Πρωταγόρας ἢ σοφισταί· ἐνδεικτικός
. This is how the title appears in B, except that
ἐνδεικτικός (which is absent in T) is apparently from a later hand.
1
Plato probably called the dialogue
Πρωταγόρας (compare the titles
Crito ,
Euthyphro, etc.— the majority of the dialogues are named after an interlocutor): the words
ἢ σοφισταί and
ἐνδεικτικός were added by Thrasylus, whose date is about the Christian era. The
Protagoras is the sole example of an ‘endeictic’ dialogue: it is so called because it was thought to be an arraignment (
ἔνδειξις ) of the Sophists. That this is the meaning of
ἐνδεικτικός , and not ‘probative’, can be inferred from the fact that Albinus used
ἐλεγκτικός in its place (
εἰσαγωγὴ εἰς τοὺς Πλάτωνος διαλόγους , ch. v. Cobet takes the right view: see his edition of Diog. Laert. III. 51). The arrangement of the Platonic dialogues into tetralogies is also probably due to Thrasylus. The
Protagoras is the second dialogue of the sixth tetralogy, the others being (1)
Euthydemus, (3)
Gorgias, (4)
Meno. See Grote's
Plato, 1, 158 ff.
πόθεν—ὥραν
. The opening words of Cicero's translation of the
Protagoras are preserved by Priscian (VI. 63):
quid tu? unde tandem appares, o Socrate? an id quidem dubium non est, quin ab Alcibiade?
ἢ = Latin
an? introduces a second question intended to forestall Socrates' answer to the first: cf.
Apol. 26B
πῶς με φὴ|ς διαφθείρειν, ὦ Μέλητε, τοὺς νεωτέρους; ἢ δῆλον δὴ ὅτι κτλ.;
κυνηγεσίου—ὥραν
. For the metaphor in
κυνηγεσίου Sauppe quotes
Soph. 222D
τῇ τῶν ἐρώντων θήρᾳ τὸν νοῦν, ὡς ἔοικας, οὔπω προσέσχεςand
Xen.
Mem. 1. 2. 24
Ἀλκιβιάδης—διὰ μὲν κάλλος—θηρώμενος κτλ. τοῦ περὶ τὴν Ἀλκιβιάδου ὥραν(=
τὸν ὡραῖον Ἀλκιβιάδην , cf.
βίη Ἡρακλείη for
βίαιος Ἡρακλῆς ) is a slight
παρὰ προσδοκίαν as in the English: ‘From hunting, no doubt—after the young and blooming Alcibiades.’ It was part of Socrates' habitual irony to pretend to be in love with young men of ability (cf. the words of Alcibiades in
Symp. 216D
Σωκράτης ἐρωτικῶς διάκειται τῶν καλῶν καὶ ἀεὶ περὶ τούτους ἐστὶ καὶ ἐκπέπληκταιand 216E: see also below, note on
310A
l. 36).
καὶ μήν μοι καί.
καὶ μήνis merely ‘well’ as in
Phaedo, 84D
καὶ μὴν—τἀληθῆ σοι ἐρῶ. The second
καί goes with
πρῴην : ‘well, it was only the other day that I saw him, etc.’ In the next line
καλὸς ἀνήρ is in the predicate: the readings of Bekker (
ἁνήρ ) and Athenaeus (
ὁ ἀνήρ ) are less good.
ἀνὴρ μέντοι is ‘but yet a man’)(
παῖς . At the age of 18 an Athenian
εἰς ἄνδρας ἐνεγράφετο .
ὥς γ’ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν—ὑποπιμπλάμενος.
αὐτοῖς=
μόνοις is emphatic as in the usual
αὐτοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν and therefore precedes
ἡμῖν. ὥς γ’ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν εἰρῆσθαι apologises for
ἀνὴρ μέντοι : for this use of
ὥς γε cf.
Euthyd. 307A
ὥς γε πρὸς σὲ τἀληθῆ εἰρῆσθαιand below
339E
καὶ in
καὶ πώγωνος is ‘and’ not ‘even’.
ὑπο‐ in
ὑποπιμπλάμενος is diminutive, like
sub- in Latin. So in
312A
ἤδη γὰρ ὑπέφαινέν τι ἡμέρας .
οὐ σὺ μέντοι
. ‘In interrogationibus haec particula’ (
μέντοι ) ‘ita cum
οὐ negatione coniungitur, ut gravissima sententiae vox intercedat, quo modo aliquis eis quae ex altero quaerit summam veritatis ingerit speciem’ (Hoefer,
de particulis Platonicis, p. 34). The idiom is very frequent in Plato, e.g.
Rep. I. 339B
,
Crat. 439A
,
Theaet. 163E
. Translate ‘You don't mean to say that
you disapprove of Homer’.
ὃς ἔφη χαριεστάτην ἥβην κτλ.
Homer,
Il. XXIV. 348
and
Od. X. 279
πρῶτον ὑπηνήτῃ τοῦπερ χαριεστάτη ἥβη. To insert
τήν (with Hirschig) before
ἥβην would make the reference to Homer less precise. The line in Homer refers to Hermes, and Sauppe quotes Clement to show that sculptors modelled their busts of Hermes after Alcibiades.
εὖ ἔμοιγε ἔδοξεν
, sc.
διακεῖσθαι . Socrates replies to his friend's second question (
καὶ πῶς πρὸς σὲ ὁ νεανίας διάκειται ;) first, and to his first question (
ἦ παρ’ ἐκείνου φαίνει
; ) second, in the words
καὶ οὖν καὶ ἄρτι ἀπ’ ἐκείνου ἔρχομαι , where
οὖν marks the regression to the earlier inquiry. Both B and T read
ἄρχομαι by mistake for
ἔρχομαι :
ἔρχομαι is found in a Vienna codex (suppl. phil. gr. 7) which Kral and Wohlrab place along with B in the first class of MSS.
οὔτε προσεῖχον—ἐπελανθανόμηντε.
τεfollowing
οὔτε throws emphasis on the second clause: e.g.
Apol. 26C
παντάπασί με φὴ|ς οὔτε αὐτὸν νομίζειν θεοὺς τούς τε ἄλλους ταῦτα διδάσκειν. The idiom is very common in Plato (e.g. below
347E
360D
361E
and corresponds to
neque—que or (more frequently)
neque—et in Latin. For the interchange of pronouns
ἐκείνου— αὐτοῦ see on
310D
καὶ πολύ γε
, i.e.
καλλίονι ἐνέτυχον .
Ἀβδηρίτῃ
. Abdera, on the coast of Thrace, was the birthplace of Democritus and of Protagoras. The reputation of the city for heaviness and stupidity seems not to be earlier than the age of Demosthenes: see pseudo-Dem.
περὶ τῶν πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον , 23
ὥσπερ ἐν Ἀβδηρίταις ἢ Μαρωνείταις ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐν Ἀθηναίοις πολιτευόμενοι and Cic.
ad Atticum, VII. 7. 4.
υἱέος
. Schanz writes
ὑέος in conformity with the general usage of inscriptions about Plato's time, but MSS. upon the whole favour
υἱέος : see the Editor's note on
Crito, 45C
.
τὸ σοφώτατον
. So the MSS.: Schanz and others read
σοφώτερον , apparently the reading of Ficinus, who translates the word by
sapientius. Socrates, however, is thinking of Protagoras, who is not
σοφός , but
σοφώτατος (l. 31): the effect of the neuter
τὸ σοφώτατον is to generalise the statement into a kind of adage.
σοφώτερον would introduce a somewhat frigid comparison between Alcibiades and Protagoras in respect of wisdom; and it should also be noted that the MSS. reading
σοφώτατον was more likely to be changed to
σοφώτερον by mistake than vice versa. There may be an allusion to some proverbial form of speech resembling that in Theognis, 255
κάλλιστον τὸ δικαιότατον· λῷστον δ’ ὑγιαίνειν κτλ. : cf. also the
scolion referred to in
Gorg. 451E
. The sentiment is an interesting anticipation of the Stoic paradoxes as to the beauty of the wise man.
ἀλλ’ ἦ
expresses surprise and interest: ‘What! have you just left etc.’ So in
Gorg. 447A
ἀλλ’ ἦ τὸ λεγόμενον κατόπιν
ἑορτῆς ἥκομεν
;Presently
μὲν οὖν is as usual corrective: see on
Apol. 26B
.
σοφώτατος εἶναι Πρωταγόρας
. The interest is sustained by reserving the name of Protagoras to the end.
πάνυ γε πολλὰ καὶ εἰπὼν κτλ.
Sauppe places a comma after
πάνυ γε , but it suits the rapid movement of the dialogue better to take
πάνυ with
πολλά .
τί οὖν οὐ διηγήσω
. Literally ‘why didn't you relate’, i.e. ‘tell us at once’. So in
317D
τί οὖν—οὐ καὶ Πρόδικον καὶ Ἱππίαν ἐκαλέσαμεν
; This construction of
τί οὐ and
τί οὖν οὐ is common in animated conversational style, especially with the second person: e.g.
Gorg. 503B
τί οὐχὶ καὶ ἐμοὶ αὐτὸν ἔφρασας τίς ἐστιν
;=
φράσον ὅτι τάχιστα—οὐκ ἂν φθάνοις φράζων as Thompson remarks.
τὴν ξυνουσίαν
recalls
συγγεγονώς in l. 34. The continual use of the words
συνεῖναι, συγγίγνεσθαι, πλησιάζειν, ἰέναι ἐπί, ἐρᾶν and the like to denote the relation between learner and teacher in Plato's dialogues depends upon the conception of the philosophical impulse as
ἔρως : see
Symp. 210
.
ἐξαναστήσας τὸν παῖδα τουτονί
. The slave was doubtless in attendance on the Friend.
ἀκούητε
. From this, as well as from
ἡμεῖς and
ἀκούετε , it appears that the Friend was not the only listener.
διπλῆ ἂν εἴη ἡ χάρις
. The expression is almost proverbial: cf. (with Schneidewin on
Soph.
Phil. 1370
)
Eur.
Rhesus, 162-3
παντὶ γὰρ προσκείμενον κέρδος πρὸς ἔργω? τὴν χάριν τίκτει διπλῆν, and
Eur.
Suppl. 333-4
τῷδέ τ’ εἴρηκας καλῶς κἀμοί· διπλοῦν δὲ χάρμα γίγνεται τόδε.
ᾔει ἐπειγόμενος
. So BT: neither in the 3rd singular of such forms nor elsewhere do Plato's MSS. always avoid hiatus. Schanz (vol. XII, p. XV) would insert the
ν ἐφελκυστικόν in such forms before a vowel, unless a pause follows.
Ἱπποκράτης, ἔφην, οὗτος
. We have followed Heindorf in printing a full stop after
οὗτος . Heindorf (following Ficinus) correctly takes the words as an aside; Socrates recognises Hippocrates by his voice. The neuter comparative of
νέος regularly implies that the new is worse than the old: see on
Euthyphr. 2A
.
εἰ μὴ ἀγαθά γε
. Compare
Ar.
Knights, 186
μῶν ἐκ καλῶν εἶ κἀγαθῶν; μὰ τοὺς θεούς, εἰ μὴ ’κ πονηρῶν γεand Blaydes
in loc. The idiom originally meant ‘unless by
νεώτερα you mean
ἀγαθά ’, which would be a contradiction in terms, since
νεώτερον is
κακόν . Preceded by
οὐδέν it has come to mean little more than ‘except good’.
πρῴην
: see
309D
τρίτην γε ἤδη ἡμέραν .
ἑσπέρας γε
:
χθές is unnecessary, as the Athenians counted the interval between two sunsets as one day (Kroschel, referring to Varro,
ap. Gell.
Noct. Att. III. 2. 4).
ἐπιψηλαφήσας τοῦ σκίμποδος
. The
σκίμπους was a low stool or bed. According to a scholiast on
Ar.
Clouds, 254
, the word means properly a ‘lame stool’ (
χωλὸν κραββάτιον ) and is connected with
σκιμπάζειν =
χωλαίνειν. ἐπιψηλαφῶ is followed by the accusative where it does not (as here) contain the idea of search for, e.g. in
Rep. II. 360A
(
ἐπιψηλαφῶντα τὸν δακτύλιον ).
Οἰνόης
. Oenoe (probably = the Wine-country) was a
δῆμος in the
φυλὴ Ἱπποθοωντίς , near Eleutherae, on the road to Thebes. The slave had endeavoured to escape across the frontier into Boeotia. There was another
δῆμος of the same name near Marathon, belonging to the
φυλὴ Αἰαντίς .
ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἦλθον
. For this sense of
ἔρχομαι (‘come back’) Heindorf quotes Lysias
ὑπὲρ Μαντιθέου § 4
ἀλλ’ ἤλθομεν πρὶν τοὺς ἀπὸ Φυλῆς εἰς τὸν Πειραιᾶ κατελθεῖν πρότερον πένθ’ ἡμέραις .
ἀδελφός
. So (not
ἁδελφός ) the MSS. The article is not rarely omitted with names denoting relation, as we usually omit it with ‘father’ and ‘mother’. See Kühner's
Griechische Grammatik, 11, 522. The force of
ἔτι is ‘late though it was’.
δέ is commonly omitted after
ἔπειτα and
εἶτα : so below,
350D
πρῶτον μὲν γάρ—ἔπειτα ;
Symp. 211A
πρῶτον μὲν ἀεὶ ὄν—ἔπειτα οὐ τῇ μὲν καλόν, τῇ δ’ αἰσχρόν.
πόρρω τῶν νυκτῶν
. The plural is idiomatic: cf.
Symp. 217D
διελεγόμην ἀεὶ πόρρω τῶν νυκτῶν ;
Ar.
Clouds, 2
ὦ Ζεῦ βασιλεῦ τὸ χρῆμα τῶν νυκτῶν ὅσον. So
μέσαι νύκτες for ‘midnight’.
In quibus loquendi formulis remarks Heindorf ‘
νύκτες horas nocturnas denotant’.
ὁ ὕπνος ἀνῆκεν
is modelled on Homer (e.g.
Il. II. 71
ἐμὲ δὲ γλυκὺς ὕπνος ἀνῆκεν), but Plato gives a different turn to
ἀνῆκεν by adding
ἐκ τοῦ κόπου , where
ἐκ is ‘from’, not ‘after’ (as Stallbaum thinks). Note presently that
οὕτω to introduce the apodosis after participles is especially common in Plato: cf. below,
314C
326D
ἀνδρείαν.
ἀνδρεῖοςoccurs in much the same sense in
Meno, 81D
οὐδὲν κωλύει—τἄλλα πάντα αὐτὸν ἀνευρεῖν, ἐάν τις ἀνδρεῖος ᾗ καὶ μὴ ἀποκάμνῃ ζητῶν. σοίis emphatic and should therefore be accented, like
σέ in l. 28.
ἀδικεῖ.
ἀδικεῖνis often used of a past injury because the injury is regarded as continuing till atonement is made: see on
Crito, 50C
.
ἂν αὐτῷ διδῷς ἀργύριον καὶ πείθῃς ἐκεῖνον
. For the variation of pronouns cf.
Euthyphr. 14D
ἀλλά μοι λέξον τίς αὕτη ἡ ὑρηπεσία ἐστί τοῖς θεοῖς; αἰτεῖν τε φὴ|ς αὐτοὺς καὶ διδόναι ἐκείνοις; above,
309B
and below,
318C
The change is most frequent where the second pronoun is different in case from the first: cf. Classen on Thuc. I. 132. 5. Cobet ejects the words
καὶ πείθῃς ἐκεῖνον , but they are supported by the parallel expression of
311D
ἂν μὲν ἐξικνῆται τὰ ἡμέτερα χρήματα καὶ τούτοις πείθωμεν αὐτόν .
ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ θεοί
: i.e.
καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι θεοί . The exclamation is common: see Blaydes on
Ar.
Plutus, I
.
ἐν τούτῳ εἴη
. Cf.
354E
and
356D
εἰ οὖν ἐν τούτῳ ἡμῖν ἦν τὸ εὖ πράττειν .
οὔτε τῶν φίλων
. The English idiom would lead us to expect
οὔτε τῶν τῶν φίλων : but in Greek the double article is avoided by substituting ‘my friends’ for ‘my friends' property’. Analogous is the usage known as
comparatio compendiaria, e.g.
κόμαι Χαρίτεσσιν ὁμοῖαι (
Il. XVII. 51
), where ‘the Graces’ is put for ‘the Graces' hair’.
ἀλλ’ αὐτὰ ταῦτα
. See on
Apol. 23B
.
ταῦτα =
διὰ ταῦτα is frequent in Plato and Aristophanes.
ὅτε τὸ πρότερον ἐπεδήμησεν
. Probably about 445 B.C., if the date of action of the dialogue is 433-432. (See Introduction p. xxxiii.) Protagoras went to Thurii in 443 B.C., being charged by Pericles to draw up a code of laws for the new colony.
Καλλίᾳ τῷ Ἱππονίκου
. Callias, son of Hipponicus, belonged to one of the richest families in Athens (below,
337D
αὐτῆς τῆς πόλεως—τὸν μέγιστον καὶ ὀλβιώτατον οἶκον τόνδε ). His devotion to the ‘Sophists’ in general is remarked upon in
Apol. 20A
ἀνδρὶ ὃς τετέλεκε χρήματα σοφισταῖς πλείω ἢ ξύμπαντες οἱ ἄλλοι, Καλλίᾳ τῷ Ἱππονίκου(cf.
Crat. 391B
): but he seems to have been particularly attached to the doctrines of Protagoras: see
Theaet. 164E
οὐ γὰρ ἐγώ, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον Καλλίας ὁ Ἱππονίκου τῶν ἐκείνου(i.e.
Πρωταγόρου λόγων )
ἐπίτροπος . One of his two sons (
Apol. 20A
), Protarchus, appears as an interlocutor in the
Philebus. In 393-392 Callias was associated with Iphicrates in the command of the Athenian forces at Corinth, and as late as 371 we find him acting as ambassador to Sparta (Xen.
Hell. VI. 4). It appears that he spent all his money and died in actual want (Athenaeus, XII. 52).
μήπω, ὠγαθέ
. The MSS. have
μήπω ἀγαθέ : probably the archetype had
μήπωγαθέ , by a natural mistake. Cobet rejects
ἐκεῖσε ἴωμεν , reading
μήπω γε , on the ground that with
μήπω γε the Greek idiom does not repeat the verb: but there is no proof that the verb could not be expressed with
μήπω (without
γε ).
δεῦρο ἐξαναστῶμεν εἰς τὴν αὐλήν
. Herwerden needlessly suggests that
ἐξαναστάντες should be read, or
εἰς τὴν
αὐλήν rejected:
εἰς τὴν αὐλήν goes with
ἐξαναστῶμεν : cf.
ἐμὲ δὲ δεῖ ποι ἐξαναστῆναι in
Theages, 129B.
δεῦρο we should translate by ‘here’: ‘let us rise and go out into the court here’. Classic Greek does not admit of
τῇδε in such a case: see Cobet's
Novae Lectiones, p. 91.
ἀποπειρώμενος—διεσκόπουν.
ῥώμηof strength of will and resolution (cf.
ἀνδρεία above
310D
as in
Polit. 259C
πρὸς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς σύνεσιν καὶ ῥώμην. γνώμης , the suggestion of Hoenebeek, would be much less forcible and exact.
ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ κτλ.
ἄνgoes with
ἀπεκρίνω in l. II. The application of the similes follows in D, and each illustration contains two subordinate protases, viz. (in B) (1)
εἰ ἐπενόεις— ἐκείνῳ , (2)
εἴ τίς σε ἤρετο , and (in C) (1)
εἰ δὲ—ἐκείνοις , (2)
εἴ τίς σε ἤρετο . With this multiplication of protases Heindorf compares
Meno, 74B
μανθάνεις γάρ που ὅτι οὑτωσὶ ἔχει περὶ παντός· εἴ τίς σε ἀνέποιτο τοῦτο ὃ νῦν δὴ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον, τί ἐστι σχῆμα, ὦ Μένων; εἰ αὐτῷ εἶρες ὅτι στπογγυλότης, εἴ σοι εἶρεν ἅρεπ ἐγώ, ρότεπον σχῆμα ἡ στπογγυλότης ἐστὶν ἢ σχῆμά τι; εἶρες δή ρου ἂν ὅτι σχῆμά τι. The reasoning from analogy is quite in Socrates' style: see for example
Gorg. 448B
ff.
‘Ιπποκράτη—τὸν τῶν’ Ασκληπιαδῶν
. It is unnecessary (with Naber) to bracket
Ἱπποκράτη . Hippocrates, the founder of medical science, born about 460 B.C. in Cos, was at the height of his renown about the year 400. He is referred to also in
Phaedrus, 270C (
εἰ μὲν οὖν Ἱπποκράτει γε τῷ τῶν Ἀσκληπιαδῶν δεῖ τι πείθεσθαι ) as holding the view that the human body could not be Compare
Ar.
Peace, 383
εἰπέ μοι τί πάσχετ’ ὦνδρες; Pl.
Euthyd. 283B
εἰπέ μοι, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατές τε καὶ ὑμεῖς οἱ ἄλλοι . The exhortation or command is in general primarily addressed to one man: contrast, however, below,
330B
and
Lach. 186E
σὺ δ’, ὦ Λάχης καὶ Νικία, εἴπετον ἡμῖν ἑκάτερος.
ἄλλο γε
, i.e. other than the name ‘Protagoras’. It is more in accordance with Plato's usage to make the first question end with the first
ἀκούομεν , and regard the
ὥσπερ clause as introducing the second question
τί τοιοῦτον περὶ Πρωταγόρου ἀκούομεν
; This second question is rejected by Cobet as spurious, but the punctuation which we have adopted seems to remove the difficulty. The
ὥσπερ clause defines in advance the meaning of
τοιοῦτον : for this and for the asyndeton compare
Sophist. 258B-C
πότερον οὖν—δεῖ θαρροῦντα ἤδη λέγειν ὅτι τὸ μὴ ὂν βεβαίως ἐστὶ τὴν αὑτοῦ φύσιν ἔχον; ὥσρεπ τὸ μέγα ἦν μέγα καὶ τὸ καλὸν ἦν καλὸν καὶ τὸ μὴ μέγα μὴ μέγα καὶ τὸ μὴ καλὸν μὴ καλόν, οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ μὴ ὂν κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἦν τε καὶ ἔστι μὴ ὄν, ἐνάπιθμον τῶν πολλῶν ὄντων εἶδος ἕν
; Crat.
394A
B;
Theaet. 172D
with Heindorf's note. See also
330A
ὥσπερ τὰ τοῦ προσώπου , where the same punctuation should be adopted. In l. 31 the MSS. read
ἠκούομεν by mistake for
ἀκούομεν .
σοφιστήν—εἶναι
. On
σοφιστής see below, note on
312C
γε implies that Protagoras
may be a sophist only in name.
εἶναι is frequently used with verbs of naming: cf.
Lach. 192A
ὃ ἐν πᾶσιν ὀνομάζεις ταχυτῆτα εἶναι. Cobet's suggestion to read
εἶεν, ἔφην, ὡς for
εἶναι, ἔφη. ὡς is ingenious but needless.
αὐτὸς δὲ δὴ—παρὰ τὸν Πρωταγόραν
, sc.
τί ἂν ἀποκρίναιο
;
ὑπέφαινέν τι ἡμέρας.
ὑποφαίνει ἡμέραis used, as Heindorf says,
de die illucescente. Here
τι ἡμέρας = ‘something of day’, ‘some daylight’.
εἰ μέν τι—ἔοικεν
. Heindorf remarks that Stephanus' conjecture
τοῦτο ἔοικεν is needless, the vague indefinite subject being frequently omitted. Cf.
Crat. 387D
εἴπερ τι τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν μέλλει ὁμολογούμενον εἶναι;
Phaedo, 99E
ἴσως μὲν οὖν ὧ? εἰκάζω τρόπον τινὰ οὐκ ἔοικεν.
εἰς τοὑς Ἕλληνας σαυτόν.
εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληναςgoes with
παρέχων : cf.
Symp. 179B
ἱκανὴν μαρτυρίαν παρέχεται—εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας. Young men of fashion were fond of looking to Greek, as opposed to Athenian, public opinion. The MSS. have
αὑτόν , but the use of the third personal reflexive pronoun for the first and second in the singular number does not seem to be certain in Plato; and it is simplest to suppose that
ς fell out after
Ἕλληνας : Schanz, VII, xii.
ἀλλ’ ἄρα—μὴ οὐ τοιαύτην.
οὐgoes closely with
τοιαύτην , and
μή is virtually ‘perhaps’ (originally ‘lest’ as in
ὅρα μή
Theaet. 145B
): ‘but perhaps after all (
ἄρα ) this is not the kind of learning which etc.’ Cf.
Euthyd. 290E
ἀλλ’ ἄρα—μὴ ὁ Κτήσιππος ἦν ὁ ταῦτ’ εἰπώνand
Apol. 25A
ἀλλ’ ἄρα—μὴ οἱ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησία?, οἱ ἐκκλησιασταί, διαφθείρουσι τοὺς νεωτέρους ;
Meno, 89C
μὴ τοῦτο οὐ καλῶς ὡμολογήσαμεν . In all of these passages it is better to take
μή in this way than as equivalent to Latin
num. From this use of
μή grew up the use of
μήποτε = ‘perhaps’, frequent in Aristotle and later, e.g.
Eth. Nic. X. 2. 1173
a . 22
μή ποτ’ οὐ λέγουσιν το αἴτιον .
οἵαπερ ἡ παρἀ
is the reading of T: B has
οἵα περὶ . The
γραμματισταί of Athens were schoolmasters, who besides teaching reading and writing (cf. below,
326D
translated (
ἑρμηνεύειν ) Homer and interpreted his
γλῶτται . They were distinct from the
γραμματικοί or
κριτικοί who pursued more scientific literary and grammatical studies. The
κιθαριστής and
γραμματιστής between them taught
μουσική , and the
παιδοτρίβης γυμναστική ; and
μουσική and
γυμναστική were the two parts of
παιδεία or liberal education:
Rep. II. 376E
.
ἐπὶ τέχνῃ—ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ παιδείᾳ
: cf.
315A
ἐπὶ τέχνῃ μανθάνει, ὡς σοφιστὴς ἐσόμενος . The distinction between professional and liberal (
ὡς τὸν ἰδιώτην καὶ τὸν ἐλεύθερον πρέπει ) education is frequently emphasised by Plato (see especially
Laws, I. 643D
): his word for the latter is always
παιδεία , cf.
Gorg. 485A
,
Rep. VI. 492C
. The ‘arts’ are throughout the
Republic looked on as
βάναυσοι , and unfit for men whose souls are free.
παρασχεῖν θεραπεῦσαι ἀνδρἱ σοφιστῇ
. The word
παρέχω is often used of putting oneself in the hands of a doctor: cf.
Gorg. 456B
φάρμακον πιεῖν ἢ τεμεῖν ἢ καῦσαι παρασχεῖν τῶ? ἰατρῷ. ἀνήρis regularly used (mostly in a complimentary sense, real or feigned) with words which denote one's profession, standing or the like, e.g.
ἀνὴρ μάντις, ἀνὴρ νομεύς, ἄνδρες δικασταί ; cf.
Euthyphr. 15D
. For
παρασχεῖν Cobet reads
παρέχειν , but if MSS. can be trusted, Plato used the aorist infinitive with
μέλλω tolerably often: see Schanz, Preface to
Symposium, p. vii.
