αἰσχρὸν εἴη βραβευτὴν ἑλέσθαι τῶν λόγων. ειτε γὰρ χείρων ἔσται κτλ.

εις ἔχων ἰατρικὴν—ἰδιώταις . This division of labour takes place as soon as men begin to unite in cities: cf. Rep. II. 369E ff.

κτείνειν ὡς νόσον πόλεως. κτείνεινis poetical for the ἀποκτείνειν of prose.

Ἀθηναῖοι : without the article as in 319B and 324C

οὐκ ἀνέχονται, ὡς σὺ φῄς : 319C οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον ἀποδέχονται . The antithesis between οὐκ ἀνέχονται ὡς σὺ φῄς and εἰκότως ὡς ἐγώ φημι is a poor one, since οὐκ ἀνέχονται has to be repeated with εἰκότως . We should expect some word like ἀλόγως before ὡς σὺ φῄς , or perhaps οὐκ εἰκότως has dropped out after φῄς .

Plato Protagoras 321

Walter Rangeley Maitland Lamb (Translator)

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