οὔτ’ εἰ ἀγαθῷ οὔτ’ εἰ κακῷ πράγματι
. So in
Gorgias 520B
οὐκ ἐγχωρεῖν μέμφεσθαι τούτῳ τῷ πράγματι (their pupils)
ὃ αὐτοὶ παιδεύουσιν . Here Socrates uses the most general form of expression because
ex hypothesi nothing is yet known as to the sophist: cf. below,
330C
ἡ δικαιοσύνη πρᾶγμά τί ἐστιν ἢ οὐδὲν πρᾶγμα
; Cases like
Crito, 53D
οὐκ οἴει ἄσχημον ἂν φανεῖσθαι τὸ τοῦ Σωκράτους πρᾶγμα
;are somewhat different and contain a slight admixture of contempt: see the Editor's note
in loc.
οἶμαί γ’ εἰδέναι
. Hippocrates
οἴεται εἰδέναι μὴ εἰδώς : he is thus, according to Socrates, in the worst of all states: cf.
Apol. ch. VI ff. Socrates now proceeds to convict him of ignorance.
ὥσπερ τοὔνομα λέγει—τῶν σοφῶν ἐπιστήμονα
. Hippocrates derives
σοφιστής from
σοφός and (
ἐπ )
ίστ (
αμαι ) ‘quasi sit
ὁ τῶν σοφῶν ἴστης ’ (Heindorf, comparing the derivation of
Ἥφαιστος in
Crat. 407C
from
Φάεος ἵστωρ ). The correct derivation is perhaps given by Suidas s.v.:
σοφιστὴς καὶ ὁ διδάσκαλος ὡς σοφίζων (cf.
σωφρονίζω =make
σώφρων ), but
‐ίζω is very elastic in meaning, and
σοφίζω may very well mean ‘play the
σοφός ’.
τῶν τί σοφῶν.
τῶν πρὸς τί σοφῶνwould be more precise, but the accusative of reference is preferred for brevity. For the construction Kroschel compares
Theages, 125C
τῶν τί σοφῶν συνουσίᾳ φὴ|ς σοφοὺς εἶναι τοὺς τυράννους , where, however,
σοφῶν is masculine. The neuter of
σοφός is not here used ironically as in
Theaet. 157C
παρατίθημι ἑκάστων τῶν σοφῶν ἀπογεύσασθαι.
ὁ δὲ σοφιστὴς τῶν τί σοφῶν ἐστιν
. Heusde suggested
ἐπιστήμων after
ἐστιν , but the sense can be supplied out of the
‐ιστής of
σοφιστής , according to the derivation of the word just given: the full sense is as it were
ὁ δὲ σοφιστὴς τῶν τί σοφῶν ἐστιν (
σοφ )
ιστής .
τί ἂν ἀποκρινοίμεθα αὐτῷ
. There is no need to change the verb to
ἀποκριναίμεθα , as was done by Bekker to suit
ἔροιτο : cf. below,
354A
εἰ ἐροίμεθα—φαῖεν ἄν and
Phaedr. 259A
εἰ οὖν ἴδοιεν—δικαίως ἂν καταγελῷεν.
ποίας ἐργασίας ἐπιστάτης
. These words are not of course part of the imaginary questioner's interrogation, but are spoken by Socrates to help out Hippocrates' answer. Socrates suggests that Hippocrates should say that the sophist is
ἐπιστάτης of some sort of
ἐργασία , but in order that the answer should come from Hippocrates himself, he substitutes for the desired answer: ‘(The sophist is)
ἐπιστάτης —of what kind of
ἐργασία ?’ Hippocrates then replies by explaining the
ἐργασία , viz.
τὸ ποιῆσαι δεινὸν λέγειν . The full grammatical construction would be
ποίας ἐργασίας ἐπιστάτης (
ὅτι ἐστὶν ἀποκριναίμεθα ἂν αὐτῷ )
; If we take this view, it is not necessary to insert
ἐστίν after
ἐπιστάτης (with Hirschig).
τί ἂν εἴποιμεν—ὦ Σώκρατες
; Hippocrates is on the verge of
ἀπορία , and merely throws out his suggestion
ἐπιστάτην τοῦ ποιῆσαι δεινὸν λέγειν for what it is worth. The words
ἐπιστάτην τοῦ ποιῆσαι δεινὸν λέγειν are strictly speaking a reply to the question of Socrates
ποίας ἐργασίας ἐπιστάτης ; for
τοῦ ποιῆσαι δεινὸν λέγειν answers
ποίας ἐργασίας , and but for the intervening clause (
τί ἂν εἴποιμεν αὐτὸν εἶναι
; ) the word
ἐπιστάτην would have been in the nominative.
ὥσπερ ὁ κιθαριστὴς κτλ.
Cf.
Gorg. 449E
and 451A ff., where much the same reasoning is employed to discover
τί ἐστι τοῦτο τῶν ὄντων, περὶ οὗ οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι εἰσίν, οἷς ἡ ῥητορικὴ χρῆται (
Gorg. 451D
). Rhetoric and Sophistic were regarded by Plato as sisters: cf.
Gorg. 464B
ff. The clause
ὥσπερ ὁ κιθαριστὴς κτλ. is logically the protasis to
εἶεν· ὁ δὲ δὴ σοφιστὴς κτλ. : see on
311E
above.
εἶεν· ὁ δὲ δὴ σοφιστής
. For
εἶεν and
δὲ δή see on
311C
above.
δῆλον ὅτι περὶ οὗπερ καὶ ἐπίστασθαι
. Stahl's emendation (
ἐπίστασθαι for
ἐπίσταται ), which had occurred to us independently, seems to be certain. Most editions read
ἢ δῆλον ὅτι περὶ οὗπερ καὶ ἐπίσταται
; inserting
ἤ before
δῆλον (with Heindorf) and giving the words to Socrates, but it is surely more natural to regard them as giving Hippocrates' reply to Socrates' question, in which case
δῆλον ὅτι is right. The MS. reading
ἐπίσταται gives a
non sequitur ; for the harpist makes one
δεινὸς λέγειν περὶ οὖπερ καὶ ἐπιστήμονα i.e.
περὶ οὖπερ καὶ ἐπίστασθαι , not
περὶ οὗπερ καὶ ἐπιστήμων‐ἐστὶν i.q.
ἐπίσταται . The next sentence
τί δή ἐστι τοῦτο, περὶ οὗ αὐτός τε ἐπιστήμων ἐστὶν ὁ σοφιστὴς καὶ τὸν μαθητὴν ποιεῖ (sc.
ἐπίστασθαι ); in no way invalidates the reading
ἐπίστασθαι : it is everywhere
assumed in the Platonic writings that he who makes others know has knowledge himself: see for example
Alcib. I, 111B
οὐκ οἶσθ’ ὅτι χρὴ τοὺς μέλλοντας διδάσκειν ὁτιοῦν αὐτοὺς πρῶτον εἰδέναι; ἢ οὔ; πῶς γὰρ οὔ
; and
ibid. 113C, 118C.
οὐκέτι
. See below on
οὐκέτι in
321D
ἢ εἰ μὲν τὸ σῶμα κτλ.
For
ἤ cf.
Crito, 50E
ἢ πρὸς μὲν ἄπα σοι τὸν ρατέπα—ρπὸς δὲ τὴν ρατπίδα ἄπα καὶ τοὺς νόμους ἔσται σοι; and for the general form of the sentence
Apol. 28E
εἰ ὅτε μέν—τότε μέν—τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ τάττοντος—ἐνταῦθα δέ,
Meno, 94C
-D,
Gorg. 512A
: see the Editor's note on
Apol. loc. cit.
πολλὰ ἂν περιεσκέψω
: but
ἔδει in l. 3 and
παρεκάλεις in 6. The effect is to represent the process of reflection by oneself as prior to consultation with friends. Heindorf on
Gorg. 514D
quotes a parallel from the
Theaetetus (144E):
ἀτὰρ εἰ, νῷν ἐχόντοιν ἑκατέπου λύπαν, ἔφη αὐτὰς ἡπμόσθαι ὁμοίως, ρότεπον εὐθὺς ἂν ἐπιστεύομεν ἢ ἐπεσκεψάμεθα ἂν (i.e. should have inquired
first )
εἰ μουσικὸς ὢν λέγοι
;
τὴν ψυχήν
. Cf. (with Heindorf)
Rep. IX. 583E
ὃ μεταξὺ ἄπα νῦν δὴ ἀμφοτέπων ἔφαμεν εἶναι, τὴν ἡσυχίαν, τοῦτό ροτε ἀμφότερα ἔσται. ἐν ᾧpresently is like
ἐν τούτῳ in
310D
where see note: Heindorf cites Eur.
Iph. T. 1057
καὶ τἄμ’ ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστιν ἢ καλῶς ἔχειν ἢ μηδὲν εἶναι . For
καὶ ἐν ᾧ we should at first sight expect
καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ : for the Greek idiom is relative+anaphoric pronoun, not relative+relative, when the two pronouns have the same antecedent and are connected by a conjunction: e.g.
Gorg. 452D
τί ἐστι τοῦτο ὃ φὴ|ς σὺ μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν εἶναι—καὶ σὲ δημιουργὸν εἶναι αὐτοῦ: see the Editor's note on
Apol. 40A
. Here, however, the fact that the relative precedes its antecedent (
ὃ δὲ περὶ πλείονος—περὶ δὲ τούτου ) makes the rule inoperative; and there are other exceptions, e.g.
Rep. II. 374B
καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ ὡσαύτως ἓν ἀρεδίδομεν, ρπὸς ὃ ρεφύκει ἕκαστος καὶ ἐφ’ ᾧ ἔμελλε τῶν ἄλλων σχολὴν ἄγων διὰ βίου αὐτὸ ἐπγαζόμενος—καλῶς ἀπεργάζεσθαι, and
Theaet. 192B
καὶ ὃ οἶδεν καὶ ὃ αἰσθάνεται(where, however, Bonitz rejects the second
ὅ , perhaps rightly).
τῷ ἀφικομένῳ τούτῳ ξένῳ
. Heindorf's suggestion
τῷ ἀφικομένῳ τούτῳ τῷ ξένῳ would convey a somewhat different meaning, viz. ‘this arrival, the foreigner’. The presence of
ἀφικομένῳ renders the article after
τούτῳ unnecessary: cf. below,
337E
τὸ ἀκριβὲς τοῦτο εἶδος . There is some contempt in
τούτῳ =
isti (see note on
Apol. 45A
), and much scorn in
τὴν σὴν ψυχήν , repeated slowly at the end of the clause.
ὄρθριος
: the MSS. have
ὄρθριον by mistake. The adjectival construction of this word is found in
Laws, XII. 961B
δεῖν δὲ ὄρθριον εἶναι τὸν σύλλογον .
γιγνώσκεις
. The present is regularly used of being acquainted with a person, e.g.
Phaedo, 60A
Ξανθίππην, γιγνώσκεις γάρ;
Theaet. 144C
ἀλλὰ σκόπει εἰ γιγνώσκεις αὐτόν. γιγνώσκω. In Plato the perfect is generally used of knowing
things : e.g.
Apol. 23B
ὅστις—ἔγνωκεν ὅτι κτλ.,
Euthyphr. 2C
τοσοῦτον πρᾶγμα ἐγνωκέναι.
οὔτε διείλεξαι οὐδεπώποτε
, sc.
αὐτῷ : cf. on
313A
l. 8 above.
ᾧ μέλλεις σαυτὸν ἐπιτρέπειν
is wrongly rejected by Cobet. The words are to be taken closely with
τὸν δὲ σοφιστὴν ὅ τί ποτ’ ἔστιν φαίνει ἀγνοῶν : that Hippocrates should entrust himself to that of which he knows nothing is the climax of Socrates' rebuke.
ἔοικεν
: sc.
εἶναι , i.e. be true (not
ἐμὲ ἀγνοεῖν , which is doubtful Greek for
ἔοικα ἀγνοεῖν ). The subject is simply ‘it’, as in
Rep. I. 333C
, where
ἔοικεν is similarly for
ἔοικεν εἶναι .
τυγχάνει ὢν—ψυχὴ τρέφεται.
τυγχάνει ὤνis virtually equivalent to ‘really is’: cf.
Gorg. 468D
οἰόμενος ἄμεινον εἶναι αὐτῷ, τυγχάνει δὲ ὂν κάκιον, and note on
Euthyphr. 4E
. The
ἔμπορος is a travelling merchant who trades on a larger scale than the retail dealer or
κάπηλος : see
Rep. II. 371D
ἢ οὐ καπήλους καλοῦμεν τοὺς ρπὸς ὠνήν τε καὶ ρπᾶσιν διακονοῦντας ἱδπυμένους ἐν ἀγορᾷ, τοὺς δὲ πλανήτας ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις ἐμπόρους
;The same account of the Sophist as
ἔμπορός τις περὶ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μαθήματα (
Soph. 231E
) is given in
Soph. 223C
-224E.
φαίνεται γὰρ ἔμοιγε τοιοῦτός τις
. We follow Schleiermacher in giving these words to Socrates. Turner judiciously points out that
γε in
ἔμοιγε is only appropriate if Socrates speaks the words, and that Hippocrates could hardly assent till he knew what
τροφὴ ψυχῆς meant.
ὅπως γε μὴ—ἐπαινῶν ἃ πωλεῖ ἐξαπατήσει.
πωλεῖνis ‘to have on sale’: ‘to sell’ is
ἀποδίδοσθαι . Cobet,
Novae Lectiones, p. 159. For
ἐξαπατήσει the MSS. have
ἐξαπατήσῃ , but the 1st aor. conj. is very doubtful in Plato after
ὅπως μή (see on the whole question Kühner's
Griechische Grammatik, II, 899), and final
‐ῃ and
‐ει are frequently confused in the MSS.
ὁ ἔμπορός τε καὶ κάπηλος.
ἔμπορός τε καὶ κάπηλοςtogether make a plural, and according to strict logic would require a plural article; but
ὁ is written by attraction instead of the grammatically impossible
οἱ . Cf.
Symp. 186C
ὁ διαγιγνώσκων —τὸν καλόν τε καὶ αἰσχρὸν ἔρωτα; below,
355E
τά ὀνόματα—τὸ ἡδύ τε καὶ ἀνιαρόν .
τυγχάνεις ἐπιστήμων.
τυγχάνειςhas sunk to a mere copula. It is not necessary to insert
ὤν after
ἐπιστήμων , although it is only in a few cases that
τυγχάνω (in this sense) occurs in Plato's MSS. without the participle expressed, viz.
Phaedr. 263C
μέγιστον τῶν ἀγαθῶν τυγχάνει ;
Gorg. 502B
εἰ δέ τι τυγχάνει ἀηδὲς καὶ ὠφέλιμον;
Rep. II. 369B
τυγχάνει ἡμῶν ἕκαστος οὐκ αὐτάρκης ἀλλὰ πολλῶν ἐνδεής;
Alc. I, 129A
ῥᾴδιον τυγχάνει τὸ γνῶναι ἑαυτόν ;
ibid. 133A
ἐκεῖνο ᾧ τοῦτο τυγχάνει ὅμοιον . In these cases (as here in the
Protagoras ) it is easy to suppose that the participle has fallen out from ‘lipography’: but in
Hipp. Maior (perhaps pseudo-Platonic),
300A
and in
Laws, XI. 918C
, and
Timaeus, 61C, the participle cannot be so easily supplied: and that the construction without the participle was used in everyday speech appears from
Ar.
Eccl. 1141
καὶ τῶν θεατῶν εἴ τις εὔνους τυγχάνει. See Rutherford's
New Phrynichus, p. 342.
περὶ τοῖς φιλτάτοις.
τὰ φίλταταis used here of the soul's health as in
Gorg. 513A
σὺν τοῖς φιλτάτοις ἡ αἵρεσις ἡμῖν ἔσται ταύτης τῆς δυνάμεως τῆς ἐν τῇ πόλει.
κυβεύῃς τε καὶ κινδυνεύῃς
. Cobet rejects
τε καὶ κινδυνεύῃς , but Plato often puts metaphor and interpretation side by side. Cf. below
314B
ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ψυχῇ λαβόντα καὶ μαθόντα (where Deuschle wrongly rejected
καὶ μαθόντα );
334D
σύντεμνέ μοι τὰς ἀποκρίσεις καὶ βραχυτέρας ποίει ;
Euthyd. 297C
πολὺ γάρ πού εἰμι φαυλότερος τοῦ Ἡρακλέους, ὃς οὐχ οἶός τε ἦν τῇ τε ὕδπᾳ διαμάχεσθαι, σοφιστπίᾳ οὔσῃ καὶ διὰ τὴν σοφίαν ἀνιείσῃ, εἰ μίαν κεφαλὴν ἀροτμηθείη τοῦ λόγου, ρολλὰς ἀντὶ τῆς μιᾶς, καὶ καπκίνῳ τινὶ ἑτέπῳ σοφιστῇ . . . ὃς ἐρειδὴ αὐτὸν ἐλύρει οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ λέγων καὶ δάκνων κτλ.;
Lach. 194C
χειμαζομένοις ὲν λόγῳ καὶ ἀποροῦσιν;
Theaet. 174C
εἰς φρέατά τε καὶ πᾶσαν ἀπορίαν ἐμπίπτων. See also note on
τοὺς τῶν νέων τὰς βλάστας διαφθείροντας in
Euthyphr. 3A
.
παρὰ τοῦ καπήλου καὶ ἐμπόρου
: so B. The
κάπηλος is put in the foreground as the most usual seller of
σιτία and
ποτά : the article is expressed only once, because the
κάπηλος and
ἔμπορος both belong to the same genus ‘merchants’: cf.
Hdt. IV. 71
τὸν οἰνοχόον καὶ μάγειρον καὶ ἱπποκόμον καὶ διήκονον καὶ ἀγγελιηφόρον κτλ. There is no sufficient ground for bracketing the words
παρὰ τοῦ καπήλου καὶ ἐμπόρου as is done by Schanz, nor for reading
παρά του (with T) and omitting
καπήλου καὶ ἐμπόρου , as Hermann did.
ἐν ἄλλοις ἀγγείοις
: i.e. other than our own bodies. Cf.
311E
τί ὄνομα ἄλλο γε λεγόμενον περὶ Πρωταγόρου ἀκούομεν
; It need not be implied that the body is itself an
ἀγγεῖον (viz. of soul), though the notion is not unplatonic, and kindred expressions are found in later philosophy, e.g. Marcus Aurel. X. 38
τὸ περικείμενον ἀγγειῶδες καὶ τὰ ὀργάνια ταῦτα τὰ περιπεπλασμένα (said of the body).
ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ψυχῇ λαβόντα καὶ μαθόντα.
λαμβάνειν ἐν(not
εἰς ) as in
Rep. VII. 517A
εἴ πως ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ δύναιντο λαβεῖν;
Soph. 243C
ταὐτὸν τοῦτο πάθος εἰληφότες ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ. For
καὶ μαθόντα , which is explanatory of
ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ψυχῇ λαβόντα , see note on
κυβεύῃς τε καὶ κινδυνεύῃς .
νέοι ὥστε τοσοῦτον
. Heindorf quotes Eur.
Andr. 80
γέρων ἐκεῖνος ὥστε σ’ ὠφελεῖν παρών , and points out that whereas
νεώτεροι ἢ ὥστε would deny altogether
ἡ τοῦ διελέσθαι δύναμις , the words
νέοι ὥστε are less strong;
nobis nonnisi iuvenilis quaedam facultas suppetit ad tantam rem diiudicandam . The best MSS. of Plato read
ταὐτόν, τοιοῦτον, τοσοῦτον , etc., in the great majority of cases rather than
ταὐτό , etc. Schanz (Preface to
Laws, p. vi) thinks it probable that Plato always used the forms in
‐ν . In inscriptions of Plato's time
τὸ αὐτό and
τὸ αὐτόν occur side by side, but apparently only
τοιοῦτον, τοσοῦτον . See Meisterhans,
Grammatik der Griechischen Inschriften
2 , p. 122.
Ἱππίας
. Hippias of Elis was one of the most accomplished and—if we may trust the Platonic writings—ostentatious of the Sophists. According to the
Hippias Maior (285B ff.) he claimed to be at home in all the learning of the day—in Astronomy, Geometry, Arithmetic, Philology, Music, Mythology, History and Archaeology. See Zeller's
Philosophie der Griechen, I
4 , 956 ff.
οἶμαι δὲ καὶ Πρόδικον τὸν Κεῖον
. Contrast
Crat. 402B
οἶμαι δὲ καὶ Ἡσίοδος. Either construction is admissible. Prodicus of Ceos is repeatedly mentioned in the Platonic writings. A fellow-citizen of the poet Simonides (below,
339E
, he professed like Gorgias and Hippias to educate young men (
Apol. 19E
,
Theages, 127E,
Rep. X. 600C
) and received very large sums in return for his instruction together with the gratitude of his pupils. On one occasion, when in charge of a political mission from Ceos, he is said to have won great reputation in the
βουλή at Athens for his conduct of public business, and to have given at the same time private lectures, which were popular and well paid (
Hipp. Maior, 282C). He laid great stress on the importance of using words in their correct sense (
ὀρθότης ὀνομάτων ): see below,
337A
358A
and
Euthyd. 277E
,
Charm. 163D,
Lach. 197D; cf. also
Phaedr. 267B
; but this was only taught (we are told) in his 50-drachma lecture; the impecunious Socrates had only paid one drachma and was not quite master of this subject (
Crat. 384B
). Socrates is fond of professing himself a pupil of Prodicus, e.g. below,
341A
Meno, 96D
,
Charm. 163D. Prodicus wrote eulogies of Heracles and others (
Symp. 177B
): the substance, if not the actual words, of his Apologue of Heracles at the cross-roads is given by Xenophon,
Mem. II. 1. 21. A scholiast on
Rep. X. 600C
says the Athenians put him to death by hemlock for corrupting the youth, but there is no other authority for this unlikely story. Cf. Zeller, I
4 , 952 ff.
κινδυνεύει—ἄχθεσθαι
. Present, because the dialogue is narrated just after it took place (see
309B
, and as Protagoras is still with Callias, the stream of visitors probably continues. It is not quite clear why the number of the
sophists should have made the porter annoyed
with the visitors, unless the visitors themselves were sophists. Probably therefore
τοῖς φοιτῶσιν means
τοῖς φοιτῶσιν σοφισταῖς : in the porter's judgement the house was already too full of sophists.
φοιτᾶν implies frequent visitation: cf.
Lach. 181C
χρῆν μὲν οὖν καὶ πρότερόν σε φοιτᾶν αὐτὸν παρ’ ἡμᾶς καὶ οἰκείους ἡγεῖσθαι.
ἐκρούσαμεν τὴν θύραν
. There was a metal knocker (
ῥόπτρον, κόραξ, ἐπίσπαστρον ) on the
αὔλειος θύρα . Blümner,
Gr. Privatalt. p. 149.
οὐ σχολὴ αὐτῷ
. For
αὐτῷ ‘the master’ cf. below,
315B
Rep. I. 327B
ἠρόμην ὅπου αὐτὸς εἴη, and the Pythagorean
αὐτὸς ἔφα
ipse dixit .
ἀμφοῖν τοῖν χεροῖν
. So B: T has
ταῖν for
τοῖν . Cobet has shown that the dual feminine of the article is the same as the dual masculine:
Variae Lectiones, p. 70.
ἐκρούομεν
, but
ἐκρούσαμεν in l. 9. Socrates pretends to be somewhat staggered by the rebuff.
ἐγκεκλῃμένης
. So Bekker for
ἐγκεκλειμένης of B: the Attic form is
κλῄω not
κλείω : Cobet,
Var. Lect. p. 159.
ἅνθρωπος
. According to Ast, the Greeks sometimes used
ἀνήρ and
ἄνθρωπος without the article of a definite person
sed ita ut vel contemptionem vel reprehensionem aliquam simul indicarent . But in the cases quoted in support of this usage where the word is in an oblique case, the meaning is quite general like the English ‘a man’, e.g.
Rep. X. 596C
δεινόν τινα λέγεις καὶ θαυμαστὸν ἄνδρα;
Phaedo, 98B
ὁρῶ ἄνδρα τῷ μὲν νῷ οὐδὲν χρώμενον; Soph.
Phil. 1228
ἀπάταισιν αἰσχραῖς ἄνδρα καὶ δόλοις ἑλών ;
Theaet. 155D
ἐάν σοι ἀνδρός, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀνδρῶν ὀνομαστῶντῆς διανοίας τὴν ἀλήθειαν—συνεξερευνήσωμαι: it is therefore safer to suppose (with Schanz and most Platonic scholars) that where
ἀνήρ and
ἄνθρωπος of the MSS. can only be translated by ‘the man’, the rough breathing should be restored: e.g. below,
315E
and
Phaedr. 267A
, 268C;
Rep. I. 331E
.
προστῴῳ
. The
αὐλή was surrounded by cloisters. This
προστῷον is doubtless that on which the passage from the
πρόθυρον opened.
Πάραλος—Ἀντίμοιρος
. The mother of Xanthippus and Paralus had once been the wife of Hipponicus, to whom she bare Callias: Plut.
Pericl. XXIV. 9. In
320A
as well as in
Meno, 94B
Plato remarks that Pericles was unable to teach the art of statesmanship to either of his two sons: cf.
Alc. I, 118E
τὼ— Περικλέους υἱέε ἠλιθίω ἐγενέσθην . They both died of the plague. One of the most interesting fragments of Protagoras describes the fortitude of Pericles when his sons died: see Appendix 11, p. 221, Frag. 3. Charmides, son of the elder Glaucon, was Plato's maternal uncle: the dialogue
Charmides is named after him. He was
φιλόσοφός τε καὶ πάνυ ποιητικός (
Charm. 155A), and as remarkable for
σωφροσύνη as for personal beauty (
ibid. 157D). He was afterwards one of the Ten, and fell along with Critias at the battle of Munychia in 404 B.C. (Xen.
Hell. II. 4. 19). Of Philippides and his father Philomelus and Antimoerus of Mende (on the west coast of the peninsula Pallene) nothing further is known.
τούτων—ἐφαίνοντο
. B and T omit
οἵ , which was inserted by Stephanus: Heindorf prefers to insert
ὧν after
λεγομένων . The MSS. reading could only be defended if
ἐφαίνοντο could be regarded as parenthetical =
ὡς ἐφαίνοντο , like
δοκεῖ μοι =
ὡς δοκεῖ μοι (see on
314C
above), but there seems to be no authority for such a use of
φαίνομαι . It is hardly to be supposed that in
ἐπακούοντες and
ἐπήκοοι (in B below) there is an allusion to an outer circle of Protagorean students, deemed unworthy of the subtlest teaching of the master, in spite of
Theaet. 152C
, where Socrates is hardly serious.
ἐξ ἑκάστων τῶν πόλεων
. The plural is used as in
Theaet. 157C
παρατίθημι ἑκάστων τῶν σοφῶν ἀπογεύσασθαιand
Rep. X. 601A
χρώματ’ ἄττα ἑκάστων τῶν τεχνῶν.
χορῷ
. The tragic chorus consisted of 15
χορευταί , arranged in 3 rows (
στοῖχοι ) of 5 each, the leader (
κορυφαῖος ) being in the middle of the first. So here Protagoras occupies the middle of a row of 7. With the metaphor cf.
Theaet. 173B
τοὺς— τοῦ ἡμετέρου χοροῦand
ibid. C
λέγωμεν δὴ—περὶ τῶν κορυφαίων ;
Phaedr. 246E
ff.
ηὐλαβοῦντο
. The MSS. have
εὐλαβοῦντο , but in the classic period
εὐ‐ (and
εἰ‐ ) were always augmented in the past tenses, while after 300 B.C.
ηὐ‐ does not appear on inscriptions. See Meisterhans,
Gr. der Att. Inschr.
2 , p. 136.
ἐν θρόνῳ—ἐπὶ βάθρων
. Hippias is depicted as a schoolmaster among his pupils.
Ἐρυξίμαχός τε—Ἄνδρων ὁ Ἀνδροτίωνος
. Eryximachus and his father Acumenus were doctors. The former delivers one of the speeches in the
Symposium, defining his art as
ἐπιστήμη τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἐρωτικῶν πρὸς πλησμονὴν καὶ κένωσιν (
Symp. 186C
). Phaedrus, son of Pythocles, of the deme of
Μυρρινοῦς in the tribe
Πανδιονίς , also appears in the
Symposium, and gives his name to the dialogue
Phaedrus. Andron, son of Androtion (so T here, and both B and T in
Gorg. 487C
—the
Ἀριστίωνος of B is therefore a mistake), is in the
Gorgias described as one of those who shared the view of Callicles, that too much
φιλοσοφία ruined men. His son is believed to have been the orator Androtion.
περὶ φύσεως
. The primary substance which early Greek philosophy sought to discover was called by them
φύσις : see Aristotle,
Met. IV. 4, p. 1014
b . 32 ff.
τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν τρόπον καὶ τῶν φύσει ὄντων τὰ στοιχεῖά φασιν εἶναι φύσιν, οἱ μὲν ρῦπ, οἱ δὲ γῆν, οἱ δ’ ἀέπα, οἱ δ’ ὕδωπ, οἱ δ’ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον λέγοντες, οἱ δ’ ἔνια τούτων, οἱ δὲ πάντα ταῦτα . Thus (among others) Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, and Empedocles called their books
περὶ φύσεως , i.e. on the substance which gives birth (
φύει ) to all else. By Plato's time the word had acquired a wider meaning equivalent to ‘de rerum natura’, our ‘Nature’, and it is in this sense that the word is here used.
ἀστρονομικὰ ἄττα
. Schanz brackets
ἀστρονομικά , but the word is meant to be taken rather with
μετεώρων than with
φύσεως . On Hippias' skill in astronomy cf.
Hipp. Minor,
367E
ἦς (sc.
ἀστρονομικῆς )
αὖ σὺ τέχνης ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπιστήμων οἴει εἶναι ἢ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν .
Τάνταλόν γε
.
Od. XI. 582
καὶ μὴν Τάνταλον εἰσεῖδον κρατέρ’ ἄλγε’ ἔχοντα. Prodicus is compared to Tantalus because of his physical wretchedness: see
Crat. 395E
καὶ ἀτεχνῶς ἔοικεν ὥσρεπ ἂν εἴ τις βουλόμενος ταλάντατον ὀνομάσαι, ἀροκπυρτόμενος ὀνομάσειε καὶ εἴροι ἀντ’ ἐκείνου Τάνταλον· τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ τούτῳ τὸ ὄνομα ἔοικεν ἐκπορίσαι ἡ τύχη τῆς φήμης.
ἐπιδημεῖ γὰρ ἄρα
. Heindorf's correction
ἐπιδημεῖ for
ἐπεδήμει seems to be necessary, as Prodicus is still in Athens. Just so the presential tenses are used in
314D
κινδυνεύει δὲ— ἄχθεσθαι and below, l. 14
κατάλυσιν πεποίηκεν . If the clause is taken as a parenthetical clause of explanation, there is nothing harsh in the construction:
ἦν δὲ ἐν οἰκήματί τινι naturally enough follows on
εἰσεῖδον . For
γὰρ ἄρα (a somewhat rare combination) Heindorf quotes
Rep. IV. 438A
πάντες γὰρ ἄρα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐπιθυμοῦσιν,
Symp. 205B
ἀφελόντες γὰρ ἄρα(so T: B has only
γάρ )
τοῦ ἔρωτός τι εἶδος ὀνομάζομεν ,
Laws, III. 698D
συνάψαντες γὰρ ἄρα τὰς χεῖρας σαγηνεύσαιεν πᾶσαν τὴν Ἐρετρικήν. γὰρ ἄραalways introduces something supposed to be known to the person addressed: see
314B
οἶμαι δὲ καὶ Πρόδικον τὸν Κεῖον .
Παυσανιας
is known from the
Symposium 180C ff. The deme
Κεραμῆς was in the tribe Acamantis.
ὡς μὲν ἐγᾦμαι is to be taken closely with
καλόν τε κἀγαθὸν τὴν φύσιν .
τὴν δ’ οὖν ἰδέαν πάνυ καλός
. Cf.
Symp. 174A
ταῦτα δὴ ἐκαλλωπισάμην ἵνα καλὸς παρὰ καλὸν(i.e.
Ἀγάθωνα )
ἴω . There is no ground for reading
καλόν for
καλός with Stephanus: cf.
Lach. 180E
τὰ γὰρ μειράκια τάδε—διαλενόμενοι.
Ἀγάθωνα
. It is at the poet Agathon's house that the scene of the
Symposium is laid. From his speech in that dialogue 194D ff. we should infer that he had studied under Prodicus to some purpose. Born about 447 B.C., Agathon was first successful on the tragic stage at an early age: cf.
Symp. 175E
ἡ δὲ σὴ (sc.
Ἀγάθωνος σοφία )
λαμπρά τε καὶ πολλὴν ἐπίδοσιν ἔχουσα, ἥ γε παρὰ σοῦ νέου ὄντος οὕτω σφόδπα ἐξέλαμψε καὶ ἐκφανὴς ἐγένετο ρπώην ἐν μάρτυσι τῶν Ἑλλήνων πλέον ἢ τρισμυρίοις . He visited the court of Archelaus about 407 B.C. and died probably about 400. That he was held in esteem by the Athenians appears from
Ar.
Frogs, 83 ff
.
Ἀγάθων δὲ ποῦ ’σθ’; ὅπου ’στ’; ἀπολιπών μ’ οἴχεται ἀγαθὸς ποιητὴς καὶ ποθεινὸς τοῖς φίλοις . For
παιδικὰ Παυσανίου cf.
Symp. 193B.
τοῦτ’ ἦν τὸ μειράκιον
. So BT: the idiom is like our ‘There was this young man’. The nearest parallels seem to be
Phaedo, 59B
ἦν δὲ καὶ Κτήσιππος ὁ Παιανιεύςand
Rep. X. 615D
ἦσαν δὲ καὶ ἰδιῶταί τινες. τοῦτό τε δή(Ast),
τοῦτό τ’ οὖν (Heindorf),
τοῦτ’ ἔνδον ἦν (Schirlitz), have been suggested, while Kroschel rejects the words, but the text is probably sound.
τὼ Ἀδειμάντω
. Adimantus son of Cepis is not elsewhere named. The son of Leucolophidas was afterwards
στρατηγός under Alcibiades, whose policy he supported (Xen.
Hell. I. 4. 21): he was taken prisoner at the battle of Aegospotami, but spared by the Spartans. He was afterwards put on his trial by Conon on the charge, not improbably a true one, of having betrayed the Athenian fleet at this battle: see Kock on
Ar.
Frogs, 1512
.
πάσσοφος—ἁνήρ—καὶ θεῖος
. For
ἁνήρ BT read
ἀνήρ , but see on
314E
above.
πάσσοφος is often ironical: e.g.
Euthyd. 271C
ὃ δὲ σὺ ἐρωτᾷς τὴν σοφίαν αὐτοῖν, θαυμασία, ὦ Κρίτων· πάσσοφοι ἀτεχνῶς τώ γε, οὐδ’ ᾔδη πρὸ τοῦ ὅ τι εἶεν οἱ παγκρατιασταί . For the meaning of
θεῖος cf.
Meno, 99C
οὐκοῦν—ἄξιον
τούτους θείους καλεῖν τοὺς ἄνδρας, οἵτινες νοῦν μὴ ἔχοντες πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα κατορθοῦσιν ὧν πράττουσιν καὶ λέγουσι; θεῖος(in the form
σεῖος ) was the favourite Spartan word of praise and was much affected by the Socratic circle in Athens.
Κριτίας
the foremost of the Thirty so-called tyrants was related to Plato on the mother's side, Perictione Plato's mother being granddaughter of the elder Critias, who was father of Callaeschrus. He is one of the
dramatis personae in the
Charmides and
Timaeus, and the dialogue
Critias is named after him. A scholiast on the
Timaeus, 20A (quoted by Stallbaum) describes him as
γενναίας καὶ ἁδρᾶς φύσεως, ἥπτετο δὲ καὶ φιλοσόφων συνουσιῶν, καὶ ἐκαλεῖτο ἰδιώτης μὲν ἐν φιλοσόφοις, φιλόσοφος δὲ ἐν ἰδιώταις . For the fragments of his poems see Bergk's
Poetae Lyrici Graeci
4 , II, 279 ff.
ἔτι σμίκρ’ ἄττα—διαθεασάμενοι.
σμίκρ’ ἄτταis the plural of
σμικρόν τι , and as
ἔτι σμικρόν τι διατρίψαντες would mean ‘after a little further delay’, so
ἔτι σμίκρ’ ἄττα διατρίψαντες means ‘after some little further delays’. The reference in
ἔτι is to
314C
ταῦτα in
καὶ ταῦτα refers to the causes of the delays, which were, as usual, some topics of discourse: its antecedent is involved in
διατρίψαντες .
πρὸς σέ τοι ἤλθομεν
. Here, as in
314E
both B and T have
τι for
τοι : but
τι is impossible here, and this use of
τοι is very frequent in address: Heindorf refers (
inter alia ) to
Ar.
Plut. 1100
σέ τοι σέ τοι λέγω, Καρίων, ἀνάμεινον .
οἴεταί οἱ μάλιστ’ ἂν γενέσθαι
. B and T read
μάλιστα without
ἄν : see on
Crito, 51E
. It is more likely that
ἄν should have dropped out after
μάλιστα here than that Plato's usage should have varied with
οἴομαι and the aorist infinitive referring to the future: cf. below,
353B
ᾗ οἶμαι ἂν ἔγωγε κάλλιστα φανερὸν γενέσθαι , where
ἄν is in all the MSS.
μόνος οἴει δεῖν—πρὸς μόνους.
οἴει δεῖνis virtually like one verb,
ἀξιοῖς or the like: it therefore takes the nom. (not the acc.) with inf.; cf. Demosth.
Fals. Leg. 235
εὐθὺς ἡγούμην ἐν τούτοις—αὐτὸς περιεῖναι δεῖν αὐτῶν καὶ μεγαλοψυχότερος φαίνεσθαι , quoted by Stallbaum on
Crito, 50E
. Note that Protagoras here uses the more precise
μόνος πρὸς μόνους , but above only
μόνῳ (316 B)—unless (with Cobet and Schanz) we there insert
μόνοι before
μόνῳ .
ξένον γὰρ ἄνδρα καὶ ἰόντα κτλ.
For
καὶ ἰόντα T reads in the margin
κατιόντα : Liebhold suggests
καταλύοντα. ἰόντα , however, is parallel to
ξένον and to
πείθοντα , ‘a man who is a stranger and goes—and tries to persuade etc.’ The whole passage recalls
Apol. 19E
-20A
τούτων (viz. Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias)
γὰρ ἕκαστος—οἷός τ’ ἐστὶν ἰὼν εἰς ἑκάστην τῶν πόλεων τοὺς νέους οἷς ἔξεστι τῶν ἑαυτῶν ρολιτῶν ρποῖκα ξυνεῖναι ᾧ ἂν βούλωνται—τούτους ρείθουσι τὰς ἐκείνων ξυνουσίας ἀρολιρόντας σφίσιν ξυνεῖναι χρήματα διδόντας καὶ χάριν προσειδέναι . Notice throughout the longwinded character of Protagoras' speeches: cf. Philostrat.
Vit. Soph. I. 494 (quoted by Kroschel on
320C
,
γνοὺς δὲ τὸν Πρωταγόραν ὁ Πλάτων σεμνῶς μὲν ἑρμηνεύοντα, ὑπτιάζοντα δὲ τῇ σεμνότητι καί που καὶ μακρολογώτερον τοῦ συμμέτρου, τὴν ἰδέαν αὐτοῦ μύθῳ μακρῷ ἐχαρακτήρισεν .
τὸ ἐπαχθὲς αὐτῆς.
ἐπαχθέςlike
φορτικόν means what hearers will resent (think a burden or
ἄχθος ) as in bad taste because presumptuous: cf. Demosth.
de Pace, 4
τὸ λέγειν περὶ ὧν αὐτὸς εἶρέ τις καὶ ρεπὶ αὑτοῦ—οὕτως ἡγοῦμαι φοπτικὸν καὶ ἐπαχθὲς ὥστε κτλ.
τοὺς μὲν ποίησιν.
σοφόςand its derivatives are often used especially in early writers in connection with poetry, e.g Theognis, 19-20
Κύρνε σοφιζομένῳ μὲν ἐμοὶ σφρηγὶς ἐπικείσθω τοῖσδ’ ἔπεσιν , Pindar,
Isthm. 4. 29-30
μελέταν δὲ σοφισταῖς Διὸς ἕκατι πρόσβαλον σεβιζόμενοι .
τοὺς ἀμφί τε Ὀρφέα καὶ Μουσαῖον
= ‘Orpheus and Musaeus and their schools’. The Editors quote
Ar.
Frogs, 1032 ff.
Ὀρφεὺς μὲν γὰρ τελετάς θ’ ἡμῖν κατέδειξε φόνων τ’ ἀρέχεσθαι, Μουσαῖος δ’ ἐξακέσεις τε νόσων καὶ χπησμούς, Ἡσίοδος δὲ γῆς ἐργασίας, καρπῶν ὥρας, ἀρότους· ὁ δὲ θεῖος Ὅμηρος ἀπὸ τοῦ
τιμὴν καὶ κλέος ἔσχεν πλὴν τοῦδ’ ὅτι χρήστ’ ἐδίδαξε, τάξεις, ἀρετάς, ὁπλίσεις ἀνδρῶν
;For the misplacement of
τε cf.
Crito, 43B
ὲν τοσαύτῃ τε ἀγρυπνίᾳ καὶ λύπῃ εἶναι.
Ἴκκος—Ἡρόδικος
. Iccus is mentioned in
Laws, VIII. 839E ff. as a model of temperance. According to Pausanias, he won in the pentathlon at the Olympic Games and afterwards set up as a trainer (
γυμναστής ). Herodicus of Selymbria in Thrace combined the professions of the
γυμναστής and
ἰατρός (
μίξας γυμναστικὴν ἰατρικῇ ). He is described in
Rep. III. 406A
as the inventor of the
παιδαγωγικὴ τῶν νοσημάτων ἰατρική —by means of which he tortured first himself (by prolonging his own dying) and afterwards others:
δυσθανατῶν—ὑπὸ σοφίας εἰς γῆρας ἀφίκετο (
ibid. B).
ὁ νῦν ἔτι ὤν—σοφιστής
. Heindorf reads
ἧττον in place of
ἥττων , but
νῦν ἔτι ὤν is ‘still living’ and
οὐδενὸς ἥττων σοφιστής is a descriptive qualification.
Ἀγαθοκλῆς—Πυθοκλείδης
. Agathocles is mentioned in
Lach. 180D
as teacher of Damon: according to the
Alc. I, 118C Pythoclides also taught Pericles. A scholiast on the
Alc. I (
loc. cit. ) remarks:
Πυθοκλείδης μουσικὸς ἦν τῆς σεμνῆς μουσικῆς διδάσκαλος, καὶ Πυθαγόρειος, οὗ μαθητὴς Ἀγαθοκλῆς, οὗ Λαμπροκλῆς (
Λάμπρος , van Prinsterer),
οὗ Δάμων . With the sentiment compare the imitation in Plut.
Pericl. 4. 2
ὁ δὲ Δάμων ἔοικεν ἄκπος ὢν σοφιστὴς καταδύεσθαι μὲν εἰς τὸ τῆς μουσικῆς ὄνομα ρπὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπικρυπτόμενος τὴν δεινότητα .
ταῖς τέχναις ταύταις παραπετάσμασιν ἐχρήσαντο
. Cf. Plut.
Pericl. loc. cit.
οὐ μὴν ἔλαθεν ὁ Δάμων τῇ λύρᾳ παρακαλύμματι χρώμενος .
κατὰ τοῦτο εἶναι.
εἶναιis redundant as in Isaeus,
περὶ τοῦ Μενεκλέους κλήρου , 32
ἡμεῖς ὠμόσαμεν εὖ ποιεῖν ἀλλήλους— κατὰ δύναμιν εἶναι, καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ , and in the common
ἑκὼν εἶναι : but no other instance of the precise phrase
κατὰ τοῦτο εἶναι is quoted.
οἵ γε πολλοὶ—οὐδὲν αἰσθάνονται
. Cf.
Gorg. 474A
τοὺς δὲ πολλοὺς ἐῶ χαίρειν, καὶ ἕνα ἐπιψηφίζειν ἐπίσταμαι, τοῖς δὲ πολλοῖς οὐδὲ διαλέγομαι. For
ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν (to be taken with
οὐδὲν ) see on
Apol. 17A
. The phrase is used to qualify the comprehension of a word or phrase, generally
οὐδείς or
πάντες .
τὸ οὖν—ἐπιχειρήματος
. B and T read
τὸν for
τό , by a natural error. Heindorf compares
Theaet. 144A
τὸ γὰρ εὐμαθῆ ὄντα—ρπᾷον αὖ εἶναι διαφεπόντως—ἐγὼ μὲν οὔτ’ ἂν ᾠόμην γενέσθαι κτλ.and
Rep. I. 331B
τὸ γὰρ μηδὲ ἄκοντά τινα ἐξαπατῆσαι—μέγα μέρος εἰς τοῦτο ἡ τῶν χρημάτων κτῆσις συμβάλλεται. Here
καὶ τοῦ ἐπιχειρήματος is a virtual repetition of
ἀποδιδράσκοντα : cf.
τὸν ταῦτα πράττοντα above in
316C
The sentence reminds one of the practice observed in Spartan education—to punish the youths not for stealing but for failing to escape with their booty: Xen.
Rep. Laced. 2. 8
εἴποι δ’ ἂν οὖν τις· τί δῆτα, εἴρεπ τὸ κλέρτειν ἀγαθὸν ἐνόμιζε, ρολλὰς ρληγὰς ἐρέβαλε τῷ ἁλισκομένῳ; ὅτι, φημὶ ἐγώ, καὶ τἄλλα, ὅσα ἄνθπωροι διδάσκουσι, κολάζουσι τὸν μὴ καλῶς ὑπηρετοῦντα : cf.
Rep. I. 361A
τὸν ἁλισκόμενον δὲ φαῦλον ἡγητέον.
τούτων τὴν ἐναντίαν ἅπασαν ὁδόν
. ‘h. e.
τὴν ὁδὸν ἣ ἅπασά ἐστιν ἐναντία τούτων . pro
τούτων eadem comparatione quae vocatur compendiaria dici potuit
τούτοις . Andocid. or. I. 4
ἐγὼ πολὺ τὴν ἐναντίαν τούτοις γνώμην ἔχω ’ (Kroschel). For
ἅπασαν with an adjective compare (with Kroschel) Xen.
Anab. I. 5. I
ἧν ἡ γῆ πεδίον ἅπαν ὁμαλὲς ὥσπερ θάλαττα and the common phrase
πᾶν τοὐναντίον .
σοφιστὴς εἶναι καὶ παιδεύειν ἀνθρώπους
. The
σοφιστὴς σοφίζει , i.e.
παιδεύει : see note on
312C
above.
Theaet. 167C (where Socrates is speaking for Protagoras)
ὁ σοφιστὴς τοὺς ραιδευομένους οὕτω δυνάμενος ραιδαγωγεῖν σοφός τε καὶ ἄξιος πολλῶν χρημάτων τοῖς παιδευθεῖσιν .
σὺν θεῷ εἰπεῖν
. ‘Crebra modestiae formula, bene explicat Steph.,
quod ita dico, ut in eo opem divinam agnoscam ’. Heindorf on
Theaet. 151B
καὶ σὺν θεῷ εἰπεῖν, πάνυ ἱκανῶς τοπάζω οἶς ἂν συγγενόμενοι ὄναιντο.
πολλά γε ἔτη ἤδη εἰμὶ ἐν τῇ τέχνῃ
.
Meno, 91E
οἶμαι γὰρ αὐτὸν(i.e.
Πρωταγόραν )
ἀποθανεῖν ἐγγὺς καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη γεγονότα, τετταράκοντα δὲ ἐν τῇ τέχνῃ ὄντα . The phrases
εἶναι ἐν τῇ τέχνῃ, ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ and the like are common.
οὐδενὸς ὅτου οὐ
. For the asyndeton Heindorf compares
Hom.
Od. XIV. 96
ἧ γάρ οἱ ζωή γ’ ἦν ἄσπετος· οὔ τινι τόσση ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων. The nearest parallel to
πάντων (which Cobet rejects) after
οὐδενὸς ὅτου οὐ seems to be in Dem.
adv. Lept. § 3
οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐφ’ ὅτου τοῦτο οὐ πεπόνθατε τῶν πάντων (quoted by Heindorf).
ἁπάντων
goes with
τῶν ἔνδον ὄντων . It seems better to take
περὶ τούτων with
βούλεσθε than with
τὸν λόγον ποιεῖσθαι : otherwise it is hardly possible to separate
τούτων from
ἁπάντων .
ἐνδείξασθαι καὶ καλλωπίσασθαι—ὅτι ἐρασταί.
ὅτιdepends rather on
ἐνδείξασθαι than on
καλλωπίσασθαι : cf. below,
327A
ἐδίδασκε καὶ ἐπέπληττε τὸν μὴ καλῶς αὐλοῦντα , and
ibid. B
τῶν δικαίων καὶ τῶν νομίμων οὐδεὶς φθονεῖ οὐδ’ ἀποκρύπτεται ὥσπερ τῶν ἅλλων τεχνημάτων ,
Phaedo, 94D
τὰ μὲν ἀπειλοῦσα, τὰ δὲ νουθετοῦσα ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις. See also notes on
327A
and
335E
below.
εἶμεν
. BT read
εἴημεν , but in Plato's time the short form of the optative plural is regular: see on
Apol. 22E
.
τί οὖν—οὐ—ἐκαλέσαμεν
. See above on
310A
and for
ἐπακούσωσιν note on
315A
καθεζόμενοι
. So T: B has
καθιζόμενοι , but presently in
317E
both MSS. read
συνεκαθεζόμεθα .
καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀντιλαβόμενοι
. This passage is difficult and different views are possible as to the construction and meaning. The MSS. read
καὶ αὐτοί τε . If the MSS. reading is retained,
τε must be regarded as answering to
δέ in
ἐν δὲ τούτῳ (cf.
Euthyphr. 3E), and
καὶ αὐτοί =
etiam ipsi, i.e. even without waiting for servants—a harsh explanation both for
καί and
αὐτοί . If
τε is left out (with most of the editors, following Heindorf),
καὶ αὐτοί means ‘ourselves also’ as opposed to Callias and Alcibiades in
ἐν δὲ τούτῳ Καλλίας τε καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδης . There is still a slight difficulty in contrasting
αὐτοί with these two, because they also would seem to be included in
αὐτοί (
πάντες ἡμεῖς—καὶ αὐτοί ), but such slight inaccuracies of expression are common in actual dialogue, which Plato's style is intended to imitate.
Καλλίας
. Hermann read
Κριτίας in order to escape the slight difficulty remarked on in the preceding note: ‘sed hospitis
erat Prodicum ut accederet invitare’ (Kroschel).
ἀναστήσαντες
: but
ἄγοντε just before.
Euthyd. 273B
offers an exact parallel (if we follow the reading of the Bodleian MS.):
ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν ὅ τε Διονυσόδωρος καὶ ὁ Εὐθύδημος πρῶτον μὲν ἐριστάντε διελεγέσθην ἀλλήλοιν, ἄλλην καὶ ἄλλην ἀροβλέροντες εἰς ἡμᾶς : cf.
ibid. 273A
εἰσελθόντες—περιεπατείτην and D
ἐγελασάτην γοῦν ἄμφω βλέψαντες εἰς ἀλλήλους . The dual in Plato as in Greek generally is apt to sink into the plural.
γάρ
used like Latin
enim to introduce a speech (introductory
γάρ ): see on
Apol. 20E
.
ὅ τι—ἀποβήσεται—πυθέσθαι
. For the situation cf.
Gorg. 455C
-D, where Socrates says
ἴσως γὰρ καὶ τυγχάνει τις τῶν ἔνδον ὄντων μαθητής σου βουλόμενος γενέσθαι, ὡς ἐγώ τινας σχεδὸν καὶ συχνοὺς αἰσθάνομαι, οἳ ἴσως αἰσχύνοιντ’ ἄν σε ἀνεπέσθαι· ὑρ’ ἐμοῦ οὖν ἀνεπωτώμενος νόμισον καὶ ὑρ’ ἐκείνων ἀνεπωτᾶσθαι· τί ἡμῖν, ὦ Γοπγία, ἔσται, ἐάν σοι συνῶμεν; ρεπὶ τίνων τῇ ρόλει συμβουλεύειν οἶοί τε ἐσόμεθα
;
ἐν τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ταὐτὰ ταῦτα
: sc.
ἔσται σοι. ἐν (bracketed by Schanz after Hirschig) before
τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ means ‘during’: cf. (with Kroschel) Thuc. I. 44. 1
τῇ μὲν προτέρᾳ οὐχ ἧσσον—ἀπεδέξαντο τοὺς λόγους, ἐν δὲ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ μετέγνωσαν κτλ. and add below
321C
ἡ εἱμαρμένη ἡμέρα παρῆν, ἐν ᾗ ἔδει καὶ ἄνθρωπον ἐξιέναι ἐκ γῆς .
ὃ μὴ τυγχάνεις ἐπιστάμενος.
τυγχάνοις(suggested by Bekker) would be the usual periodic structure: but the indicative is looser and more direct: Kroschel compares
Gorg. 464D
εἰ δέοι—διαγωνίζεσθαι—πότερος ἐπαίει. Notice the usual Socratic implication that virtue is knowledge.
ἀλλὰ μὴ οὕτως
. Cf.
Meno, 74D
ἀλλὰ μή μοι οὕτωςand below
331C
So
μὴ γάρ, μὴ σύ γε, μή τοί γε and the like are often used without a verb expressed.
ὥσπερ ἄν belongs to
εἴποι ἄν in ll. 26 and 30: it is answered by
οὕτω δή in l. 31.
αὐτίκα here does not mean ‘for example’ but goes with
μάλα (which intensifies it): ‘as if Hippocrates were to change his desire on the spot and conceive a desire (
ἐπιθυμήσειεν ) for etc.’
αὐτίκα μάλα is idiomatic, cf.
Gorg. 469D
αὐτίκα μάλα δεῖν τεθνάναι,
Crat. 384B
αὐτίκα μάλα εἰδέναι.
νῦν νεωστί
:
nunc nuper as in
Meno, 90A
. The more general word is followed by the more specific exactly as in
Theaet. 161C
βατράχου γυρίνου, where
γυρῖνος according to a scholiast is
τὸ ἐκ τοῦ βατράχου παιδίον .
Ζευξίππου
. An obscure sculptor (not painter) of this name is mentioned in
Corp Inscr. Gr. No. 1229 (quoted by Overbeck,
Die Antiken Schriftquellen zur Geschichte der bildenden Künste bei den Griechen, p. 300). The Zeuxippus here mentioned is supposed to be the same as the famous painter Zeuxis of Heraclea (the Greek colony in Italy, most probably) who is mentioned by Plato in
Gorg. 453C
, and several times by Xenophon (
Mem. I. 4. 3,
Oecon. 10. 1,
Symp. 4. 63
τὸν Ἡρακλεώτην ξένον ): see Overbeck, pp. 311 ff. Zeuxis began to rise into fame probably about 424 B.C.: he would therefore be still a young man about the date when this dialogue is supposed to take place: see Introduction, p. xxxiii. Brunn would read
Ζεύξιδος for
Ζευξίππου here, but according to Fick (quoted by Sauppe)
Ζεῦξις is nothing but a familiar diminutive of
Ζεύξιππος : for other similar examples see Fick,
Die Griechischen Personennamen, pp. xxviii ff.
‐ιππος in proper names was aristocratic (
Ar.
Clouds, 62 ff.
) and could upon occasion be omitted or added without prejudice to personal identity: cf.
Clouds, 929
οὐχὶ διδάξεις τοῦτον Κρόνος ὤνwith
ibid. 1071
σὺ δ’ εἶ κρόνιππος , where
‐ιππος adds mock dignity to
κρόνος .
Ὀρθαγόρᾳ τῷ Θηβαίῳ
. Orthagoras is said by Athenaeus (IV. 184E) on the authority of Aristoxenus to have taught Epaminondas how to play the flute.
αὐτόν
but
ἐκείνου in 28 and
ἐκείνω? in 30: see on
310D
εἰς ὅ τι βελτίων is here used rather than
ὅ τι or
τί βελτίων (as in l. 25) to prepare for
εἰς αὔλησιν , where the preposition could hardly be dispensed with.
οὕτω δή
. Heindorf would write
οὕτω δέ , which is frequent after
ὥσπερ , e.g.
328A
see his note on
Phaedo, 72C
.
Πρωταγόρᾳ συγγενόμενος
: ‘gravius hoc quam
σοὶ συγγενόμενος ’ (Kroschel). See also note on
335A
λωβῶνται
is here rather
κακῶς ποιεῖν than
κακὸν ποιεῖν , although (like
κακουργεῖν, λυμαίνομαι and the like) it unites both meanings: cf.
Rep. I. 335 B ff., and see on
Euthyphr. 3A
κακουργεῖν τὴν πόλιν. With the words of Protagoras compare those of Anytus in
Meno, 91C
Ἡράκλεις, εὐφήμει, ὦ Σώκρατες, μηδένα τῶν συγγενῶν, μήτε οἰκείων μήτε φίλων, μήτε ἀστὸν μήτε ξένον, τοιαύτη μανία λάβοι, ὥστε ραπὰ τούτους ἐλθόντα λωβηθῆναι, ἐρεὶ οὗτοί γε φανερά ἐστι λώβη τε καὶ διεφθορὰ τῶν συγγιγνομένων.
τὰς γὰρ τέχνας—ἐμβάλλουσιν εἰς τέχνας.
τέχναιis used of Arithmetic, Geometry, Solid Geometry and Harmonics in
Rep. VII. 532C
: elsewhere in Plato
αἱ τέχναι generally means the mechanical arts, e.g.
Rep. VI. 495D
and VII. 522B. Here
τέχναι can only mean the subjects taught in schools (
γραμματική, λογιστική, κιθαριστική ), as Sauppe remarks, but there seems to be no precise parallel to such a use of the word.
εἰς τὸν Ἱππίαν ἀπέβλεψεν
: see on
314B
εὐβουλία περὶ τῶν οἰκείων.
The editors quote
Meno, 91A
οὗτος γὰρ—πάλαι λέγει πρός με ὅτι ἐπιθυμεῖ ταύτης τῆς σοφίας καὶ ἀπετῆς ᾗ οἱ ἄνθπωροι τάς τε οἰκίας καὶ τὰς ρόλεις καλῶς διοικοῦσι, καὶ τοὺς γονέας τοὺς αὑτῶν θεπαρεύουσι, καὶ ρολίτας καὶ ξένους ὑποδέξασθαί τε καὶ ἀποπέμψαι ἐπίστανται ἀξίως ἀνδρὸς ἀγαθοῦ ;
Euthyd. 273D
ἀρετὴν—ὦ Σώκρατες, οἰόμεθα οἵω τ’ εἴναι παραδοῦναι κάλλιστ’ ἀνθρώπων καὶ τάχιστα.
ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς πολίτας
forms a single expression: ‘good citizens’ are the
ἔργον of
πολιτικὴ τέχνη . So
Ar.
Knights, 1304
ἅνδρα μοχθηρὸν πολίτην.
ἐπάγγελμα ὃ ἐπαγγέλλομαι.
ἐπαγγέλλομαιand its derivatives are often used of sophistic ‘professions’.
οὐκ ἔχω ὅπως ἀπιστῶ
. The MSS. reading
ὅπως ἄν ἀπιστῶ was corrected by Heindorf,
ὅπως ἄν with the subjunctive being only used in final clauses. The subjunctive is deliberative: cf.
Euthyphr. 11B
οὐκ ἔχω ἔγωγε ὅπως σοι εἴπω ὃ νοῶ.
οὐ διδακτὸν—μηδὲ,
οὐnegatives
διδακτόν only,
μηδέ the whole of its clause: a similar case is Eur.
Andr. 586
δρᾶν εὖ, κακῶς δ’ οὔ, μηδ’ ἀποκτείνειν βίᾳ. μή after verbs of thinking and saying is tolerably common in Plato. See on
Euthyphr. 6B
ὁμολογοῦμεν περὶ αὐτῶν μηδὲν εἰδέναι.
ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι Ἕλληνες
, sc.
φασί . Cf.
337D
where Hippias calls Athens
τῆς Ἑλλάδος αὐτὸ τὸ πρυτανεῖον τῆς σοφίας : a somewhat less favourable judgement is given in
Laws, I. 641E
τὴν πόλιν ἅπαντες ἡμῶν Ἕλληνες ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ὡς φιλόλογός τέ ἐστι καὶ ρολύλογος, Λακεδαίμονα δὲ καὶ Κπήτην, τὴν μὲν βπαχύλογον, τὴν δὲ πολύνοιαν μᾶλλον ἢ πολυλογίαν ἀσκοῦσαν.
μεταπεμπομένους
is probably middle: Plato does not seem to use
μεταπέμπειv in the sense of ‘send for’ (like Thucydides, e.g. I. 112. 3
Ἀμυρταίου μεταπέμποντος τοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι βασιλέως : VI. 52. 1
et al. ). The subject is
τοὺς πολίτας to be supplied from
τὴν πόλιν . Cf.
Gorg. 455B
ff.
ὅταν περὶ ἰατρῶν αἱπέσεως ᾖ τῇ ρόλει σύλλογος ἢ ρεπὶ ναυρηγῶν ἢ ρεπὶ ἄλλου τινὸς δημιουπγικοῦ ἔθνους, ἄλλο τι ἢ τότε ὁ π(ητοπικὸς οὐ συμβουλεύσει; δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ἐν ἑκάστῃ αἱρέσει τὸν τεχνικώτατον δεῖ αἱρεῖσθαι and
Alc. I, 107A-C. Kroschel well remarks that the words
περὶ τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων (which Hirschig wrongly rejects) are added to show that it is only about the actual buildings that the builders are consulted, ‘non de necessitate, utilitate, magnitudine’, as to which the orators advise: cf.
Gorg. 455D
.
κἂν πάνυ καλὸς ᾖ κτλ.
Imitated in
Alc. I, 107B and C:
ἐάν τέ γε σμικρὸς ἢ μέγας ᾖ, ἐάν τε καλὸς ἢ αἰσχρός, ἔτι τε γενναῖος
ἢ ἀγεννής, πῶς γὰρ οὔ;—ἀλλ’ ἄν τε πένης ἄν τε πλούσιος ᾖ ὁ παραινῶν, οὐδὲν διοίσει Ἀθηναίοις, ὅταν ρεπὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ ρόλει βουλεύωνται, ρῶς ἂν ὑγιαίνοιεν, ἀλλὰ ζητοῦσιν ἰατρὸν εἶναι τὸν σύμβουλον .
οἱ τοξόται
. The
τοξόται (bowmen) or
Σκύθαι (so called from their nationality) or
Πευσίνιοι (from one
Πευσίς who according to the schol. on
Ar.
Ach. 54
had the chief hand in establishing them) were the police.
ἕλκω was regularly used of removing an offending orator: e.g.
Ar.
Knights, 665
κᾆθ’ εἷλκον αὐτὸν οἱ πρυτάνεις χοἰ τοξόται.
ἐξαίρωνται
. So T (B has
ἐξέρωνται ): the present is perhaps due to tense-assimilation to
κελευόντων . The active
αἴρειν is used in the same connection by
Ar.
Eccl. 261
ἡμεῖς δέ γ’ ἢν αἴρωσ’(sc.
οἱ τοξόται ),
ἐᾶν κελεύσομεν , but no exact parallel for the use of the middle has yet been found—the nearest seems to be Eur.
I. T. 1201
οὐ γάρ ποτ’ ἄν νιν ἠράμην βάθρων ἄπο : cf. Ar.
Ach. 1140
τὴν ἀσπίδ’ αἴρου καὶ βάδιζ’ ὦ παῖ λαβών ;
ibid. 953.
περὶ τῶν τῆς πόλεως διοικήσεως
. So B and T, but in both the copyist had doubts as to the text. It is usual to drop either
τῶν or
διοικήσεως : Kroschel transposes
τῶν and
περί . Sauppe retains the MSS. reading, making
περὶ govern
διοικήσεως —but this is very harsh.
τὰ τῆς πόλεως διοικήσεως is a periphrasis for
ἡ πόλεως διοίκησις (for the omission of the article with
πόλεως cf.
Polit. 296E
τοῦτον δεῖ καὶ περὶ ταῦτα τὸν ὄρον εἶναι τόν γε ἀληθινώτατον ὀπθῆς ρόλεως διοικήσεως, ὃν ὁ σοφὸς καὶ ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ διοικήσει τὸ τῶν ἀρχομένων ), ‘the city's administration’ being contrasted with
τῶν ἐν τέχνῃ διοίκησις . The whole phrase
περὶ τῶν τῆς πόλεως διοικήσεως corresponds to
318E
καὶ ρεπὶ τῶν τῆς ρόλεως, ὅρως τὰ τῆς ρόλεως δυνατώτατος ἂν εἴη καὶ πράττειν καὶ λέγειν .
ἀνιστάμενος
. The audience sat in the assembly: cf.
Rep. VI. 492B
ὅταν, εἶπον, ξυγκαθεζόμενοι ἁθρόοι πολλοὶ εἰς ἐκκλησίας— ψέγωσι κτλ.
μαθών
. Heindorf quotes many cases of the transition from plural to singular in Plato (e.g. below,
324B
: the change is justified here because in each case the reproach would be addressed to a single person.
μὴ τοίνυν ὅτι—ἀλλὰ ἰδίᾳ
. See on
Apol. 40D
οἶμαι ἂν μὴ ὅτι ἰδιώτην τινά, ἀλλὰ τὸν μέγαν βασιλέα κτλ.
οὐχ οιοί τε ἄλλοις παραδιδόναι
. Plato comments on the inability of statesmen to teach their sons political sagacity in
Meno, 93B
ff., citing Themistocles, Aristides, Pericles and Thucydides as cases in point. Cf.
Alc. I, 118E ff.
ἃ μὲν διδασκάλων εἴχετο
. The phrase is used by Plato in the other passages where he deals with this topic: cf, below,
324D
Meno, 93D
and 94A.
νέμονται ὥσπερ ἄφετοι.
νέμεσθαιis properly ‘to graze’, and
ἄφετος is said
de grege numini alicui consecrato (Heindorf): cf.
Critias, 119D
ἀφέτων ὄντων ταύρων ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἱερῷ . The same expression occurs in
Rep. VI. 498C
ὅταν δὲ λήγη? μὲν ἡ π(ώμη, ρολιτικῶν δὲ καὶ στπατειῶν ἐκτὸς γίγνηται, τότε ἤδη ἀφέτους νέμεσθαι καὶ μηδὲν ἄλλο πράττειν. Here the object of
νέμεσθαι is virtually the clause
ἐάν που—τῇ ἀρετῇ ‘going to and fro by themselves they graze like creatures set apart upon whatever excellence etc.’: cf. (for the use of
ἐάν )
Rep. VII. 528A
φθονοῖς μὴν οὐδ’ ἂν ἄλλῳ εἴ τίς τι δύναιτο ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὄνασθαι.
ἐάν που αὐτόματοι περιτύχωσιν τῇ ἀρετῇ.
αὐτομάτω?(used as in
Theaet. 180C
,
Polit. 271D
ὃ δ’ ἤρου περὶ τοῦ πάντα αὐτόματα γίγνεσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ) agreeing with
ἀρετῇ would make the expression more pointed, and avoid the slight contradiction involved in the expression
αὐτόματοι περιτύχωσιν (since one cannot spontaneously
fall in with a thing), but
αὐτόματοι is not to be pressed, and should be understood as equivalent to
ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου (cf.
323C
.
Κλεινίαν
. The author of the
First Alcibiades makes Alcibiades himself speak of his younger brother as
μαινόμενος ἄνθρωπος (118E).
μὴ διαφθαρῇ δή.
δήadds a touch of irony to spare the feelings of Alcibiades.
καταθέμενος ἐν Ἀρίφρονος
. According to Plutarch (
Alcib. ch. 1) Ariphron shared with Pericles the guardianship of Alcibiades. Ariphron was Pericles' brother.
ἀπέδωκε τούτῳ
, i.e. Pericles to Alcibiades. Pericles is humorously represented as restoring his ward in despair to the very man who was suspected of corrupting him: and Alcibiades is again appeased.
οὔτε τῶν ἀλλοτρίων
. See
Gorg. 515C
ff., where it is argued that Pericles, Cimon and Miltiades made none of their fellow-citizens better.
κάμπτομαι
. Stallbaum quotes Thuc. III. 58. I
καίτοι ἀξιοῦμέν γε—καμφθῆναι ὑμᾶς καὶ μεταγνῶναι .
πολλῶν μὲν—τὰ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐξηυρηκέναι
. It is implied that Protagoras' originality is not equal to his industry. The MSS. have
ἐξευρηκέναι , but in the perfect as in past tenses generally initial
ευ became
ηυ : see on
315B
above.
ἀλλ’ ἐπίδειξον
. See below on
ἐπιδειξάμενος in
328D
ὡς πρεσβύτερος νεωτέροις
.
Gorg. 527A
τάχα δ’ οὖν ταῦτα μῦθός σοι δοκεῖ λέγεσθαι ὥσπερ γραός.
ἢ λόγῳ διεξελθών
. So BT: Cobet requires
ἢ λόγῳ διεξέλθω , but
λόγῳ διεξελθών contrasts with
μῦθον λέγων , not with
ἐπιδείξω , which belongs to both participial clauses. For the aorist participle (where we should expect the present) cf., with Sauppe,
Theaet. 167D
ἀμφισβήτει λόγῳ ἀντιδιεξελθών.
θνητὰ δὲ γένη οὐκ ἦν
. In the
Timaeus, 42E ff., the creation of men takes place after that of gods. The lower animals in the
Timaeus arise from the degeneration of the souls of men in later births, every soul being first born as man: cf.
Tim. 41E
with 90E ff. Here the lower animals are created simultaneously with man, for
θνητὰ γένη is of course not limited to the human race.
Χρόνος ἦλθεν εἱμαρμένος γενέσεως
. The omission of the article, as well as the whole turn of expression (
ἦλθεν αὐτοῖς χρόνος ), is somewhat poetic.
θεοὶ γῆς ἔνδον
: so in
Tim. 42E
it is the created gods, not the
δημιουργός , who make men. There, however, it is not said that human creatures were made within the earth: but compare the
γενναῖον ψεῦδος of
Rep. III. 414C
ἦσαν δὲ(i.e. the citizens of Plato's state)
τότε τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ὑπὸ γῆς ἐντὸς πλαττόμενοι . The widespread tradition of autochthonous races among the Greeks no doubt helped to produce such anthropological theories, with which compare Empedocles (
ap. Ritter and Preller,
Hist. Philos.
7 p. 143),
οὐλοφυεῖς μὲν πρῶτα τύποι χθονὸς ἐξανέτελλον ;
Symp. 191C
ἐγέννων καὶ ἔτικτον(sc. primitive men)
οὐκ
εἰς ἀλλήλους ἀλλ’ εἰς γῆν ὥσπερ οἱ τέττιγες; and
Polit. 272A
ἐκ γῆς γὰρ ἀνεβιώσκοντο πάντες . It is to be noticed that Plato regularly uses
ἐντός (not
ἔνδον ) as a preposition:
ἔνδον (so used) is the more poetic word.
ἐκ γῆς—κεράννυται
. Cf.
Tim. 42E
(of the creation of man)
μιμούμενοι (i.e. the created gods)
τὸν σφέτερον δημιουργόν, πυρὸς καὶ γῆς ὕδατός τε καὶ ἀέπος ἀρὸ τοῦ κόσμου δανειζόμενοι μόπια ὡς ἀποδοθησόμενα πάλιν εἰς ταὐτὸν τὰ λαμβανόμενα ξυνεκόλλων . For ‘air and water’ is substituted here
τῶν ὅσα πυρὶ καὶ γῇ κεράννυται . Fire is the rarest and earth the densest of the four elements: Protagoras' theory is that air and water are produced by mixing these in different proportions, for
κεράννυται cannot mean merely that the elements interchange. Cf. the theory attributed by Aristotle to Parmenides:
Met. I. 5. 986
b . 33
δύο τὰς αἰτίας καὶ δύο τὰς ἀρχὰς πάλιν τίθησι, θερμὸν καὶ ψυχρόν, οἷον
πῦρ καὶ γῆν λέγων . It is noteworthy that Plato himself regards all four elements as differentiated, although imperfectly, before the creation of the
κόσμος by the
δημιουργός : cf.
Tim. 53A
ff. The chiasmus in
γῆς καὶ πυρός followed by
πυρὶ καὶ γῇ is part of Protagoras' art.
ἐπειδὴ δ’ ἄγειν αὐτὰ πρὸς φῶς ἔμελλον
. Cf.
Rep. III. 414D
ἐπειδὴ δὲ παντελῶς ἐξειργασμένοι ἦσαν καὶ ἡ γῆ αὐτοὺς μήτηρ οὖσα ἀνῆκε .
Προμηθεῖ καὶ Ἐπιμηθεῖ
. In
Gorg. 523D
Prometheus again appears as the servant of Zeus, commissioned to put a stop to man's foreknowledge of his day of death: in
Polit. 274C he is mentioned as the giver of fire to mortals. The Hesiodic and Aeschylean form of the legend, in which Prometheus
steals the fire, does not appear in Plato, except at
321D
nor is there any hint in his works of the story in Hesiod about the gift of Pandora —the source of human ills—to Epimetheus (
Works and Days, 50 ff.), though it is worth noting that Plato like Hesiod makes the creation of woman posterior to that of man (
Tim. 42B
).
παραιτεῖται—αὐτὸς νεῖμαι.
The object clause, as usual with verbs like
παραιτεῖσθαι (
deprecari ), depends on the positive part of the verb (here
αἰτεῖσθαι ): see on
Apol. 31B
.
αὐτός is ‘by himself’, without Prometheus' aid. We follow Cron and Turner in retaining the MSS.
νείμαντος δέ μου as against Bekker's
δ’ ἐμοῦ : the antithesis, as Cron remarks, is between the actions—
νείμαντος and
ἐπίσκεψαι . The point to be noticed is that Afterthought invites Forethought to exchange offices with him: it is Afterthought whose duty it is to inspect (
ἐπισκέψασθαι : cf.
Gorg. 526C
ὁ δὲ Μίνως ἐπισκοπῶν κάθηται).
τὰ δ’ ἀσθενέστερα—τὰ δέ
. B and T have
τοὺς δ’ ἀσθενεστέρους—τοὺς δέ , a natural mistake, which can hardly be due to Plato.
ἐμηχανᾶτο δύναμιν εἰς σωτηρίαν
. Plato's own style rarely falls into verse: cf.
Rep. X. 621B
εἰς τὴν γένεσιν ᾄττοντας ὥσπερ ἀστέρας. The whole passage is full of rare and often poetic rhythms, words, constructions, and turns of expression: e.g.
ἄοπλον φύσιν, σμικρότητι ἤμπισχεν, πτηνὸν φυγήν, τῷδε αὐτῷ (for
αὐτῷ τούτῳ ),
ἀϊστωθείη, ἀλληλοφθοριῶν διαφυγὰς ἐπήρκεσε, εὐμαρίαν (as against
εὐμάρειαν ), and many more: note also the effort after balance and variety in
ἱκανοῖς μὲν ἀμῦναι χειμῶνα ,
δυνατοῖς δὲ καὶ καύματα (
321A
,
τοῖς μὲν ἐκ γῆς—ἄλλοις δὲ—τοῖς δὲ—ἔστι δ’ οἷς . ‘Summum opinor’, says Heindorf, ‘in his imitantis philosophi appareret artificium, si quid de propria Protagorae dictione superesset’. See Introduction, p. xix.
σμικρότητι ἤμπισχεν
. The usual construction would require
σμικρότητα : the change is perhaps due to the desire for balance with
ἃ δὲ ηὖξε μεγέθει , but the same construction occurs below in l. 19 with
ἀμφιεννύς .
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 .
ἣν δεῖ διὰ δικαιοσύνης—ἰέναι
. The antecedent to
ἥν is
συμβουλήν not
ἀρετῆς : cf.
Laws, I. 632C
(quoted by Heindorf)
κατιδὼν δὲ ὁ θεὶς τοὺς νόμους ἅπασιν τούτοις φύλακας ἐπιστήσει, τοὺς μὲν (sc.
φύλακας )
διὰ φρονήσεως, τοὺς δὲ δῑ ἀληθοῦς δόξης ἰόντας . The phrase
διὰ δικαιοσύνης ἰέναι is equivalent to
δικαίαν εἶναι as
διὰ φιλίας ἰέναι to
φίλον εἶναι .
ἅπαντος
. Schanz reads
παντός on account of
παντί following: but Plato frequently interchanges
ἅπας and
πᾶς ; see on
Euthyphr. 9E
. It is natural that the more emphatic form
ἅπαντος should come first.
ἢ μὴ εἶναι πόλεις.
ἤ=
alioquin is regular with
δεῖ, προσήκει , and the like, in the preceding clause: cf. below 323c
ἢ μὴ εἶναι ἐν ἀνθρώποις and
325A
αὕτη—τούτου αἰτία
: asyndeton as in
318A
τοσοῦτος ὅ γε ἡμέτερος λόγος .
ὡς τῷ ὄντι ἡγοῦνται
. The presence of
τῷ ὄντι , as Sauppe remarks, shows that
ὡς depends on
τεκμήριον in l. 42: cf. below,
324C
ὡς μὲν οὖν εἰκότως ἀποδέχονται—ἀποδέδεικταί σοι .
προσποιούμενον δικαιοσύνην
: elsewhere in Plato
προσποιεῖσθαι takes the infinitive. Thuc. 1. 137. 7 has
ἣν ψευδῶς προσεποιήσατο .
ὡς ἀναγκαῖον·
ὄνneed not be added, as Heindorf shows: cf.
Rep. V. 449C
ὡς ἄρα περὶ γυναικῶν τε καὶ παίδων παντὶ δῆλον ὅτι κοινὰ τὰ φίλων ἔσται.
τὰ καλὰ καὶ τἀναντία τοὐτοις
. This, the MSS. reading, retained by Heindorf, and recently by Kral, is, we think, right.
παῦτα in l. 12 does not have its antecedent in the previous sentence, but is explained by
τὰ καλὰ καὶ τἀναντία τούτοις . Protagoras in fact divides ‘goods’ into two classes, viz. (1) goods
φύσει , (2) goods
ἐξ ἐπιμελείας καὶ ἀσκήσεως καὶ διδαχῆς , and calls the former
καλά , the implied examples being personal beauty, stature and health. Schanz's rejection of
τὰ καλά is therefore needless.
συλλήβδην πᾶν τὸ ἐναντίον—ἀρετῆς
. We have here the first hint of the unity of the different vices and (by implication) virtues: cf. below,
329C
εἰ γὰρ ἐθέλεις—διδάξει
. Cf. below,
342D
αὐτό σε διδάξει
: ‘fact will show you,:
Theaet. 200E
ὁ τὸν ποταμὸν καθηγούμενος—ἔφη ἄρα δείξειν αὐτό; the idiom is a frequent one.
οὐδεὶς γάρ κολάζει κτλ.
Plato's own theory of punishment so far agrees with this, but goes deeper: see
Gorg. 525A
ff.
προσήκει δὲ παντὶ τῷ ἐν τιμωρίᾳ ὄντι, ὑπ’ ἄλλου ὀρθῶς τιμωρουμένῳ, ἢ βελτίονι γίγνεσθαι καὶ ὀνίνασθαι ἢ ραπαδείγματι τοῖς ἄλλοις γίγνεσθαι, ἵνα ἄλλοι ὁρῶντες πάσχοντα ἃ ἂν πάσχῃ φοβούμενοι βελτίους γίγνωνται . Vice (being ignorance) is disease of soul, as
νόσος is of body: it is the business of the judge to cure the one as of the physician to cure the other: cf.
Rep. IX. 591A
-B and
Gorg. 478D
σωφρονίζει
γάρ που καὶ δικαιοτέρους ποιεῖ καὶ ἰατρικὴ γίγνεται πονηρίας ἡ δίκη: hence (
ibid. 480B ff.) the sinner should go before the judge as readily as the patient to a doctor, and should even accuse his friends. In the ideal city the judges are to put to death incurable sinners just as the doctors will allow incurable patients to die:
Rep. III. 409E
ff.
τῶν πολιτῶν σοι τοὺς μὲν εὐφυεῖς τὰ σώματα καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς θεπαρεύσουσι, τοὺς δὲ μή, ὅσοι μὲν κατὰ σῶμα τοιοῦτοι, ἀροθνῄσκειν ἐάσουσι, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν κακοφυεῖς καὶ ἀνιάτους αὐτοὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν . The same holds good of punishment after death: for Ardiaeus and the others in
Rep. X. 616A
, whose punishment is everlasting (
οὐχ ἥκει—οὐδ’ ἂν ἥξει δεῦρο ), are incurable—
ἀτεχνῶς παραδείγματα ἀνηρτημένους ἐκεῖ ἐν ᾅδου ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηπίῳ, τοῖς ἀεὶ τῶν ἀδίκων ἀφικνουμένοις θεάματα καὶ νουθετήματα —the majority are punished to purge them of the guilt contracted upon earth and teach them to choose more wisely their lot of life next time. The remedial view of punishment is embedded in the genius of the Greek language, as is shown by the punitive sense of
σωφρονίζειν, δικαιοῦν, εὐθύνειν . The older and sterner view (
δράσαντι παθεῖν ) appears more rarely in Plato's time.
ἠδίκησεν
. See above on
319D
τιμωρεῖται
. The editors quote Ar.
Rhet. A, 10. 1369
b . 12
διαφέρει δὲ τιμωρία καὶ κόλασις· ἡ μὲν γὰρ κόλασις τοῦ πάσχοντος ἕνεκά ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ τιμωρία τοῦ ποιοῦντος, ἵνα ἀποπληρωθῇ . The distinction is not invariably observed in Plato, although he generally uses
τιμωρεῖσθαι in passages where the gravity of the sin is more insisted upon.
οὐ τοῦ παρεληλυθότος—ἀγένητον θείη
. Turner (on
324B
quotes
Laws, XI. 934A
οὐχ ἕνεκα τοῦ κακουργῆσαι διδοὺς τὴν δίκην, οὐ γὰρ τὸ γεγονὸς ἀγένητον ἔσται ποτέ κτλ.The phrase
οὐ γὰρ ἂν τό γε πραχθὲν ἀγένητον θείη represents a common proverbial saying: cf. Simonides, Frag. 69
τὸ γὰρ γεγενημένον οὐκέτ’ ἄρεκτον ἔσται (Sauppe) with Bergk's note, and the impressive application of the saying in Aesch.
Ag. 1019-21
τὸ δ’ ἐρὶ γᾶν ἅραξ ρεσὸν θανάσιμον ρποράποιθ’ ἀνδπὸς μέλαν αἷμα τίς ἂν πάλιν ἀγκαλέσαιτ’ ἐπαείδων ;
κολάζονται
: the middle (in the present) is rare: Heindorf quotes
Ar.
Wasps, 405
νῦν ἐκεῖνο νῦν ἐκεῖνο τοὐξύθυμον ᾧ κολαζόμεσθα κέντρον ἐντέτατ’ ὀξύ.
λοιπὴ ἀπορία
. For the omission of the article before a relative clause (Heindorf suggested the insertion of
ἡ after
λοιπή ) Sauppe quotes
Rep. III. 413E
φύλαξ αὑτοῦ ὢν ἀγαθὸς καὶ μουσικῆς ἧς ἐμάνθανεν. The
ἀπορία was raised by Socrates in
319D
ff.
διδάσκουσιν
. Contrast below
325B
τὰ μὲν ἄλλα διδάσκονται τοὺς υἱεῖς and
ibid.
τοὺς υἱεῖς διδάσκονται , said of the parents as
διδάσκουσιν (in the usual sense of
διδάσκονται ) is said here and in
Meno, 94B
. Similarly in
Prot.
320A
ἐπαίδευε is used where we should expect
ἐπαιδεύετο : cf.
ἐπαιδεύσατο in
Meno, 93D
.
ἃ διδασκάλων ἔχεται
. See note on
319E
above.
οὐκέτι μῦθον ἀλλὰ λόγον
.
Gorg. 523A
ὃν σὺ μὲν ἡγήσει μῦθον, ὡς ἐγὼ οἶμαι, ἐγὼ δὲ λόγον· ὡς ἀληθῆ γὰπ ὄντα σοι λέξω ἃ μέλλω λέγειν.
δικαιοσύνη—τὸ ὅσιον εἶναι
. Thus for the first time Protagoras definitely speaks of the virtues in language implying their unity: cf.
323E
ἀνδρὸς ἀρετήν·
ἀνδρόςis somewhat loftier and more impressive than
ἀνθρώπου (cf.
Rep. VIII. 565E
βίον ἀνδρὸς ἀφανίζων). For the sentiment cf.
Rep. VI. 501B
ξυμμιγνύντες τε καὶ κεραννύντες ἐκ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τὸ ἀνδρείκελον, ἀπ’ ἐκείνου τεκμαιρόμενοι, ὃ δὴ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐκάλεσεν ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐγγιγνόμενον θεοειδές τε καὶ θεοείκελον.
μετὰ τοὐτου
: not
μεθ’ οὗ , see on
313A
καὶ ἐν ᾧ . For the use of
μετά cf.
Phaed. 69A ff. (
μὴ )
ᾖ ἐκεῖνο μόνον τὸ νόμισμα
ὀρθόν, ἀνθ’ οὗ δεῖ ἅπαντα ταῦτα καταλλάττεσθαι, φρόνησις, καὶ τούτου μὲν καὶ μετὰ τούτου (
ὠνούμενά τε καὶ πιπρασκόμενα )
τῷ ὄντι ᾖ καὶ ἀνδρεία κτλ.
καὶ παῖδα καὶ ἄνδρα καὶ γυναῖκα
: nearly equivalent to ‘not only child but etc.’:
παῖδα is put first as the natural object of
κολάζειν —‘et nos ergo manum ferulae subduximus’ (Juv. 1. 15).
ὑπακούῃ
is more than obey: the word means ‘to hear and answer’ (cf.
Crito, 43A
): tr. ‘respond’, sc. by becoming better (as explained in l. 19).
ὡς ἀνίατον ὄντα—ἀποκτείνειν
:
Rep. III. 410A
τοὺς— κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν κακοφυεῖς καὶ ἀνιάτους αὐτοὶ ἀποκτενοῦσι. In the next line
αὐτοῦ in
αὐτοῦ πεφυκότος is still this ‘one thing’, viz.
ἀνδρὸς ἀρετή .
ὡς θαυμάσιοι γίγνονται
. The MSS. have
ὡς θαυμασίως γίγνονται , which could only mean ‘in what a strange way are produced’—a meaning irrelevant here. The point is that it is
θαυμαστόν if ‘good men’—virtue having been proved to be teachable—teach their sons everything except virtue.
θαυμάσιοι (with Kroschel and other editors) seems the simplest of the many emendations proposed: cf.
Euthyd. 305B
θαυμάσιοί εἰσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἄνδρες. The mistake may have arisen from the influence of the common
θαυμασίως ὡς . Next best is Hirschig's
θαυμασίως γίγνονται ἀγαθοὶ οἱ ἀγαθοὶ (cf.
328E
οὐκ εἶναι ἀνθρωπίνην ἐπιμέλειαν ᾖ ἀγαθοὶ οἱ ἀγαθοὶ γίγνονται ) or
θαυμασίως γίγνονται οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἀγαθοί : cf.
Meno, 89B
οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἀγαθοὶ γίγνονταιand Heindorf's emendation on
326C
below. As to
γίγνονται ‘Saepius a Platone id quod argumentatione colligitur,
γίγνεσθαι dicitur, ut p.
355A
φημὶ ὑμῖν τούτου οὕτως ἔχοντος γελοῖον τὸν λόγον γίγνεσθαι ὅταν λέγητε κτλ. , Euthyd. p. 298E
οὐκοῦν ὁ κύων πατὴρ ὢν σός ἐστιν, ὥστε σὸς πατὴρ γίγνεται ὁ κύων ’ (Kroschel). The same use of
γίγνεσθαι is common in Aristotle.
τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἄρα
. For the form of the sentence and for
ἄρα here and in l. 33 cf. note on
Crito, 50E
ἢ πρὸς μὲν ἄρα.
διδάσκονται
(but not of course
ἄρα ) is interrogative: so
οὐ διδάσκονται in l. 33.
ἐφ’ ᾦ.
This, and not
ἐφ’ ὦν (as asserted by Schanz), is after all the reading of B: see Adamson in
Cl. Rev. VII, 445. In itself,
ἐφ’ ὧν (so T) is not indefensible:
ἐφ’ ὧν (i.e.
ἐπὶ τούτων ἃ )
κτλ. would mean ‘in the case of subjects which if they have not learnt’ (
μὴ μαθοῦσι ), the latent
ἅ depending on
μαθοῦσι . This use of
ἐπὶ with the genitive is common in Plato, e.g.
Rep. VII. 524E
ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ δακτύλου ἐλέγομεν. But
ἐφ’ ᾧ (which Heindorf had already conjectured) is simpler and better. For the misplacement of
τε in
ἥ τε ζημία see note on
316D
above.
ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν
is to be taken with
ξυλλήβδην , which goes with the verbal noun
ἀνατροπαί : ‘almost wholesale subversion of their house’.
ξυλλήβδην means ‘not
κατὰ σμικρόν , but so as to embrace everything’: cf.
Rep. 1.
344A
B
τυραννὶς ἣ οὐ κατὰ σμικρὸν τἀλλότρια καὶ λάθρᾳ καὶ βίᾳ ἀφαιρεῖται—ἀλλὰ ξυλλήβδην , and Theognis, 147
ἐν δὲ δικαιοσύνῃ συλλήβδην πᾶσ’ ἀρετὴ ’νι . For
ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν see on
317A
οἴεσθαί γε χρή
: a way of answering one's own question:
Crito, 53D
, 54B.
ὅπως βέλτιστος
: so BT: there is no reason for inserting
ὡς after
ὅπως with Kroschel and Turner:
βέλτιστος does not mean better than all others, but very good.
παρ’ ἕκαστον κτλ.
‘Est eo ipso tempore quo quidque vel fit vel dicitur’ (Heindorf).
τὸ μὲν δίκαιον κτλ.
Sauppe well quotes Ter.
Ad. 417-18 where a father
νουθετεῖ his son ‘Hoc facito—Hoc fugito—Hoc laudi est—Hoc vitio datur’. Cf. Hor.
Sat. I. 4. 105 ff.
τὰ μὲν ποίει, τὰ δὲ μὴ ποίει·
τὰ μὲνis not
δίκαιον, καλόν, ὅσιον , but quite general: ‘this do, that do not’. The
τάδε μὲν— τάδε δέ of T is unnecessary; cf.
τὸ μὲν—τὸ δέ in l. 7. The symmetry of the sentence is worth noting (
a, b, b, a ): first
τὸ μὲν—τὸ δέ , next
τόδε μὲν—τόδε δέ twice, last
τὰ μὲν—τὰ δέ , the end recalling the beginning. Cf. note on
καὶ κακὸν καὶ αἰσχρόν in
Crito, 49B
.
ἐὰν μὲν ἑκὼν πείθηται
: without apodosis: see Goodwin,
Moods and Tenses (1889), p. 179. This idiom occurs more than once in Homer: it is perhaps a remnant of the days when the conditional particles introduced a main sentence: certainly the Greeks were not conscious of any such ellipse as
εὖ ἕξει .
ὥσπερ ξύλον διαστρεφόμενον.
ξύλονis ‘a piece of wood’, not necessarily a dead log, as appears from
Hdt. III. 47
εἰρίοισι ἀπὸ ξύλου (of the cotton tree) and other exx. in L. and S. The growing child is compared to a tree growing up and becoming crooked (note the present
διαστρεφόμενον—καμπτόμενον ). Plato frequently applies the metaphors ‘crooked’, ‘warped’ and the like to victims of vice and vicious education: cf.
Gorg. 525A
πάντα σκολιὰ ὑπὸ ψεύδους καὶ ἀλαζονείας;
Theaet. 173A
σμικροὶ δὲ καὶ οὐκ ὀρθοὶ τὰς ψυχάς .
εὐθύνουσιν—πληγαῖς
. Cf. Arist.
Ἀθην. πολιτ . ch. 8
τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας ηὔθυνεν κυρία οὖσα τοῦ ζημιοῦν καὶ κολάζειν (of the Areopagitic council). For
εὐθύνειν (here passing into the meaning of ‘chastise’) see note on
324A
οὐδεὶς γὰρ κολάζει . To illustrate
πληγαῖς Sauppe quotes the well-known line of Menander
ὁ μὴ δαρεὶς ἄνθρωπος οὐ παιδεύεται .
εἰς διδασκάλων πέμποντες
. It appears from
326C
that there was no regular age for going to school; the parents decided in each case. Plato ordains (
Laws, VII. 809E
) that children shall learn
γράμματα (i.e. reading and writing,
ibid. 810B) from 10 to 13, and the lyre from 13 to 16.
πολὺ μᾶλλον—εὐκοσμίας
. Protagoras' description of the aim of Athenian education agrees with the account of the
Δίκαιος λόγος in the
Clouds, 961 ff.
ὥσπερ τότε
: above,
325C
ἐπειδὰν θᾶττον συνιῇ τις τὰ λεγόμενα .
ἐπὶ τῶν βάθρων
: i.e. as they sit on the benches: cf. above
315C
παρατιθέασιν represents the works of the poets as intellectual food: cf.
Theaet. 157C
παρατίθημι ἑκάστων τῶν σοφῶν ἀπογεύσασθαι.
ποιητῶν ἀγαθῶν
: Homer especially, and also Hesiod, Theognis, Phocylides. Cf.
Laws, VII. 810E
, from which passage it also appears that extracts were frequently made for committing to memory (
ἐκμανθάνειν ).
ἀναγκάζουσιν·
μετὰ λύπης γὰρ ἡ μάθησιςArist.
Pol. VIII. 1339
a . 28 (quoted by Sauppe). So Niceratus in Xenophon,
Symp. III. 5 says that his father
ἠνάγκασέ με πάντα τὰ Ὁμήρον ἔπη μαθεῖν .
διέξοδοι
means finished narratives or descriptions (cf.
λόγῳ διεξελθών and
διεξιέναι in
320C
. It is to be noted that so far we have not got beyond
ποίησις ψιλή (i.e. unaccompanied by music): lyric poetry begins to be studied when the lyre has been learnt (l. 25).
ἕτερα τοιαῦτα
: for the phrase see on
Apol. 26A
. The accusative (internal) depends on
ἐπιμελοῦνται as in
325C
ἐπιμελοῦνται πᾶσαν ἐπιμέλειαν and
Laws, VII. 812E
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ παιδευτὴς ἐπιμελείσθω: the whole phrase is equivalent to
ἑτέραν τοιαύτην σωφροσύνης τε ἐπιμέλειαν ποιοῦνται . Verbs taking the external object in the genitive or dative are not precluded from taking the internal object in the accusative.
εἰς τὰ κιθαρίσματα ἐντείνοντες.
ἐντείνειν εἰςis to stretch into, i.e. to ‘put into’: whence
ἐντείνειν ἐς κύκλον χωρίον τρίγωνον ‘to describe a triangle in a circle’ (
Meno, 87A
);
περὶ γάπ τοι τῶν ροιημάτων ὦν ρεροίηκας ἐντείνας τοὺς τοῦ Αἰσώρου λόγους of adapting to metre (
Phaed. 60D); and here of accompanying poems on the lyre: the boys learn the poems and tunes (made by the poet) together, while the Citharist plays the lyre. Plato in the
Laws, VII. 812D
ff. requires the
κιθαρίσματα to be identical with the tune to which the poem is sung:
δεῖ—τοῖς φθόγγοις τῆς λύπας ρποσχπῆσθαι—τόν τε κιθαπιστὴν καὶ τὸν ραιδευόμενον, ἀροδιδόντας ρπόσχοπδα τὰ φθέγματα τοῖς φθέγμασι· τὴν δ’ ἑτεποφωνίαν καὶ ροικιλίαν τῆς λύπας, ἄλλα μὲν μέλη τῶν χοπδῶν ἱεισῶν, ἄλλα δὲ τοῦ τὴν μελω?δίαν ξυνθέντος ροιητοῦ—ράντα τὰ τοιαῦτα μὴ προσφέρειν κτλ.
ῥυθμούς τε καὶ ἁρμονίας.
ῥυθμοίtimes or rhythms (cf.
Rep. III. 399E
ff.),
ἁρμονίαι scales (
ibid.
398D
ff.).
ῥυθμός and
ἁρμονία between them make up
μουσική in the narrower sense: see
Symp. 187A
ff., where music is defined as
περὶ ἁρμονίαν καὶ ῥυθμὸν ἐρωτικῶν ἐπιστήμη—περὶ ἁρμονίαν since it reconciles
ὀξύ and
βαρύ, περὶ ῥυθμόν since it reconciles
ταχύ and
βραδύ .
οἰκειοῦσθαι ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν παίδων
. Sauppe quotes
Rep. III. 401D
κυριωτάτη ἐν μουσικῇ τροφή, ὅτι μάλιστα καταδύεται εἰς τὸ ἐντὸς τῆς ψυχῆς ὄ τε ῥυθμὸς καὶ ἁρμονία καὶ ἐρρωμενέστατα ἅπτεται αὐτῆς.
εὐρυθμότεροι καὶ εὐαρμοστότεροι
. See
Rep. III. 400C ff., where, after it is shown that
τὸ εὔρυθμον and
τὸ εὐάρμοστον imply
εὐλογία , Plato continues (400D)
εὐλογία ἄρα καὶ εὐαπμοστία καὶ εὐσχημοσύνη καὶ εὐπυθμία εὐηθείᾳ ἀκολουθεῖ, οὐχ ἣν ἄνοιαν οὖσαν ὑροκοπιζόμενοι καλοῦμεν ὡς εὐήθειαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὡς ἀληθῶς εὖ τε καὶ καλῶς τὸ ἦθος κατεσκευασμένην διάνοιαν .
εἰς παιδοτρίβου
: Protagoras passes to
γυμναστική , the second great division of Greek education:
Rep. II. 376E
.
ὑπηρετῶσι τῇ διανοίᾳ
. Plato asserts that the true object of
γυμναστική is not to cultivate the body, but to educate the soul to the proper mean between hardness and softness:
Rep. III. 410C
ff. On the soul as the mistress of the body see
Phaedo, ch. 43.
μάλιστα οἱ μάλιστα δυνάμενοι
. The first
μάλιστα is due to Heindorf: it is necessary to the meaning. Most of the editors insert the word
μάλιστα not after
ποιοῦσιν but after
δυνάμενοι , explaining its loss by the presence of
μάλιστα following: but it comes (we think) more naturally after
ποιοῦσιν .
ἐκ διδασκάλων ἀπαλλαγῶσιν·
ἐκis rejected by Cobet (cf.
Gorg. 514C
ἐπειδὴ τῶν διδασκάλων ἀπηλλάγημεν): but the phrase is just as stereotyped as
εἰς διδασκάλων , to which (in l. 39) it forms an appropriate contrast—in neither of the two cases were the Greeks (in all probability) conscious in common parlance of an ellipse. Sauppe quotes a fragment of Ar.
Banqueters, 42
οὐκ εὐθὺς ἀπεδίδρασκες ἐκ διδασκάλου ;
Plutus, 84
ἐκ Πατροκλέους ἔρχομαι , and other parallels.
ἀναγκάζει μανθάνειν
: hardly to be taken literally, but only in the sense that ignorance was no excuse for breaking the laws.
κατὰ τούτους ζῆν
. After
ζῆν occur in the MSS. the words
κατὰ παράδειγμα . ‘Facile succurrat cuivis
κατὰ τούτους ζῆν καθάπερ παράδειγμα —quamquam talia notanda potius quam statim corrigenda’ says Heindorf. Most recent editors bracket or reject the words, which are open to objection on several grounds, that the laws are not an example but a
rule of life, and Plato does not use
παράδειγμα precisely in this way, as well as from the harsh omission of
ὡς . The suggestion of Sauppe that the words are a gloss on
κατὰ τούτους by a scribe referring to the illustration which follows—‘as for example’— has much probability.
γραμματισται
: see on
γραμματιστοῦ ,
312B
ὑπογράψαντες γραμμὰς τῇ γραφίδι
should be understood of tracing (by dots or otherwise) the outlines of the lines (
γραμμαί ) which form letters. These outlines would be filled up by the pupil: see Blümner,
Griechische Privataltherthümer, p. 315. The usual view (since Heindorf) has been to regard the
γραμμαί as horizontal lines ruled for guidance; ‘ut pueri in schola directe s. ad lineam scribere iubentur, ita in vita quae agunt ad legis normam iis dirigenda sunt’ (Kroschel). Such a view is, however, inconsistent with the meaning of
ὑπογράφειν and of
ὑφήγησις , and (in view of Plato's statements as to the nature of Law) renders the simile inexact.
ὑπογράφειν in Plato regularly refers to an outline drawing (as
ὑποτυποῦσθαι to moulding in outline
Tim. 76E
) and is opposed to
ἀπεργάσασθαι and (in Aristotle) to
ἀναγράφειν , e.g.
Rep. VIII. 548C
-D
οὐκοῦν— αὕτη μὲν ἡ ρολιτεία οὕτω γεγονυῖα καὶ τοιαύτη ἄν τις εἴη, ὡς λόγῳ σχῆμα ρολιτείας ὑρογπάψαντα μὴ ἀκπιβῶς ἀρεπγάσασθαι διὰ τὸ ἐξαπκεῖν μὲν ἰδεῖν καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὑρογπαφῆς τόν τε δικαιότατον καὶ τὸν ἀδικώτατον , and
Theaet. 172E
, where a litigant's
ἀντωμοσία is called
ὑπογραφή —a sort of outline drawing
ὧν ἐκτὸς οὐ ῥητέον , but which his speech must simply
ἀπεργάσασθαι. ὑφηγεῖσθαι is similarly used, only with the added idea of guiding: e.g.
Rep. III. 403D-E
οὐκοῦν εἰ τὴν διάνοιαν ἱκανῶς θεραπεύσαντες παραδοῖμεν αὐτῇ τὰ περὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι, ἡμεῖς δὲ ὅσον τοὺς τύπους ὑφηγησαίμεθα—ὀρθῶς ἃν ποιοῖμεν
; and
Laws, X. 890C
δεῖ ταῦτα οὕτω πράττειν διανοουμένους ὅπῃπερ ἂν ὁ νομοθέτης ὑφηγήσηται γράφων. The point of the simile is this. As the child draws his pen between the outlines of the lines forming letters (making e.g. into ), so we must keep our actions between certain outlines, which are the laws. Plato invariably regards
νόμοι as only
τύποι , within which our actions should fall: cf.
Rep. II. 383C
παντάπασιν—ἔγωγε τοὺς τύπους τούτους συγχωρῶ, καὶ ὡς νόμοις ἂν χρώ?μην(whence
νόμους ὑπογράφειν here and in
Laws, V. 734E
): see also
Polit. 294A ff.
τὸ δ’ ἄριστον οὐ τοὺς νόμους ἐστὶν ἰσχύειν, ἀλλ’ ἄνδπα τὸν μετὰ φπονήσεως βασιλικὸν—ὅτι νόμος οὐκ ἄν ροτε δύναιτο τό τε ἄπιστον καὶ τὸ δικαιότατον ἀκπιβῶς ρᾶσιν ἅμα ρεπιλαβὼν τὸ βέλτιστον ἐριτάττειν. αἱ γὰπ ἀνομοιότητες τῶν τε ἀνθπώρων καὶ τῶν ρπάξεων—οὐδὲν ἐῶσιν ἁρλοῦν ἐν οὐδενὶ ρεπὶ ἁράντων καὶ ἐρὶ ράντα τὸν χπόνον ἀποφαίνεσθαι τέχνην οὐδ’ ἡντινοῦν —for which reason in the
Republic (VI. 497D) there must always be a power above the laws. The explanation which we have given does not disagree with the account of Seneca in his
Epistles, XV. 2. 51 ‘Pueri ad praescriptum discunt. Digiti illorum tenentur et aliena manu
per literarum simulacra ducuntur’: it is supported by Quintilian, I. 1. 27 ‘cum vero iam ductus sequi coeperit, non inutile erit eas (sc. literas) tabellae quam optime insculpi, ut
per illos velut sulcos ducatur stilus’. It is probable that both these authors had the present passage in view.
ὣς δὲ καὶ.
ὥςfor
οὕτως is rare in Attic prose: Heindorf quotes (
inter alia )
Rep. VII. 530D
κινδυνεύει ὡς πρὸς ἀστρονομίαν ὄμματα πέπηγεν, ὣς πρὸς ἐναρμόνιον φορὰν ὦτα παγῆναι. For
δέ see above on
318C
εὐθῦναι
regularly denotes the ‘putting straight’ or examination of a magistrate when his office expired. It is not clear whether Protagoras' philological zeal does not cause him to stretch a point in giving to the word a wider signification: but see on
εὐθύνουσιν in
325D
οὐδένα δεῖ ἰδιωτεύειν
: equivalent to
πάντας δεῖ εἶναι δημιουργούς : no one must be a layman in
ἀρετή .
ἐδίδασκε καὶ ἐπέπληττε τὸν μὴ καλῶς αὐλοῦντα
. As
ἐδίδασκε is the important word,
ἐπέπληττε has no effect on the construction, but is in effect enclitic: see on
317C
ἐνδείξασθαι καὶ καλλωπίσασθαι .
εἰ οὖν οὕτω.
οὖνmarks the reversion to the original protasis, viz.
εἰ μὴ οἶόν τ’ ὴν—καὶ τοῦτο κτλ. , from
λυσιτελεῖ to
νόμιμα being parenthetical: it therefore seems better to print a colon rather than a full stop after
νόμιμα .
ἐλλόγιμος ηὐξήθη
. Proleptic adjectives with
αὐξάνω are common: Heindorf cites (
inter alia )
Rep. VIII. 565C
τοῦτον τρέφειν τε καὶ αὔξειν μέγαν.
ἀλλ’ οὖν αὐληταί γ’ ἄν·
ἄνfor
γοῦν was Shilleto's conjecture, which can hardly fail to be right.
ἀλλ’ οὖν—γε is an emphatic ‘but at all events’; cf. Gorg. 496D
μανθάνω· ἀλλ’ οὖν τό γε πεινῆν αὐτὸ ἀνιαρόν .
οὕτως οἴου καὶ νῦν
. Sauppe's
ᾤου κἂν νῦν seems to be quite needless: the conclusion is naturally put as a command— ‘so in the present case, you are to think’.
τῶν ἐν νόμοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις
. So BT.
ἀνθρώποις in this emphatic sense is a little awkward with
ἀνθρώπους two lines below and
ἀνθρώποις said seven lines below of savages (though the word is qualified in both cases), but the text is probably right: cf.
323C
ἀναγκαῖον οὐδένα ὅντιν’ οὐχὶ ἁμῶς γέ πως μετέχειν αὐτῆς (sc.
τῆς δικαιοσύνης ),
ἢ μὴ εἶναι ἐν ἀνθρώποις . Of the suggested emendations the most reasonable is perhaps Sauppe's
ἐν νόμοις καὶ ἐννόμοις ἀνθρώποις —which he has now given up in favour of the MSS. reading.
αὐτόν
is not emphatic: to be
δίκαιος is to be a
δημιουργὸς δικαιοσύνης , cf.
326E
τῆς ἀρετῆς—οὐδένα δεῖ ἰδιωτεύειν .
μήτε—μήτε—μήτε—μηδέ.
μηδέintroduces the climax: see note on
οὔτε—οὐδέ γε in
Apol. 19D
and Cope on Ar.
Rhet. A, 4. 4. Presently
ἀλλ’ εἶεν is used rather than
ἀλλ’ εἰσί (in spite of
ἐστίν in l. 31) because the hypothetical nature of the case is becoming more prominent. For the passage of a relative clause into a main clause (
οἵ is not to be repeated after
ἀλλά ) see on
313A
ἀλλ’ εἶεν ἄγριοί τινες
. It appears not only from Athenaeus (v. 218D), but from Suidas and others, that the play in question was called
Ἄγριοι . The few fragments of it which remain (see Kock's
Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta, I, 146-50) give us no indication of the plot or treatment. The probability is that the
Ἄγριοι formed the chorus (cf. the names
Νεφέλαι, Βάτραχοι etc.), ‘ad quos’—as we should infer from the words of Plato— ‘Athenienses quidam, pauci sine dubio, vitae civilis in sua urbe pertaesi (
μισάνθρωποι ) sicut Pithetaerus et Euelpides, accedebant imprudenter sperantes se inter homines immanes meliorem iustioremque quam in civitate sua vitam inventuros esse’ (Kock). Plato was perhaps thinking of the same play again in
Rep. VI. 496D
ὥσπερ εἰς θηρία ἄνθρωπος ἐμπεσών, οὔτε ξυναδικεῖν ἐθέλων οὔτε ἱκανὸς ὢν εἶς πᾶσιν ἀγρίοις ἀντέχειν .
οἷοί περ οὓς πέρυσιν
: so BT, and there is no sufficient reason for altering the text to
οἵους πέρυσιν (with Sauppe, after Athenaeus V. 218D) or
οἵους περ πέρυσιν with Schanz. Plato does not always avail himself of the liberty of attraction: a parallel is quoted from
Crat. 432E
ἵνα κομιδῇ ᾖ τοιοῦτον οἷόν περ οὗ ὄνομά ἐστιν.
πέρυσιν
. Athenaeus, V. 218D
ἐδιδάχθησαν δὲ οἱ Ἄγριοι ἐπ’ Ἀριστίωνος ἄρχοντος , i.e. Ol. 89 4 = 421/420 B.C. For the bearing of the date of the
Ἄγριοι on the question when the dialogue of the
Protagoras is assumed to have taken place see Introduction, p. xxxiii.
Φερεκράτης
. The fragments of Pherecrates—a poet of the old comedy who gained his first victory in 438 B.C.—are given in Kock's
Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta, I, 145-209.
ἐδίδαξεν ἐπὶ Ληναίῳ
. The
Λήναιον (also called
λίμναι and
τέμενος τοῦ Διονύσου ) was an enclosure sacred to Dionysus on the south-east slope of the Acropolis. Cf. Photius s.v.
Λήναιον :
περίβολος μέγας Ἀθήνησιν, ἐν ᾧ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἦγον, πρὸ τοῦ τὸ
θέατρον οἰκοδομηθῆναι, ὀνομάζοντες ἐπὶ Ληναίῳ . The phrase ‘at Lenaeum’ seems to have survived even after all plays were given in the Dionysiac theatre, as by this time they were, and to have been understood as equivalent to ‘at the Lenaean festival’ (cf.
Ar.
Ach. 504
οὑπὶ Ληναίῳ τ’ ἀγών), for which the expressions
ἐν Ληναίοις and (
ἐδιδάχθη )
εἰς Λήναια are more usual in the
didascaliae (see Müller's
Bühnenalterthümer, p. 316, n. 3). The Lenaea took place in the month Gamelion.
ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χορῷ
, sc.
γενόμενοι. γίγνεσθαι ἐν is ‘to come to be in or among’, ‘to fall among’.
ἐν τῷ προθύρῳ ἐγενόμεθα of
314C
is the same idiom.
μισάνθρωποι
. So the MSS. The various suggested emendations (
ἡμιάνθρωποι Heinrich,
μιξάνθρωποι Jacobs,
μεσάνθρωποι Lehrs) proceed on the supposition that the word is an epithet of the
ἄγριοι , which is most improbable: ‘alii sunt
ἄγριοι , alii
μισάνθρωποι , neque in illa sermonis iunctura’ (sc. if we regard the
ὥσπερ clause as explaining
τοῖς τοιούτοις ) ‘scribendum
ὥσπερ sed
οἷοί περ fuit’ (Heindorf).
Εὐρυβάτῳ καὶ Φρυνώνδᾳ
. Two proverbial scoundrels of real life: see Suidas s.vv.
Εὐρύβατος πονηρός, ἀπὸ τοῦ ρεμφθέντος ὑρὸ Κποίσου ἐρὶ ξενολογίαν μετὰ χπημάτων, ὥς φησιν Ἔφοπος, εἶτα μεταβαλομένου ρπὸς Κῦπον· ἦν δὲ Ἐφέσιος κτλ. Φπυνώνδας τῶν ἐρὶ ρονηπίᾳ διαβεβοημένων, ὃς ξένος ὢν κατὰ τὰ Ρελοροννησιακὰ διέτπιβεν Ἀθήνησιν·—ἐκ τούτου τοὺς ρονηποὺς Φρυνώνδας καλοῦσι . They are frequently mentioned in Greek literature: see Blaydes on
Ar.
Thesm. 861
. Blaydes remarks that
‐ώνδας is a Boeotian termination: cf.
Ἐπαμεινώνδας, Χαρώνδας and the like.
οὐδείς σοι φαίνεται εἶναι.
εἶναιis Heindorf's emendation for
ἐ=θ’ of the Bodleian. For the asyndeton with
ὥσπερ see above on
311E
τίς διδάσκαλος τοῦ ἑλληνίζειν
. The same illustration occurs in
Alc. I. 111A.
τούτους ἔτι τίς ἂν διδάξειεν
repeats
τίς ἂν—διδάξειεν τοὺς τῶν χειροτεχνῶν υἱεῖς : and
οὐ ῥᾴδιον οἶμαι εἶναι—τούτων διδάσκαλον φανῆναι is a variety on
οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς φανείη , which the
οὐδέ γ’ ἄν of l. 42 might lead us to expect would be repeated— but the sentence is a slight anacoluthon. This is better than to take
ἄν of
οὐδέ γ’ ἄν in l.
42 with
εἶναι of l.
47 .
οὕτω δὲ ἀρετῆς
. On
οὕτω δέ see above, note on
318C
κἂν εἰ
: this idiom is somewhat rare in Plato, e.g.
Meno, 72C
κἂν εἰ πολλαὶ καὶ παντοδαπαί εἰσιν, ἕν γέ τι εἶδος ἄπασαι ἔχουσιν : it is extremely common in Aristotle. The
ἄν shows that the idiom must have arisen from cases where the apodosis contained a verb with which
ἄν could go, e.g.
κἂν εἰ ἀποθνῄσκοι, εὖ ἔχοι . Such cases as
Symp. 185A
κἂν εἴ τις—ἐξαπατηθείη, καλὴ ἡ ἀπάτη, where the verb after
εἰ is in the optative, preserve traces of the origin of the construction.
ὀνῆσαί τινα πρός.
ὀνῆσαιis Dobree's correction for
νοῆσαι : cf.
Rep. X. 601D
εἴπερ οἶός τ’ ἦν πρὸς ἀρετὴν ὀνῆσαι ἀνθρώπους.
τὸν τρόπον τῆς πράξεως τοῦ μισθοῦ
. Ar.
Eth. Nic. IX.
2 . 1164
a .
24
ὅπερ φασὶ καὶ Πρωταγόραν ποιεῖν· ὅτε γὰρ διδάξειεν ἁδήροτε, τιμῆσαι τὸν μαθόντα ἐκέλευεν ὅσου δοκεῖ ἄξια ἐπίστασθαι καὶ ἐλάμβανε τοσοῦτον . This is more than Plato says: see next note.
ἀποδέδωκεν
: but
κατέθηκεν (gnomic aorist) two lines lower down. It is not necessary to reject
ἀποδέδωκεν (with Sauppe and Schanz) or to read
ἀπέδωκεν (with Kroschel and Kral).
ἀποδέδωκεν is hardly to be explained as a gnomic perfect (Goodwin), certain examples of which are rare, if not unknown, but is to be taken in its natural sense: ‘if he prefers, he has already paid . . . if not etc.’: this is also Heindorf's view. Unless the pupil had
paid in advance, Protagoras left the fee to his own conscience and (according to his own account,
ὥστε καὶ αὐτῷ δοκεῖν τῷ μαθόντι ) generally fared better, even though (if Diog. Laert. IX. 52 may be trusted) his fee was 100 minae. If Protagoras made no bad debts, he escapes the censure of Plato in
Gorg. 519C
, where it is said that, if teachers of
δικαιοσύνη do not receive their fees, it only shows that they have failed to teach their subject and deserve no fees.
ἐλθὼν εἰς ἱερόν
. ‘Tactis sacris aramve tenentes veteres iurare satis est notum’ Heindorf, quoting Aeschin.
in Timarch. § 114
λαβὼν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χεῖρα τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ ὀμόσας μὴ λαβεῖν δῶρα—εἰληφὼς ἠλέγχθη .
τῶνδε
. Protagoras is more encouraging than Socrates in
319E
ἐπιδειξάμενος.
ἐπιδείκνυσθαιand
ἐπίδειξις are regularly used of a Sophistic display: e.g.
Gorg. 447A
πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ καλὰ Γοργίας ἡμῖν ὀλίγον πρότερον ἐπεδείξατο,
Crat. 384B
τὴν πεντηκοντάδραχμον ἐπίδειξιν. ἐπιδείκνυμιis also sometimes used in the same way, e.g.
Euthyd. 274D
and below,
347B
in
320C
above
ἀλλ’ ἐπίδειξον is intended to suggest this meaning, which comes out more clearly in
ἐπιδείξω two lines below.
ἐπὶ μὲν πολὺν χρόνον
goes with
ἔβλεπον and
ἔτι with
κεκηλημένος .
ὦ παῖ Ἀπολλοδώρου
: with mock solemnity: so
335D
ὦ παῖ Ἱππονίκου ,
Rep. II. 368A
ὦ παῖδες ἐκείνου τἀνδρός.
ὦδε
in the sense of
δεῦρο is noted as a Platonic idiom by the lexicographers. The usage is found in tragedy, but no other example is quoted from Plato.
ἀνθρωπίνην ἐπιμέλειαν
: cf.
Meno, 99E
ἀρετὴ ἂν εἴη οὔτε φύσει οὔτε διδακτόν, ἀλλὰ θείᾳ μοίρᾳ παραγιγνομένη ἄνευ νοῦ .
ἐπεκδιδάξει—ἐξεδίδαξεν
: see on
311A
τάχ’ ἂν καὶ τοιούτους λόγους
:
καί goes with
τοιούτους —‘even such’, ‘just such’:
τούτου should not be inserted (with Sauppe, Schanz, Kral) before
τοιούτους .
ὥσπερ βιβλία
. Hermann wished to read
οὐχ ὥσπερ βιβλία , since the orators do make a speech when spoken to: but the point is that like books they do not answer the questions asked, or put questions themselves, as the true dialectician does: cf.
Phaedr. 275D
δεινὸν γάρ που—τοῦτ’ ἔχει γραφή, καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς ὅμοιον ζωγπαφίᾳ. καὶ γὰπ τὰ ἐκείνης ἔκγονα ἕστηκε μὲν ὡς ζῶντα, ἐὰν δ’ ἀνέπῃ τι, σεμνῶς ράνυ σιγᾷ. ταὐτὸν δὲ καὶ οἱ λόγοι· δόξαις μὲν ἂν ὥς τι φπονοῦντας αὐτοὺς λέγειν, ἐὰν δέ τι ἔπῃ τῶν λεγομένων βουλόμενος μαθεῖν, ἔν τι σημαίνει μόνον ταὐτὸν ἀεί: below,
347E
and
Hipp. Min.
365D
τὸν μὲν Ὅμηρον—ἐάσωμεν, ἐρειδὴ καὶ ἀδύνατον ἐρανεπέσθαι, τί ροτε νοῶν ταῦτα ἐροίησε τὰ ἔπη . A similar objection applies to laws: see
Polit. 294A (quoted above on
326D
.
ὥσπερ τὰ χαλκία
. The MSS. have
χαλκεῖα , but (as Kroschel points out) in
Crat. 430A
εἴ τι χαλκίον κινήσειε κρούσας. χαλκεῖαwould mean ‘smithies’.
μακρὸν ἠχεῖ καὶ ἀποτείνει·
ἀποτείνειis used absolutely as in
Gorg. 458B
καὶ νῦν ἴσως πόρρω ἀποτενοῦμεν. Cf.
Euthyd.
300B
ὅταν οὖν λίθους λέγῃς καὶ ξύλα καὶ σιδήρια, οὐ σιγῶντα λέγεις; οὔκουν ἅ γε ἐγώ, ἔφη, παρέρχομαι ἐν τοῖς χαλκείοις (MSS.
χαλκίοις ),
ἀλλὰ φθεγγόμενα καὶ βοῶντα μέγιστον τὰ σιδήρια λέγει .
δόλιχον κατατείνουσι τοῦλόγου.
δολιχόνis the reading of B and T, but (1) the adjective
δολιχός seems to be exclusively poetic, the word surviving in Plato's time only in the form
δόλιχος for
δολιχὸς δρόμος (cf. for the change of accent
κάκη and
κακή, Φαῖδρος and
φαιδρός and the like); (2)
δολιχὸς τοῦ λόγου would be a rare construction, though not without parallels, e.g.
πολλὴν τῆς χώρας in Xen.
Cyrop. III. 2. 2 and
τής μαρίλης συχνήν in
Ar.
Ach. 350
:
ἀμήχανον τῆς εὐδαιμονίας of
Apol. 41C
is different; (3) after the expressive simile which we have had, ‘a long speech’ sounds very weak. On the other hand
δόλιχος τοῦ λόγου , the suggestion of Stephanus, is strongly supported by
335E
where Socrates compares Protagoras, because he plays the
ῥήτωρ and not the dialectician, to a
δολιχοδρόμος :
νῦν δ’ ἐστὶν ὥσρεπ ἂν εἰ δέοιό μου Κπίσωνι τῷ Ἱμεπαίῳ δπομεῖ ἀκμάζοντι ἕρεσθαι ἢ τῶν δολιχοδπόμων τῳ ἢ τῶν ἡμεποδπόμων διαθεῖν τε καὶ ἕπεσθαι , and the editors quote a number of parallels to the metaphor, such as Plut.
Phoc. 23. 3
καλῶς ἔφη πρὸς τὸ στάδιον, τὸν δὲ δόλιχον τοῦ πολέμου φοβοῦμαι ; Epicrates in Kock's
Com. Att. Frag.II, 283
ἐπεὶ δὲ δόλιχον τοῖς ἔτεσιν ἤδη τρέχει ,
Ar.
Clouds, 430
τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἶναί με λέγειν ἑκατὸν σταδίοισιν ἄριστονand
Frogs, 91
πλεῖν ἢ σταδίῳ λαλίστερα , Eupolis (Kock, I, 281) (of Pericles)
ὁπότε παρέλθοι δ’ ὥσπερ ἁγαθοὶ δρομῆς ἐκ δέκα ποδῶν ᾕρει λέγων τοὺς ῥήτορας . Dropping the sporting metaphor we may say ‘spin out a league of verbiage against you’. The
δόλιχος was 24
στάδια , the
στάδιον being covered 12 times both ways: cf. Pind.
Ol. III. 33.
ὡς αὐτὰ δηλοῖ
. The MSS. read
αὐτά , which most recent editors change to
αὐτό with Stephanus, regarding the idiom as analogous to that in
324A
αὐτό σε διδάξει , but in this idiomatic use of
αὐτό the verb is generally, if not always, in the future.
αὐτό που λέγει in
Ar.
Eq. 204
and the cases quoted by Blaydes
in loc. are different, since in each case
αὐτό has a
definite antecedent expressed.
ὡς αὐτὰ δηλοῖ is simply ‘as things themselves’, i.e. ‘as facts show’: the reference is to the speech which Protagoras has just delivered. Cf. Ar.
Pol. IV. 12. 1331
a . 21
δῆλον ὡς αὐτὰ προκαλεῖται κτλ. and (with Heindorf) Xen.
Cyr. VI. 1. 7
οὐκ οἶδα μὲν ἔγωγε, εἴ τι δεῖ λόγων, ὅπου αὐτὰ τὰ ἔργα δείκνυσι τὸ κράτιστον .
εἴ μοι ἀποκρίναιο τόδε
. The optative follows
σμικροῦ τινὸς ἐνδεής εἰμι πάντ’ ἔχειν as virtually equivalent to
πάντ’ ἂν ἔχοιμι (Heindorf).
εἴπερ ἄλλῳ τῳ ἀνθρώπων πειθοίμην ἄν, καὶ σοὶ πείθομαι
. The fullness of expression is no doubt intentional: Socrates politely dwells upon his compliment. The objections to the syntax are twofold: (1)
ἄν with the optative in protasis; (2)
εἴπερ (in clauses of this kind) with its verb expressed. Cases of the potential optative in the protasis are given by Goodwin,
M.T. p. 192 (e.g. Xen.
Mem. I. 5. 3
εἴ γε μηδὲ δοῦλον ἀκρατῆ δεξαίμεθ’ ἄν, πῶς οὐκ ἄξιον αὐτόν γε φυλάξασθαι τοιοῦτον γενέσθαι
; ): for
εἴπερ with verb expressed Heindorf cites
Meno, 98B
ἀλλ’ εἴπερ τι ἄλλο φαίην ἂν εἰδέναι(
ὀλίγα δ’ ἂν φαίην )
ἓν δ’ οὖν καὶ τοῦτο ἐκείνων θείην ἂν ὧν οἶδα . Socrates'
νῦν δὲ πέπεισμαι (hardly serious) in
328E
is not inconsistent with
πειθοίμην ἄν , since he at once qualifies his assent by
πλὴν σμικρόν τί μοι ἐμποδών : it is sufficiently represented here by
καὶ σοὶ πείθομαι . We therefore agree with Heindorf, Wayte, and Turner in retaining the MSS. reading: other editors mostly read either
εἴπερ ἄλλω? τῳ ἀνθρώπων πειθοίμην ἂν καὶ σοί , or drop
πειθοίμην ἄν and retain
καὶ σοὶ πείθομαι .
ἔλεγες γάρ
:
332C
δικαιοσύνη and
αἰδώς are looked on as two
distinct virtues.
πολλαχοῦ
:
324E
325A
cf.
323A
and E.
προσώπου·
προσώπουis treated as an abstract conception —‘parts of face’: cf.
ψυχή in
313C
κάπηλος τῶν ἀγωγίμων ἀφ’ ὧν ψυχὴ τρέφεται ,
Rep. IV. 435C
εἰς φαῦλόν γε αὖ—σκῶμμα ἐμρερτώκαμεν ρεπὶ ψυχῆς, εἴτε ἔχει τὰ τπία εἴδη ταῦτα ἐν αὑτῆ? εἴτε μή. In Aristotelian language, the face is
ἀνομοιομερές .
ἀλλήλων καὶ τοῦ ὅλου
: so the MSS. and Heindorf (who suggests
ἀλλήλων τε καὶ τοῦ ὅλου ): recent editors mostly omit either
ἀλλήλων or
τὰ ἕτερα τῶν ἑτέρων. τὰ ἕτερα τῶν ἑτέρων should be taken quite generally,
τῶν ἑτέρων (and thus, by implication,
τὰ ἕτερα ) having its meaning defined by the clause
ἀλλήλων καὶ τοῦ ὅλου. τὰ ἕτερα τῶν ἑτέρων could be dropped without injury to the sense, but hardly
ἀλλήλων : without
ἀλλήλων Plato would have written
οὐδὲν διαφέρει τὸ ἕτερον τοῦ ἑτέρου καὶ τοῦ ὅλου : cf.
330A
ἆρ’ οὖν οὕτω καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς μόρια οὐκ ἔστιν τὸ ἕτερον οἷον τὸ ἕτερον (not
τὰ ἕτερα οἷα τὰ ἕτερα ); and so
330E
331A
331D
349B
359A
μεταλαμβάνουσιν—μορίων—ἄλλο.
μεταλαμβάνειν, μετέχειν, μεταδιδόναιand the like take an accusative of the part as well as a genitive of the whole.
μεταλαμβάνειν μόριον = ‘to receive a part of a whole’:
μεταλαμβάνειν μορίου = ‘to receive a part of a part’.
ἀνδρεῖοί εἰσιν ἄδικοι δέ
: cf.
Laws, I. 630B
πιστὸς μὲν γὰρ καὶ ὑγιὴς ἐν στάσεσιν οὐκ ἄν ροτε γένοιτο ἄνευ ξυμράσης ἀπετῆς. διαβάντες δ’ εὖ καὶ μαχόμενοι ἐθέλοντες ἀροθνῄσκειν ἐν τῷ ρολέμῳ ὡς φπάζει Τύπταιος τῶν μισθοφόπων εἰσὶ ράμρολλοι, ὧν οἱ ρλεῖστοι γίγνονται θπασεῖς καὶ ἄδικοι καὶ ὑβπισταὶ καὶ ἀφπονέστατοι σχεδὸν ἁπάντων.
καὶ ταῦτα
: for
σοφία and
ἀνδρεία have not yet been named—only
δικαιοσύνη and
σωφροσύνη and
ὁσιότης . See Introd. p. xxxi.
καὶ μέγιστόν γε σοφία
: Protagoras speaks as a
σοφιστής , glorifying his profession.
ἄλλο, τὸ δὲ ἄλλο
: equivalent to
τὸ μὲν ἄλλο, τὸ δὲ ἄλλο. τὸ δέ, τὰ δέ , etc., without preceding
τὸ μέν, τὰ μέν , etc., is a frequent idiom.
Crat. 399A
πολλάκις ἐπεμβάλλομεν γράμματα, τὰ δ’ ἐξαιροῦμεν, Soph.
O.T. 1229
οἶμαι γὰρ οὔτ’ ἂν Ἴστρον οὔτε Φᾶσιν ἂν νίψαι καθαπμῷ τήνδε τὴν στέγην ὅσα κεύθει, τὰ δ’ αὐτίκ’ εἰς τὸ φῶς φανεῖ κακά .
ὥσπερ τὰ τοῦ προσώπου
: we have placed the mark of interrogation before
ὥσπερ : see on
ἄλλο γε in
311E
The sentence
ὥσπερ τὰ τοῦ προσώπου οὐκ ἔστιν ὀφθαλμὸς οἷον τὰ ὦτα thus corresponds exactly to
ἆρ’ οὖν οὕτω καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς μόρια οὐκ ἔστιν τὸ ἕτερον οἷον τὸ ἕτερον . For
τὰ τοῦ προσώπου followed by its parts in the same case cf. below
349A
ἐκεῖνα—τὰ μέν—τὰ δέ and
Theaet. 151A
οἷς ὅταν πάλιν ἔλθωσι—ἐνίοις μὲν—ἀποκωλύει συνεῖναι, ἐνίοις δὲ ἐᾷ. For the asyndeton regular in explanatory and ampliative clauses see note on
Apol. 22A
.
ἀλλ’ οὕτως, ἔφη, ἔχει, ὦ Σώκρατες
. So T: B has only
ἀλλ’ οὕτως, ἔφη . The longer form of answer is more suited to Protagoras' style.
ἡ δικαιοσύνη πρᾶγμά τί ἐστιν
. Cf. below
332A
ἀφροσύνην τι καλεῖς
;
332C
358D
Plato frequently begins a train of reasoning in this way.
καὶ ἐμοί
: so T: B has
καί μοι. καὶ ἐμοί seems slightly better than
κἀμοί , as forming a more effective balance to
ἐμοὶ μέν in the same line.
ὦ Πρωταγόρα τε καὶ Σώκρατες
: but
ἐμέ τε καὶ σέ as Greek usage requires. Protagoras is addressed first on the principle
seniores priores and
honoris causa ; contrast
311D
and cf.
353A
(Kroschel).
εἴπετον
: contrast
311D
εἰπέ μοι, ὦ Σώκρατές τε καὶ Ἱππόκρατες , where see note. The dual gives prominence to the notion in
κοινῇ σκεψώμεθα (l. 29). The connection of this part of the argument with the rest is this: in
330A
330B
it is said that no one part of virtue is
οἷον τὸ ἕτερον , e.g. that
δικαιοσύνη is not
οἷον ὁσιότης (major premise); here it is said that
δικαιοσύνη is
δίκαιον, ὁσιότης ὅσιον (minor premise): from which the conclusion (in the next chapter) is drawn that
δικαιοσύνη is not
ὅσιον , nor
ὁσιότης δίκαιον . This stage of the argument is therefore neither ‘tautological nor unmeaning’, as Grote (quoted by Turner) asserts.
οἷον ἀνόσιον εἷναι ἢ οἷον ὅσιον
. Notice the identification of the ‘not
ὅσιον ’ with
ἀνόσιον : see below on
331A
εὐφήμει, ὦ ἄνθρωπε.
ὦ ἄνθρωπεis somewhat brusque: so
ὦ ἄνθρωποι in
314D
above.
ἄνθρωπε without
ὦ would border on rudeness: e.g.
Gorg. 518C
ἴσως ἂν οὖν ἠγανάκτεις, εἴ σοι ἔλεγον, ἄνθρωπε, οὐδὲν ἐπαΐεις περὶ γυμναστικῆς. εὐφήμειis frequent to express shocked surprise, real or feigned: e.g.
Rep. I.
329C
Meno, 91B
(
Ἡράκλεις, εὐφήμει, ὦ Σώκρατες ),
Gorg. 469A,
Euthyd. 301A
.
οὐκ ἄρα ἐστίν
: the interrogation begins here and
ἄρα is illative.
ἀλλ’ οἷον μὴ ὅσιον
. So far we are entitled to go, but in
τὸ δὲ ἀνόσιον (l. 17) the contrary and the contradictory are confused, as is frequently the case in Plato's dialogues: see note on
Euthyphr. 7A
θεομισές, where are cited
Alcib. II, 138D ff.,
Rep. IV. 437C
; add
Phileb. 48B ff., where
φθόνος is said to be joy at a friend's misfortune because envy of a friend's success implies joy at his ill-luck (cf.
ibid. 50A), and
Euthyd. 276B
οὐκοῦν εἰ μὴ σοφοί, ἀμαθεῖς; πάνυ γε. Plato was not unaware of the rules of logic in this matter (see
Symp. 201E
-202A), but the tendency of Greek thought and life was not to rest content with negations; whence words like
ἀνωφελής, ἄφθονος acquired a positive significance, and Solon could enact (
Ἀθηναίων πολιτεία ch. 8
ad fin. )
ὃς ἂν στασιαζούσης τῆς πόλεως μὴ τιθῆται τὰ ὅπλα μηδὲ μεθ’ ἑτέρων, ἄτιμον εἶναι καὶ τῆς πόλεως μὴ μετέχειν . Part of the argument in the next chapter suffers from the same flaw: see on
332A
l. 3.
ἀλλ’ ἄδικον ἄρα
: Heindorf's emendation for
ἀλλὰ δίκαιον ἄρα , the reading of the best MSS., which
τὸ δὲ ἀνόσιον proves to be wrong and shows how to correct. Heindorf's correction was afterwards confirmed by a Paris MS.
ἄρα is illative. For
τὸ μέν unexpressed (the words are equivalent to
ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἄδικον ἄρα ) before
τὸ δέ see on
330A
ἄλλο, τὸ δὲ ἄλλο .
ὅτι
is ‘because’, not ‘that’: see note on l. 22 below.
δικαιότης ὁσιότητι
. Socrates gives the words the same termination to suggest their closer likeness (‘justness’ to ‘holiness’);
δικαιότης is found also in
Gorg. 508A
as a balance to
κοσμιότητα . Plato was fond of this suffix and coined by it the word
ποιότης
Theaet. 182A
.
καὶ μάλιστα πάντων—οἷον δικαιοσύνη
. Kroschel objects to the emphasis, and inclines to doubt the genuineness of this clause. If
ὅτι in l. 20 is translated as ‘because’ and not as ‘that’, the difficulty disappears.
ταὐτὰ ἂν ταῦτα in l. 20 thus means simply that
δικαιοσύνη is
ὄσιον and
ὁσιότης δίκαιον (ll. 18-19), which is the meaning also assigned to
ταὐτὰ ἂν ταῦτα by Protagoras in his reply (ll. 25 ff.). Socrates (for Protagoras) will reply that
δικαιοσύνη is
ὅσιον and
ὁσιότης δίκαιον for two main reasons: (1) because
δικαιότης is the
same as
ὁσιότης —this he does not much insist on—or because
δικαιότης is
ὅ τιὁμοιότατον ὁσιότητι —this he insists on more: (2) because
δικαιοσύνη is
οἷον ὁσιότης and
ὁσιότης οἷον δικαιοσύνη —this he insists on most of all (
μάλιστα πάντων ), and with reason, because it expressly refutes Protagoras' assertion in
330A
B. On the other hand if
ὅτι is translated as ‘that’, Kroschel's objections can hardly be got over—viz. that
ἤτοι ταὐτόν—δικαιοσύνη is
not the same as Socrates' reply on his own behalf; that the words are ignored both by Protagoras in his reply and by Socrates himself in
333B
and that the emphasis of
μάλιστα πάντων is strained and unnatural.
ἁπλοῦν
: opposed to
ἀλλά τί μοι δοκεῖ ἐν αὐτῶ? διάφορον εἶναι in 27. Plato uses
ἁπλοῦν , as opposed to
διπλοῦν, διάφορον, σύνθετον, πεπλεγμένον, ποικίλον and the like, of that which is uniform, simple, true without any difference or qualifications: Bonitz in
Hermes, II (1867), 307 ff.
μή μοι
: see on
μὴ οὕτως in
318B
τὸ εἰ βούλει τοῦτο—ἐλέγχεσθαι
, cf. below,
333C
τὸν γὰπ λόγον ἔγωγε μάλιστα ἐξετάζω, συμβαίνει μέντοι ἴσως καὶ ἐμὲ τὸν ἐρωτῶντα καὶ τὸν ἀποκρινόμενον ἐξετάζεσθαι . Here
τό , as often, introduces a quotation.
τὸ δ’ ἐμέ τε καὶ σὲ τοῦτο λέγω·
τοῦτο(cf. l. 31) belongs to the
τὸ δ’ ἐμέ τε καὶ σέ and not to
λέγω in the usual sense of
τοῦτο λέγω ‘I mean this’.
τὸ γὰρ λευκὸν τῷ μέλανι
. Anaxagoras went so far as to say that snow was black (because it is still water, though congealed): Ritter and Preller, § 128, n.
b.
ὅπῃ
: an old emendation for
ὃ μή .
ταῦτα
: the parts of the face.
κἂν πάνυ σμικρὸν ἔχῃ τὸ ὅμοιον
. This (the MSS. reading) is successfully defended by Kroschel. The emphasis is on the first part of the sentence (‘it is not right to call what has some likeness like—any more than to call what has some unlikeness unlike—even if the likeness be very small’), to which accordingly
κἂν πάνυ σμικρὸν ἔχῃ τὸ ὅμοιον reverts: compare Socrates' reply, which says nothing of
τὸ ἀνόμοιον , in the next sentence. The German editors (except Cron and Kroschel) either reject
τὸ ὅμοιον (Schanz, Sauppe, Bertram) or read
τὸ ἀνόμοιον ἢ τὸ ὅμοιον (Heindorf) or reject altogether the words
οὐδὲ τὰ ἀνόμοιόν τι ἔχοντα ἀνόμοια (Kral).
ἀφροσύνην τι καλεῖς
. See above on
330C
πότερον δὲ ὅταν
. Here begins the proof that
σωφροσύνη is
ἐναντίον ἀφροσύνῃ . (1)
τὸ ὀρθῶς and
ὠφελίμως πράττειν is
σωφρονεῖν , and
σωφροσύνη is that by which one
σωφρονεῖ ; (2)
τὸ μὴ ὀρθῶς πράττειν is
ἀφρόνως πράττειν and
οὐ σωφρονεῖν : from which it is inferred that
ἀφρόνως πράττειν is the opposite of
σωφρόνως πράττειν , or (as is worked out at inordinate length) that
ἀφροσύνη is the opposite of
σωφροσύνη . In equating
μὴ ὀρθῶς with
ἀφρόνως πράττειν in (2) Socrates again confounds contradictory and contrary: see on
331A
ἢ τοὐναντίον
. So Stallbaum, after Heindorf's
ἢ τοὐναντίον πράττειν : the MSS. have
ἢ εἰ τοὐναντίον ἔπραττον , which is faulty both because it in no way corresponds to the answer
σωφρονεῖν and because
εἰ with the imperfect is here unsuitable. In
ἢ τοὐναντίον it will be observed that Socrates already allows no middle position between
σωφρονεῖν and its opposite: see above on l. 3.
φέρε δή
. From here to l. 24 Socrates tries to prove that a thing can have but one
ἐναντίον . This is true only if we confine
ἐναντίον to the meaning of ‘contradictorily opposite’ throughout, e.g. if we are always content merely to assert that the
ἐναντίον of
καλόν is
μὴ καλόν : as soon as we say that its
ἐναντίον is
αἰσχρόν we have given to the thing two opposites (one of them multiform)—since
μὴ καλόν is not
αἰσχρόν but may be anything in the whole world except
καλόν . This part of the argument is therefore also vitiated by neglecting the difference between contrary and contradictory terms.
ἀναλογισώμεθα
: of reckoning up and reflecting as in
Rep. I.
330E
X. 618C.
ἔμπροσθεν
:
332A
τό
does not belong to
ἕν but to the clause
ἓν ἑνὶ μόνον ἐναντίον εἶναι : cf.
τὸ εἰ βούλει τοῦτο in
331C
ἐκεῖνον refers to ch. XVIII.
οὐ πάνυ μουσικῶς—συναρμόττουσιν
. ‘In his lenem agnosco Sophistae irrisionem, qui supra §43’ (
326B
‘
πάντα τὸν βίον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὐρυθμίας τε καὶ εὐαρμοστίας δεῖσθαι dixisset’, Heindorf.
πλείω δὲ μή
. B reads
πλείοσιν, Τ πλείοσι :
πλείω is a suggestion of Heindorf's, adopted by most editors. The nominatives
ἓν μόνον in l. 48 and
σοφία and
σωφροσύνη in 50 are strongly in favour of
πλείω . If
πλείοσιν is retained, it must be regarded as a blemish in Plato's style.
τἀ λοιπά
. If
δικαιοσύνη =
ὁσιότης and
σωφροσύνη =
σοφία it remains to identify either
δικαιοσύνη or
ὁσιότης with either
σωφροσύνη or
σοφία in order to prove the identity of these four virtues. Socrates begins to prove that
δικαιοσύνη =
σωφροσύνη .
ὅτι ἀδικεῖ
:
ὅτι (cf. below,
333D
and
Parm. 155E) is equivalent to
κατὰ τοῦτο ὅ : cf.
Rep. I. 340D
ἐπεὶ αὐτίκα ἰατρὸν καλεῖς σὺ τὸν ἐξαμαπτάνοντα ρεπὶ τοὺς κάμνοντας κατ’ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὃ ἐξαμαρτάνει; ὅ τιthe relative and
ὅτι the conjunction shade into one another here. There is much to be said for Cron's view that the words should be written alike: see on
Apology, Appendix II, p. 123.
πολλοί γέ φασιν
. In
Rep. I. 348B
ff., Thrasymachus asserts that
ἀδικία is
εὐβουλία, ἀρετή, καλόν and
ἰσχυρόν : compare also Polus in
Gorg. 469B
ff. Notice that Protagoras'
own opinion —that
ἀδικία is not compatible with
σωφροσύνη —makes for the identification of
δικαιοσύνη and
σωφροσύνη .
τὸν τῶν πολλῶν
: on account of the
τῶν here, Heindorf wished to insert
οἱ before
πολλοί in l. 59, but such a view could hardly be said to be held by the majority: cf.
Rep. I. 348E
εἰ γὰρ λυσιτελεῖν μὲν τὴν ἀδικίαν ἐτίθεσο, κακίαν μέντοι ἢ αἰσχπὸν αὐτὸ ὡμολόγεις εἶναι ὥσρεπ ἄλλοι τινές, εἴχομεν ἄν τι λέγειν κατὰ τὰ νομιζόμενα λέγοντες κτλ.As Sauppe points out, the article
τῶν refers only to the above-mentioned
πολλοί . With the situation cf.
Rep. VII. 527E
ff.
σκόπει οὖν αὐτόθεν πρὸς ποτέρους διαλέγει· ἢ οὐ ρπὸς οὐδετέπους ἀλλὰ σαυτοῦ ἕνεκα τὸ μέγιστον ροιεῖ τοὺς λόγους, φθονοῖς μὴν οὐδ’ ἂν ἄλλω? εἴ τίς τι δύναιτο ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὄνασθαι ;
εἴτ’ οὖν—εἴτε
: see on
Apol. 34E
.
ἐκαλλωπίζετο
. Cf.
Phaedr. 236D
παῦσαι πρός με καλλωπιζόμενος· σχεδὸν γὰρ ἔχω ὃ εἰπὼν ἀναγκάσω σε λέγειν; so also
τρυφᾶν , cf.
Euthyphr. 11 E
ἐπειδὴ δέ μοι δοκεῖς σὺ τρυφᾶν, αὐτός σοι ξυμπροθυμήσομαι , where see note.
ἔστω
. Protagoras has already disclaimed this view in
333B
ὅτι ἀδικοῦσιν
: Hirschig suggested
ὅ τι ἀδικοῦσιν , but see on
333B
Schanz rejects the words, but without sufficient reason.
εὖ πράττουσιν ἀδικοῦντες.
εὖis here primarily of success, and
κακῶς of failure, but the collocation of
εὖ πράττειν with
ἀδικεῖν is intended to suggest that the view which Protagoras is defending is a paradox. Plato frequently makes use of the double sense (as we should call it; but see on
Euthyphr, 3A
) of
εὖ πράττειν, εὖ ζῆν and the like, to imply that the virtuous life is the happy one: e.g.
Alcib. I, 116B ff.;
Rep. I. 353E
ff.;
Charm. 172A, 173D; cf.
Euthyd. 281C
.
λέγεις οὖν ἀγαθά
. Socrates proceeds to elucidate the definition of
εὖ in
εὖ πράττειν .
ὠφέλιμα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις
: Xen.
Mem. IV. 6. 8
ἄλλο δ’ ἄν τι φαίης ἀγαθὸν εἶναι ἢ τὸ ὠφέλιμον; οὐκ ἔγωγ’, ἔφη. τὸ ἄπα ὠφέλιμον ἀγαθόν ἐστιν ὅτῳ ἂν ὠφέλιμον ᾖ; δοκεῖ μοι, ἔφη . Plato,
Rep. II. 379B
τί δέ; ὠφέλιμον τὸ ἀγαθόν; ναί.
ἀγωνιᾶν καὶ παρατετάχθαι
. The martial metaphor in the desiderative
ἀγωνιᾶν is carried on by
παρατετάχθαι , which is the MSS. reading, and means literally ‘to be set in array’, cf. Thuc. IV. 43. 3
οὗτοι γὰρ παρατεταγμένοι ἦσαν ἔσχατοι . For the metaphorical use cf.
Rep. III. 399B
ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις παρατεταγμένως καὶ καρτερούντως ἀμυνουμένου τὴν τύχην. The whole clause describes the outward demeanour of Protagoras, which causes Socrates to fear an imminent personal conflict. Kock's
παρατετάσθαι , accepted by Schanz, does not suit, since
παρατετάσθαι means ‘to be tired, worn out’, e.g.
Euthyd. 303B
καὶ γελῶντε καὶ κροτοῦντε . . . ὀλίγου παρετάθησαν, cf.
Ar.
Clouds, 213
. It is noteworthy that
συντεταγμένως and
συντεταμένως are frequently found as variants in Platonic MSS.
οὐδαμῶς, ἔφη
. The argument is here broken off, and not (in its present form) again resumed. If Socrates had continued, Protagoras would doubtless have asserted that what is
ὠφέλιμον for man is
for him
ἀγαθόν . The argument has therefore been:
σωφρονεῖν , it is said, is
ἀδικεῖν . But
σωφρονεῖν =
εὖ φρονεῖν =
εὖ βουλεύεσθαι
if (but only if)
εὖ πράττειν (i.e.
ὠφέλιμα πράττειν ) accompanies
εὐβουλία . In other words
ὠφέλιμα πράττειν =
ἀδικεῖν is the stage which we have reached—a thesis which it is the object of the
Republic and of a large part of the
Gorgias to refute.
πολλὰ οἶδ’ ἅ
. The speech which follows may be from some work by Protagoras (so recently Zeller in the
Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, V, 2, 177), perhaps his
περὶ ἀρετῶν , mentioned by Diog. Laert. IX. 8. 55 (since
ἀρετή is a general word for excellence). Zeller points out that just as the notion ‘true’ was conceived by Protagoras (in his
πάντων μέτρον ἄνθρωπος ) as relative, so here the notion ‘good’ is represented as relative and varying with that to which it is relative.
ἀνθρώποις μὲν—ὠφέλιμα
:
ἀνθρώποις μέν has no antithesis expressed: were the antitheses expressed in full, the sentence would be very cumbrous, running somewhat as follows:
ἔγωγε πολλὰ οἶδ’ ἃ ἀνθρώποις μὲν <τὰ μὲν> ἀνωφελῆ ἐστί, καὶ σιτία—μυπία, <τοῖς δὲἄλλοις ζῴοις καὶ φυτοῖς ὠφέλιμα>, τὰ δέ γε ὠφέλιμα <τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις ἀνωφελῆ> . For
μέν without a balancing clause see on
τὸ μὲν καταγελασθῆναι in
Euthyphr. 3C
, and on
330A
above for
τὰ δέ without a preceding
τὰ μέν. ἀνωφελῆ is ‘hurtful’, as frequently: see above on
οἷον μὴ ὅσιον in
331A
With Protagoras' classification of
ὠφέλιμα—ἀνωφελῆ—οὐδέτερα cf.
Gorg. 467E
ἆρ’ οὖν ἔστιν τι τῶν ὄντων, ὃ οὐχὶ ἤτοι ἀγαθόν γ’ ἐστὶν ἢ κακὸν ἢ μεταξὺ τούτων οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὔτε κακόν(where see Thompson's note) and below,
351D
οὐδενί
: Schanz follows Naber in reading
οὐδέσι against the MSS. both here and in
Euthyd. 302C
. The plural would be more appropriate here, but what is denied of all individuals is denied of the species, and the dative plural of
οὐδείς seems to lack authority.
εἰ δ’ ἐθέλοις—πάντα ἀπόλλυσιν
. Heindorf suggests
εἰ δ’ ἐθέλεις —the indicative being generally used in this phrase, e.g.
Alcib. I, 122B
εἰ δ’ αὖ ἐθέλεις εἰς πλούτους ἀποβλέψαι κτλ., αἰσχυνθείης ἂν ἐπὶ σαυτῷ —but Goodwin,
M.T. p. 188, § 500, quotes a precisely similar example from Thuc. II. 39. 5
καίτοι εἰ π(αθυμίᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ ρόνων μελέτῃ—ἐθέλοιμεν κινδυνεύειν, ρεπιγίγνεται ἡμῖν κτλ. In both examples the present in the apodosis contains a reference to the future.
φυτοῖς—πάγκακον
. Theophr.
Hist. Plant. IV. 16. 5
πολέμιον γὰρ δὴ καὶ τοῦτο (sc.
τὸ ἔλαιον )
πᾶσι· καὶ ἔλαιον ἐπιχέουσι τοῖς ὑρολείμμασι τῶν π(ιζῶν· ἰσχύει δὲ μᾶλλον τὸ ἔλαιον ἐν τοῖς νέοις καὶ ἄρτι φυομένοις· ἀσθενέστερα γάρ κτλ.
ταῖς θριξὶν—ἀνθρώπου
. Arist.
περὶ ζῴων γενέσεως V. 5. 785
a . 30 ff. says that a mixture of oil and water is a remedy against grey hairs.
ἐνταῦθα
, i.e.
ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ .
ταὐτόν
. This form, not
ταὐτό , of the neuter of
ὁ αὐτός is almost regular in Plato: see on
314B
μέλλει
, sc.
ὁ ἀσθενῶν : see on
319D
ὅσον μόνον
‘just enough to’. Cf.
Rep. III. 416E
δέχεσθαι μισθὸν τῆς φυλακῆς τοσοῦτον, ὅσον μήτε ρεπιεῖναι αὐτοῖς. . .μήτε ἐνδεῖν,
Theaet. 161B
ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν ἐπίσταμαι πλέον πλὴν βραχέος, ὅσον λόγον παρ’ ἑτέρου σοφοῦ λαβεῖν καὶ ἀποδέξασθαι μετρίως .
τὴν δυσχέρειαν—ὄψοις
. The nausea is of course that felt by a sick person at the smell of food: so far there is therefore no reason for holding
ῥινῶν to be corrupt and reading
χυμῶν (as Kroschel formerly read), still less
εὐκρινῶν with Bergk. But it is not clear how oil could thus prevent nausea, nor does there seem to be any parallel among the ancients to such a statement. It is known that the ancients (like many modern peoples) used oil in cooking much as we use butter (see Blümner's
Privataltherthümer, p. 228), but the present passage seems rather to point to the use of some kind of fragrant oil sprinkled on the food after it was cooked. The Greeks were at all events not unfamiliar with the use of scents in banqueting: see Xen.
Symp. II. 2 ff. Kroschel thinks Plato is making fun of Protagoras by putting into his mouth the word ‘
ῥινῶν pro
πικρῶν vel
χυμῶν ’, but this view will hardly command assent.
καὶ βραχυτέρας ποίει
. Hirschig would reject the words, but they explain the metaphor in
σύντεμνε : see on
314A
κυβεύῃς τε καὶ κινδυνεύῃς .
ὅσα ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ
. Cf.
Gorg. 461D
τί δέ; οὐκ ἐξέσται μοι λέγειν ὁπόσα ἂν βούλωμαι
;
καὶ αὖ βραχέα
. Sauppe cites
Gorg. 449C
καὶ γὰρ αὖ καὶ τοῦτο ἕν ἐστιν ὧν φημί, μηδένα ἂν ἐν βπαχυτέποις ἐμοῦ τὰ αὐτὰ εἰρεῖν. Τούτου μὴν δεῖ, ὦ Γοπγία· καί μοι ἐρίδειξιν αὐτοῦ τούτου ροίησαι, τῆς βραχυλογίας, μακρολογίας δὲ εἰσαῦθις; cf. also
Gorg. 461D
and
Phaedr. 267B
.
ὡς ὁ ἀντιλέγων—οὕτω διελεγόμην
. Asyndeton is frequent in such sentences: cf.
Rep. II. 359B
(cited by Heindorf)
εἰ τοιόνδε ποιήσαιμεν τῇ διανοίᾳ, δόντες ἐξουσίαν—εἶτ’ ἐπακολουθήσαιμεν κτλ. See on
311E
ἐγένετο Πρωταγόρου ὄνομα
. With
ἐγένετο ὄνομα (for which Kroschel reads
ἐλέγετο ὄνομα ) cf.
Apol. 20D
τί ποτ’ ἔστιν τοῦτο ὃ ἐμοὶ πεποίηκε τό τε ὄνομα καὶ τὴν διαβολήν:
γίγνεσθαι is the usual passive to
ποιεῖν . With the sentence generally cf.
Euthyphr. 4E-5A, where Euthyphro says
οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄν μου ὄφελος εἴη, ὦ Σώκπατες, οὐδέ τῳ ἂν διαφέποι Εὐθύφπων τῶν ρολλῶν ἀνθπώρων, εἰ μὴ κτλ. : see note
in loc. for more parallels.
οὐκ ἤρεσεν—καὶ—οὐκ ἐθελήσοι
. The combination of indicative and optative in the same sentence in indirect speech is fairly common: Goodwin,
M.T. p. 261, § 670.
ἡγησάμενος
. Heindorf conjectures
ἡγησάμενος οὖν , but
οὖν may be dispensed with after a short parenthesis.
τὰ μακρὰ ταῦτα ἀδύνατος
.
Meno, 94B
ἴνα δὲ μὴ ὀλίγους οἴη? καὶ τοὺς φαυλοτάτους Ἀθηναίων ἀδυνάτους γεγονέναι τοῦτο τὸ πρᾶγμα;
Rep. VI. 478A
ἐφ’ ἑτέρῳ ἄρα ἕτερόν τι δυναμένη ἑκατέρα αὐτῶν πέφυκεν.
ἵνα συνουσία ἐγίγνετο
. For this construction see note on
Crito, 44D
εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον—οἷοί τ’ εἶναι—ἴνα οἷοί τ’ ἦσαν. A secondary tense of the indicative is found with
ἴνα and
ὅπως (without
ἄν ) in final clauses dependent on a wish which can no longer be fulfilled, or on the apodosis to an impossible protasis: Goodwin,
M.T. p. 120, § 333. The idiom is frequent in Plato and sometimes corrupted by scribes, e.g.
Meno, 89B
ἡμεῖς ἂν παραλαβόντες—ἐφυλάττομεν—ἵνα μηδεὶς αὐτοὺς διέφθειρεν, ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ ἀφίκοιντο εἰς τὴν ἡλικίαν, χρήσιμοι γίγνοιντο ταῖς πόλεσιν—where perhaps we should read
ἀφίκοντο and
ἐγίγνοντο . See Cobet's
Variae Lectiones, pp. 102, 359.
τρίβωνος
. The ordinary clothing of an Athenian consisted of a
χιτών , or shirt, with a
ἱμάτιον or short mantle worn above it. The
τρίβων was a short cloak of coarse material worn by the Spartans and sometimes by the Laconisers in other states to take the place of both
χιτών and
ἱμάτιον . It was the ordinary garment of Socrates (
Symp. 219B
), and was afterwards much affected by the more ascetic philosophers, such as the Cynics (Diog. Laert. VI. I. 13). Its use was supposed to be a mark of sturdy simplicity and austerity of manners.
οὐδ’ ἂν ἑνός
. The two parts of
οὐδείς are sometimes separated by
ἄν or a preposition, often with the effect (as here) of increasing the emphasis by making
οὐδέ =
ne—quidem, cf. below
343D
οὐδὲ πρὸς ἔνα λόγον .
ὦ παῖ Ἱππονίκου
: see on
328D
above. With
ἀεὶ μὲν— ἀτάρ Sauppe compares
Rep. II. 367E
καὶ ἐγὼ ἀκούσας ἀεὶ μὲν δὴ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ τε Γλαύκωνος καὶ τοῦ Ἁδειμάντου ἠγάμην, ἀτὰπ οὖν καὶ τότε πάνυ γε ἥσθην.
φιλοσοφίαν
. The original meaning of the word
φιλοσοφία was ‘love of knowledge for its own sake’, no particular kind of knowledge being specified. The verb
φιλοσοφεῖν is first found in
Hdt. I. 30
ὡς φιλοσοφέων γῆν πολλὴν θεωρίης εἵνεκεν ἐπελήλυθας . In the present passage (as in Thuc. II. 40
φιλοσοφοῦμεν ἄνευ μαλακίας ) the word retains its original wider meaning, viz, ‘love of knowledge’ in general; but side by side with this in Plato it has the more restricted meaning of ‘Philosophy’, e.g.
Rep. VI. 496A
πάνσμικρον δή τι. . .λείπεται τῶν κατ’ ἀξίαν ὁμιλούντων φιλοσοφίᾳ. The wider meaning is also found in Aristotle, where he calls Theology the ‘Highest Study’ (
πρώτη φιλοσοφία ), and elsewhere.
Κρίσωνι
. Criso of Himera, a famous
σταδιοδρόμος , won three times at Olympia, viz. Olymp. 83, 84 and 85 (448, 444 and 440 B.C.). His chastity during his prime as an athlete is mentioned in
Laws, VIII. 840A
.
δρομεῖ ἀκμάζοντι is rejected by some editors, but
δρομεῖ should be taken with
Ἱμεραίῳ and
ἀκμάζοντι with
ἕπεσθαι : ‘to keep up with Criso, the runner of Himera, when he was in his prime’—presumably at the assumed date of this dialogue he was past his
ἀκμή .
δολιχοδρόμων
:
δολιχοδρόμοι εἰσὶν οἱ τὸν δόλιχον τρέχοντες , says the scholiast: see on
329A
ἡμεροδρόμων
. Heindorf quotes Livy, XXXI. 24. 4 ‘Hemerodromos vocant Graeci ingens die uno cursu emetientes spatium.’ Such was Phidippides; see
Hdt. VI. 105
ἡμεροδρόμην τε καὶ τοῦτο μελετῶντα .
διαθεῖν τε καὶ ἕπεσθαι.
δια‐in compounds frequently denotes competition: for
διαθεῖν cf.
Theaet. 148C
εἶτα διαθέων τοῦ ἀκμάζοντος καὶ ταχίστου ἡττήθης. As the emphasis is on
ἕπεσθαι (‘keep up with’),
διαθεῖν τε καὶ ἕπεσθαι is equivalent to
διαθέοντα ἕπεσθαι : cf. note on
317C
ἐνδείξασθαι καὶ καλλωπίσασθαι , where
καὶ καλλωπίσασθαι is (so to speak) enclitic as
διαθεῖν τε καί is proclitic (cf. the English ‘Some—must be talked over by the hour before they could reach the humblest decision, which they only left the office
to return again (ten minutes later)
and rescind ’).
συγκαθεῖναι
: intransitive as in
Rep. VIII. 563A
οἱ δὲ γέροντες ξυγκαθιέντες τοῖς νέοις: so
παρέχω for
παρέχω ἐμαυτόν below,
348A
ἕτοιμός εἰμί σοι παρέχειν ἀποκρινόμενος : cf. also
ἐκεῖνοί τε ἀπέκρυψαν (sc.
ἑαυτούς ) Thuc. V. 65. 5. The omission of the reflexive pronoun is a well-recognised way of making transitive verbs into intransitive.
χωρίς
. Soph.
O.C. 808
χωρὶς τό τ’ εἰπεῖν πολλὰ καὶ τὰ καίρια . ‘In talibus locis
δίχα, χωρίς etc. non, ut vulgo, seiunctionem et separationem, sed diversitatem et oppositionem significant’ (Kroschel). The usage is frequent in Plato.
δημηγορεῖν is
contionari —platform oratory.
ὁρᾷς
. Almost like our colloquial ‘don't you know’ (when used parenthetically and without interrogative force): the
ἀλλά belongs in strict logic to
δίκαια δοκεῖ λέγειν . Heindorf quotes parallels from Aristophanes, e.g.
Peace, 330-1
οὐκἂν ὀρχησαίμεθ’, εἴπερ ὠφελήσαιμέν τί σε. ἀλλ’ ὁρᾶτ’, οὔπω πέπαυσθε . Where
ὁρᾷς or
ὁρᾶτε stand in this way as the first word of a sentence, editors generally regard the usage as interrogative, e.g. Eur.
Orest. 581
ὁρᾷς; Ὀδυσσέως ἄλοχον οὐ κατέκτανε .
καὶ σύ
. So the original hand in T: B has
καί σοι . If we read
καὶ σοί , the construction is
ἀξιῶν αὑτῷ τε ἐξεῖναι διαλέγεσθαι ὅπως βούλεται καὶ σοὶ ἐξεῖναι κτλ. , but
Protagoras has nowhere asked that Socrates should be permitted to converse as he likes: quite the contrary. With
σύ the construction is
καὶ σὺ δίκαια δοκεῖς λέγειν ἀξιῶν διαλέγεσθαι ὅπως ἂν κτλ. , i.e. and
your demand that Protagoras should converse as
you wish likewise seems fair. Protagoras asked to be allowed to use his own style in
335A
Socrates requested that Protagoras should converse as Socrates wished in
334D
335C
335E
Alcibiades' defence of Socrates in the next chapter seems also to imply the reading
σύ here. The only objection to this view lies in the position of
τε after
αὑτῷ : we should expect it to follow
Πρωταγόρας. τε is however frequently misplaced (see above on
316D
.
σοί can only be retained if we either (1) take
καὶ σοί as altogether independent of
ἀξιῶν — which is barely possible, or (2) regard Plato as guilty of inaccurate writing.
λόγον τε δοῦναι καὶ δέξασθαι
. We should expect
τε to follow
δοῦναι : see on
316D
ἐκκρούων
. ‘Vox ducta a pugilatu, cuius proprium
κρούειν de rep. IV. p. 422B
οὐδ’ εἰ ἐξείη—ὑποφεύγοντι (
τῷ πύκτῃ )
τὸν πρότερον αἰεὶ προσφερόμενον ἀναστρέφοντα κρούειν etc.’ Heindorf. The simple verb is used metaphorically in
Theaet. 154E of beating arguments with arguments,
ἤδη ἂν—συνελθόντες σοφιστικῶς εἰς μάχην τοιαύτην ἀλλήλων τοὺς λόγους τοῖς λόγοις ἐκρούομεν , and the compound in
Phaedr. 228E
ἐκκέκρουκάς με ἐλπίδος. Here the idea is of beating off, staving off by force, i.e. here by
μακρηγορία :
ἐκκρούειν δίκην is used by Demosthenes of staving off a trial by
συκοφαντία and the like.
οὐχ ὅτι
: ‘not but what’. The idiom (as if
οὐ λέγω ὅτι ,
omitto quod ) is tolerably common in Plato, e.g.
Gorg. 450E
οὐχ ὅτι τῷ ῥήματι οὕτως εἶπες,
Theaet. 157B
τὸ δ’ εἶναι πανταχόθεν ἐξαιρετέον, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς—ἠναγκάσμεθα—χρῆσθαι αὐτῷ.
χρὴ γὰρ κτλ.
: said apologetically.
φιλόνικος
. The MSS. read
φιλόνεικος and presently
συμφιλονεικεῖν . It is however clear that the word comes from
φιλο‐ and
νίκη , not from
φιλο‐ and
νεῖκος (in which case the form would be
φιλονεικής : compare
φιλοκερδής, φιλοκυδής , but
φιλότιμος, φιλόδοξος, φιλόθηρος and the like). Schanz has found only two traces of the original spelling with iota in Plato's MSS. (A, B, T): viz. in
Laws, XI. 935B
, where Paris A has
ἀριστείων πέρι φιλονικήσῃ , and
Alcib. I, 122C, where
φιλονικίαν appears as a correction for
φιλονεικίαν in T. We might in consequence be tempted to suppose that Plato himself wrote
φιλόνεικος through the influence of a false etymology, were it not that the derivation from
νίκη alone suits the meaning, and that in more than one passage he shows himself conscious of the connection of the word with
νίκη , notably in
Rep. IX. 586C
τί δέ; περὶ τὸ θυμοειδὲς
οὐχ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα ἀνάγκη γίγνεσθαι, ὃς ἂν αὐτὸ τοῦτο διαπράττηται ἢ φθόνῳ διὰ φιλοτιμίαν ἢ βίᾳ διὰ φιλονικίαν(
φιλονεικίαν Α )
ἢ θυμῷ διὰ δυσκολίαν, ρλησμονὴν τιμῆς τε καὶ νίκης καὶ θυμοῦ διώκων ἄνευ λογισμοῦ τε καὶ νοῦ
; Cf. also
ibid. 581A-B. The orthography of this word is an old subject of dispute (see Stallbaum on
Rep. VIII. 545A
); Schanz (Preface to vol. VI, p. X) declares himself, after a full discussion, for
φιλόνικος .
ὁ Πρόδικος—ἔφη
. Prodicus contrives to make his remarks an
ἐπίδειξις on
ὀρθότης ὀνομάτων , which was his leading subject of instruction: see
Euthyd. 277E
and cf. above on
314C
The distinctions drawn by Prodicus are on the whole sound if somewhat wiredrawn and pedantic. The carefully balanced style of the speech finds a parallel in the story of Heracles in Xen.
Mem. II. I. 21 ff.: cf. especially §§ 31-3.
κοινοὺς—ἀκροατάς—ἴσους.
κοινόςand
ἴσος are found as epithets of
ἀκροατής in the orators: e.g. Dem.
De Cor. 7
τὰ τοῦ λέγοντος ὑστέπου δίκαια εὐνοϊκῶς ρποσδέξεται καὶ ραπασχὼν ἑαυτὸν ἴσον καὶ κοινὸν ἀμφοτέποις ἀκποατὴν οὕτω τὴν διάγνωσιν ποιήσεται περὶ πάντων , and Andoc.
in Alcib. § 7
δέομαι δ’ ὑμῶν, τῶν λόγων ἴσους καὶ κοινοὺς ἡμῖν ἐπιστάτας γενέσθαι (Heindorf).
τῷ μὲν σοφωτέρῳ πλέον κτλ.
In other words
ἰσότης γεωμετρική and not
ἰσότης ἀριθμητική should be observed by the audience (
Gorg. 508A
): the regard paid to the speakers should be in proportion to their merit.
ἀμφισβητεῖν—ἐρίζειν
. Cicero's translation of this sentence is preserved by Priscian (Nobbe's
Cicero, p. 1313): ‘Nunc a vobis, a Protagora et Socrate (
leg. o Protagora et Socrates), postulo, ut de isto concedatis alter alteri, et inter vos de huiuscemodi rebus controversemini, non concertetis.’
εὐδοκιμοῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἐπαινοῖσθε
. Heindorf suggests that
ἀλλ’ οὐκ should be written for
καὶ οὐκ , or
καί omitted; but
καί is occasionally used in this way.
ἄνευ ἀπάτης
is opposed to
παρὰ δόξαν ψευδομένων :
εὐδοκιμεῖν implies that he with whom one
εὐδοκιμεῖ is sincere.
ἐν λόγῳ as opposed to
παρὰ ταῖς ψυχαῖς suggests Shak. ‘Mouthhonour, breath, which the poor heart would fain deny, but dare not’.
εὐφραίνεσθαι
is connected by Prodicus with
φρόνησις (
φρονήσεως μεταλαμβάνοντα ): for a fantastic derivation of the kindred
εὐφροσύνη see
Crat. 419D
παντὶ γὰρ δῆλον ὅτι ἀπὸ τοῦ εὖ τοῖς ρπάγμασι τὴν ψυχὴν ξυμφέπεσθαι τοῦτο ἔλαβε τὸ ὄνομα, εὐφεροσύνην, τό γε δίκαιον· ὅμως δὲ αὐτὸ καλοῦμεν εὐφροσύνην. Cf. Ar.
Top. II. 6, p. 112
b . 22
Πρόδικος διῃρεῖτο τὰς ἡδονὰς εἰς χαρὰν καὶ τέρψιν καὶ εὐφροσύνην . The Greek usage of this word hardly conformed to the rule laid down by Prodicus.
αὐτῇ τῇ διανοίᾳ
:
αὐτῆ? is ‘by itself’, i.e. without the body, as
αὐτῷ in
αὐτῷ τῷ σώματι is without the mind.
ἡδύ is introduced to give the derivation of
ἥδεσθαι .
τύραννος—βιάζεται
. Hippias has in view the lines of Pindar quoted in
Gorg. 484B
νόμος ὁ πάντων βασιλεὺς θνατῶν τε καὶ ἀθανάτων—ἄγε. δικαιῶν τὸ βιαιότατον ὑπερτάτᾳ χειρὶ κτλ.
πρυτανεῖον τῆς σοφίας
. The prytaneum (like the temple of Vesta at Rome) was the religious centre of a Greek
πόλις . It was sacred to
Ἑστία , in whose honour fire was always kept burning, and contained what was called the ‘Common Hearth’ of the city: see Frazer in
Journal of Philology, XIV, 145-72. The editors refer to Athenaeus, v. 187D
τὴν Ἀθηναίων ρόλιν, τὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος μουσεῖον, ἣν ὁ μὲν Ρίνδαπος Ἑλλάδος ἔπεισμα ἔφη, Θουκυδίδης δ’ ἐν τῷ εἰς Εὐπιρίδην ἐριγπάμματι Ἑλλάδος Ἑλλάδα, ὁ δὲ Πύθιος ἑστίαν καὶ πρυτανεῖον τῶν Ἑλλήνων .
συμβῆναι—ὥσπερ ὑπὸ διαιτητῶν ἡμῶν συμβιβαζόντων.
συμβαίνωforms a passive to
συμβιβάζω as
πάσχειν to
ποιεῖν , whence
ὑπό : see note on
Apol. 17A
.
συμβιβάζω is regular in the sense of bringing together, effecting an arrangement between: cf. (with Sauppe) Thuc. II. 29. 6
ξυνεβίβασε δὲ καὶ τὸν Περδίκκαν τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις . Note that
ἡμῶν has no preposition with it—this is frequent (but not universal) in similes where
ὥσπερ and a preposition precede the object compared, and the effect is almost to make the simile an identification: if on the other hand the object compared comes first, the preposition must be expressed twice. Cf.
Theaet. 170A
ὥσπερ πρὸς θεοὺς ἔχειν τοὺς ἐν ἑκάστοις ἄρχοντας(which might have been
πρὸς τοὺς ἐν ἑκάστοις ἄρχοντας ὥσπερ πρὸς θεοὺς ἔχειν ) and see notes on
Crito, 46C
,
Euthyphr. 2C
.
λίαν
: with
ζητεῖν :
κατὰ βραχύ as in
Gorg. 449B
ἀλλ’ ἐθέλησον κατὰ βραχὺ τὸ ἐρωτώμενον ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
ἐφεῖναι καὶ χαλάσαι τὰς ἡνίας τοῖς λόγοις
. For the metaphor Kroschel compares
Laws, III. 701C
καθάπερ ἀχάλινον κεκτημένον τὸ στόμα, βίᾳ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου φερόμενον κτλ.
ἡμῖν
: so most editions: BT have
ὑμῖν , which can hardly be right, as Hippias is at this moment addressing Socrates alone. ‘Pro
ὑμῖν dici potuit
σοί , sed
ὑμιν recte explicari nequit’ (Kroschel).
πάντα κάλων ἐκτείναντα.
παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ χρωμένων, says a scholiast (quoted by Sauppe). This nautical metaphor means to stretch out every reefing rope and so set all sail:
κάλως does not refer to the sheet, which is
πούς. κινεῖν, σείειν, ἐξιέναι, ἐφιέναι, ἐκλύειν are also found with
κάλων in much the same sense.
οὐρίᾳ ἐφέντα
: see on
συγκαθεῖναι
336A
For the asyndeton before these words Heindorf compares
Euthyphr. 4C
συνδήσας τοὺς ρόδας καὶ τὰς χεῖπας αὐτοῦ, καταβαλὼν εἰς τάφπον τινά, ρέμρει δεῦρο ἄνδρα κτλ.
πέλαγος τῶν λόγων
. Sauppe aptly refers to
Symp. 210D
ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ πέλαγος τετραμμένος τοῦ καλοῦ . Similar metaphors abound in Plato: e.g.
Euthyd. 293A
σῶσαι ἡμᾶς—ἐκ τῆς τρικυμίας τοῦ λόγου,
Rep. V. 472A
ἴσως γὰρ οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι μόγις μοι τὼ δύο κύματε ἐκφυγόντι νῦν τὸ μέγιστον καὶ χαλερώτατον τῆς τρικυμίας ἐπάγεις κτλ.
ἀποκρύψαντα
: like Virgil's ‘protinus aerias Phaeacum abscondimus arces’ (
Aen. III. 291): cf. the use of
καταδύω in Callimachus,
Epigr. 2
ἥλιον ἐν λέσχῃ κατεδύσαμεν and Virgil's imitation ‘saepe ego longos Cantando puerum memini me condere soles’ (
Ecl. IX. 51).
μέσον τι—τεμεῖν.
τέμνειν ὁδόνlike
secare viam is a natural metaphor. Cf. Pindar,
Isthm. VI. 22
μυρίαι δ’ ἔργων καλῶν τέτμηνθ’ ἑκατόμπεδοι ἐν σχερῷ κέλευθοι , Pl.
Laws, VII. 803E
τὸ μὲν τῶν τύπων εἴρηται καὶ καθάπερ ὁδοὶ τέτμηνται καθ’ ἃς ἰτέον κτλ. Here
μέσον τι τεμεῖν =
μέσην τινὰ ὁδὸν τεμεῖν .
ὣς οὖν ποιήσατε καὶ πείθεσθε.
ὥς(so B: T has
ὡς ) is best understood as for
οὕτως —a rare usage, except after a preceding
ὡς or
ὥσπερ as in
326D
but it is found in Thuc. III. 37. 5 (with
οὖν and a form of
ποιεῖν as here)
ὣς οὖν χρὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς ποιοῦντας— παραινεῖν . For
ποιήσατε the MSS. read
ποιήσετε , which is very harsh before
πείθεσθε , and is probably a mistake for
ποιήσατε , due to the influence of the common construction of
ὅπως with 2nd person fut. ind. It is, however, possible that this use of the future as well as the use of
ὥς for
οὕτως was characteristic of Hippias' style.
ῥαβδοῦχον—πρύτανιν.
ῥαβδοῦχος, ἐπιστάτηςand
βραβευτής are said of umpires or presidents at games:
ῥαβδούχους εἶπε τοὺς κριτὰς τοῦ ἀγῶνος , says the schol. on
Ar.
Peace, 733
; for
ἐπιστάτης cf.
Laws, XII. 949A
γυμνικῶν τε καὶ ἱππικῶν ἄθλων ἐπιστάτας καὶ βραβέας. πρύτανιςis an old word with lofty associations for ruler or prince. Cron thinks Hippias made this proposal with a view to being chosen President himself; he was probably still sitting on his
θρόνος , cf.
315B
317D
τὸ μέτριον μῆκος
:
Phaedr. 267B
αὐτὸς (sc.
ὁ Πρόδικος )
εὑρηκέναι ἔφη ὧν δεῖ λόγων τέχνην· δεῖν δὲ οὔτε μακρῶν οὔτε βραχέων, ἀλλὰ μετρίων .
ἀλλὰ δή
like
at enim introduces a possible objection: see on
Crito, 54A
. The fuller form of the comparative (
βελτίονα and the like) is less common in Plato than the contracted.
ὥστε
. Heindorf cites (
inter alia )
Phaedr. 269D
τὸ μὲν δύνασθαι, ὦ Φαῖδρε, ὥστε ἀγωνιστὴν τέλεον γενέσθαι. The insertion of
ὥστε with the usual infinitive after
ἀδύνατον increases the emphasis of
ἀδύνατον by making it appear more than a mere auxiliary notion. Badham's conjecture
ἀδύνατον ὂν ὑμῖν ἴστε deserves mention for its ingenuity. For
Πρωταγόρου see above, note on
318D
τό γ’ ἐμὸν οὐδὲν διαφέρει
.
Gorg. 458D
τό γ’ ἐμὸν οὐδὲν κωλύει. τό γ’ ἐμόνis frequent in Plato for
quantum ad me attinet.
εἰ μὴ βούλεται
. For the asyndeton see above on
330A
πάνυ μὲν οὐκ ἤθελεν
:
οὐκ ἤθελεν is virtually one word: ‘was very reluctant’. The phrase is quite different from
οὐ πάνυ : see on
οὐ πάνυ τι in
321B
above.
νῦν διαλεγόμεθα
: so B and T: the editors mostly read
νῦν δὴ (
νυνδὴ )
διελεγόμεθα. νῦν does not mean ‘at this
present moment’, but simply ‘now’, ‘on the present occasion’, =
ἐν τῇ νῦν συνουσίᾳ : translate ‘about the same subject as you and I are now discussing’, i.e. about the subject of our present discussion. A discussion which has never been finished (see on
334A
and is to be resumed (cf.
338E
ἐπειδὰν ἱκανῶς ἐρωτήσῃ, πάλιν δώσειν λόγον , and
338D
ought not to be spoken of as past. We have in fact in
νῦν διαλεγόμεθα an indication that the subject of the dialogue is the same throughout: see Introduction pp. xvii ff.
νῦν in
καὶ δὴ καὶ νῦν (l. 6) is simply ‘in the present case’ and introduces the application of the general statement contained in
ἡγοῦμαι—λόγον δοῦναι : cf.
Apol. 17D
-18A
ὥσπερ οὖν ἂν—καὶ δὴ καὶ νῦν .
περὶ ἀρετῆς
. According to Diog. Laert. IX. 8. 55, Protagoras wrote a book having the title
περὶ ἀρετῶν .
Σιμωνίδης
. It is a saying of Simonides of Ceos (ca. 556-468 B.C.) that forms the text on which the discussion in the first book of the
Republic is based: see
Rep. I. 331D
ff. Plato seems also to allude to him in two other places, viz.
Rep. II. 365C
ἐπειδὴ τὸ δοκεῖν, ὡς δηλοῦσί μοι οἱ σοφοί, καὶ τὰν ἀλάθειαν βιᾶται καὶ κύριον εὐδαιμονίας κτλ.and
Rep. VI. 489B
οὐ γὰρ ἔχει φύσιν— τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς πλουσίων θύρας ἰέναι ἀλλ’ ὁ τοῦτο κομψευσάμενος ἐψεύσατο(compare
Ar.
Rhet. II. 16. 1391
a
. 8 ff. with Cope's note).
Σκόπαν
. The Scopadae were a ruling family at Crannon and Pharsalus in Thessaly. Simonides seems to have frequently been their guest, and wrote poems in their honour: the most famous is that referred to by Cicero,
de Or. II. § 352-3.
ἀγαθόν
is here more than morally good: it includes bodily and external as well as internal well-being: whence
χερσίν τε καὶ ποσί as well as
νόῳ : see also note on
344B
l. 4 below. The notion of external well-being belonged to the word from very early times: see Grote, III, 45, n. 3: ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are applied in Theognis and Solon ‘to wealth as contrasted with poverty— nobility with low birth—strength with weakness—conservative and oligarchical politics as opposed to innovation’. This sense survived in classical times in the political meaning of
καλὸς κἀγαθός , e.g. Xen.
Hell. II. 3. 12, Pl.
Rep. VIII. 569A
.
τετράγωνον
. Simonides avails himself of a Pythagorean notion: among the Pythagoreans the number 4 was sacred, as being the first square number: see Ritter and Preller
7 , § 54. The expression
τετράγωνος ἀνήρ became afterwards almost proverbial for a perfect man: Sauppe refers to Ar.
Rhet. III. 11. 1411
b . 27
ολ(=ον τὸν ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα φάναι εἶναι τετράγωνον· ἄμφω γὰρ τέλεια .
καὶ πάνυ μοι—μεμεληκός
. From this and
347A
where the same is implied of Hippias, it would seem that the poem was thought to be difficult.
ἔφην ἐγὼ καλῶς τε καὶ ὀρθῶς
. This, Bergk's emendation, is generally accepted. B has
ἔφην ἐγώ τε καὶ ὀρθῶς :
Τ ἔφην ἔγωγε καὶ ὀρθῶς .
ἐμμελέως—νέμεται.
ἐμμελέωςbelongs to
εἰρημένον , and
νέμεται is poetic for
νομίζεται : cf. (with Sauppe) Soph.
O.R. 1080
ἐγὼ δ’ ἐμαυτὸν παῖδα τῆς τύχης νέμων . The story is (schol. to Plato,
Hipp. Maior,
304E
quoted by Sauppe) that Pittacus, when ruler of Mitylene, on hearing of Periander's rapid conversion into a tyrant, sat down at an altar and begged to be released of his rule, assigning as his reason
ὡς χαλεπὸν ἐσθλὸν ἔμμεναι . The scholiast adds that Solon when he heard the remark capped it with
χαλεπὰ τὰ καλά . Pittacus is mentioned side by side with Bias and Simonides as one of the
σοφοὶ καὶ μακάριοι ἄνδρες in
Rep. I. 335E
.
ὀλίγον δὲ τοῦ ποιήματος εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν
: these words as well as
προϊόντος τοῦ ᾄσματος in
339C
are in favour of the supposition that some verses are wanting between
ἄνευ ψόγου τετυγμένον and
οὐδέ μοι ἐμμελέως : see Appendix I, pp. 213-14.
τὸ πρότερον
: adverbial.
θόρυβον παρέσχεν καὶ ἔπαινον.
θόρυβοςdenotes only ‘noise’, ‘tumult’ (cf.
Rep. VI. 492C
θόρυβον—τοῦ ψόγου καὶ ἐπαίνου):
καὶ ἔπαινον is needed to show that the noise was favourable. So above,
334C
ἀνεθορύβησαν ὡς εὖ λέγοι . With
παρέχειν in this sense cf. the phrase
παρέχειν γέλωτα in
Gorg. 473E and
Theaet. 174C
.
ὡσπερεὶ ὑπὸ ἀγαθοῦ πύκτου πληγείς
. For the metaphor cf.
Euthyd. 303A
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν—ὥσπερ πληγεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου ἐκείμην ἄφωνος. Socrates describes the effect of Protagoras' questions on himself in words which recall the descriptions of his own dialectic in its effect on others: cf. e.g.
Meno, 80 A ff.
ἐσκοτώθην τε καὶ εἰλιγγίασα
. So BT: the second hand in T corrects to
ἰλιγγίασα . According to Suidas (quoted by Schanz in Preface to Vol. VII, p. v) the Greeks wrote
εἰλιγγιῶ , but
ἴλιγγος . In Plato's MSS.
εἰλιγγιῶ is somewhat less frequent than
ἰλιγγιῶ .
ὥς γε—ἀληθῆ
: see on
309A
ἐγγένηται
: B and T have
ἐκγένηται :
ἐγγένηται is Heindorf's correction, now found in a Vienna MS. (Kral's I): cf.
Phaedo, 86E
ἵνα χρόνου ἐγγενομένου βουλευσώμεθα τί ἐροῦμεν.
σὸς μέντοι—πολίτης
. Iulis in Ceos was their native place.
μέντοι is ‘surely’. Notice the emphasis on
σός and compare
σέ in ll. 50 and 55.
παρακαλεῖν
is future: cf.
Theaet. 183D
ἀλλά μοι δοκῶ— οὐ πείσεσθαι αὐτῷ,
Phaedr. 228C
δοκεῖς σὺ οὐδαμῶς με ἀφήσειν: tr. ‘therefore I think
I will call
you to my assistance’.
ἐγώ and
σέ are contrasted in view of the illustration which is about to follow.
ὥσπερ ἔφη κτλ.
:
ὥσπερ corresponds to
καὶ ἐγώ in l. 55: as, according to Homer, Scamander called on Simois, so look you, I call upon you. For
ὥσπερ used in this way see above, note on
330A
The other editors take
δοκῶ οὖν ἐγὼ παρακαλεῖν σέ with the
ὥσπερ clause, and, regarding
παρακαλεῖν as a present, print a full stop after
σχῶμεν in the quotation; but (1) there is a certain awkwardness in the repetition ‘I think I am summoning you’ and ‘so look you, I am summoning you’; (2) the quotation does not finish with
σχῶμεν , but
ἐκπέρσῃ in l. 56 belongs to it also—a point which is against separating
φίλε κασίγνητε—σχῶμεν from the following clause. In the view which we have taken a fresh start begins with
ὥσπερ , after which the actual summons follows in the present
ἀτὰρ καὶ ἐγὼ σὲ παρακαλῶ .
ἔφη Ὁμηρος
.
Il. XXI. 305 ff.
οὐδὲ Σκάμανδρος ἔληγε τὸ ὃν μένος ἀλλ’ ἔτι μᾶλλον χώετο Ρηλείωνι—Σιμόεντι δὲ κέκλετ’ ἀύσας· Φίλε κασίγνητε, σθένος ἀνέπος ἀμφότεποί ρεπ σχῶμεν, ἐρεὶ τάχα ἄστυ μέγα Πριάμοιο ἄνακτος ἐκπέρσει. This
ἐκπέρσει explains the occurrence of
ἐκπέρσῃ in l. 56, although (as Heindorf shows) the same metaphor is occasionally found in tragedy (but hardly in prose), e.g.
Trach. 1104
τυφλῆς ὑπ’ ἄτης ἐκπεπόρθημαι τάλας .
ἀτάρ
: cf. above
335D
μουσικῆς
: ‘culture’, as often; here not without some sarcasm, in reference to Prodicus'
ὀνομάτων ὀρθότης , exemplified in
337A
ff.
βούλεσθαι—ἐπιθυμεῖν.
βούλεσθαιis of will,
ἐπιθυμεῖν of desire. The distinction is generally well marked in Plato: see note on
Apol. 25C
and cf. Cope on Ar.
Rhet. II. 19. 9. Prodicus does not touch on this example in his speech in 337, but it is quite in Plato's way to select a fresh example (cf.
Theaet. 147A-B, 166E by the side of 159C, 169A-B), which may in this case be supposed to come from Prodicus' lectures (cf.
341A
. We should expect the article to be repeated with
ἐπιθυμεῖν , as the two words are to be distinguished (cf. below in l. 63
τὸ γενέσθαι καὶ τὸ εἶναι ); but the article is sometimes dropped with the second of two words even when the words are contrasted, e.g.
Euthyphr. 9C
τὸ ὅσιον καὶ μή. Here the effect of its omission is perhaps to suggest that the two notions are after all more like than different.
γενέσθαι—εἶναι
. The distinction though long ago recognised by the philosophers was not always present in ordinary speech: otherwise (as Kroschel points out) Protagoras' censure of Simonides would be too absurd, and Socrates' pretended bewilderment out of place. But that Simonides in this poem drew a distinction between
γενέσθαι and
εἶναι is certain: whether it was the same distinction as Socrates himself draws later is another question; see on
γενόμενον δὲ—ἀδύνατον in
344B
τὸ αὐτόν
. B and T here have
τὸ αὐτόν , which Schanz retains: the form occurs on inscriptions and once or twice in Plato's MSS.: v. Schanz, XII, vii.
ἔλεγεν, τὸ χαλεπὸν γενέσθαι
. So Heindorf.
ἔλεγεν is ‘said’, not ‘meant’, and the sentence is intended to prove what is stated in the last sentence, viz. that Pittacus
οὺ τὸ αὐτὸν ἑαυτῷ ἔλεγεν (said),
ἀλλ’ ἄλλο. τό goes with the whole clause
χαλεπὸν γενέσθαι ἐσθλόν ; the emphasis is on
γενέσθαι : for which reason
τὸ ἔμμεναι in the next line (for
τὸ ἔμμεναι ἐσθλὸν χαλεπόν ) suffices. It is unnecessary to read (with Schanz and Kroschel)
ἔλεγε (
ν )
χαλεπόν, τὸ γενέσθαι ἐσθλόν , or
ἔλεγε χαλεπόν, γενέσθαι ἐσθλόν with Sauppe.
Πρόδικος ὅδε καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοί
. Socrates dissociates himself from the others, because he is about to give a different solution of Simonides' apparently contradictory statements (in
344B
ff.).
Ἡσίοδον
: in
Works and Days, 289 ff.
τῆς δ’ ἀρετῆς ἱδπῶτα θεοὶ ρποράποιθεν ἔθηκαν ἀθάνατοι· μακπὸς δὲ καὶ ὄπθιος οἶμος ἐς αὐτὴν καὶ τπηχὺς τὸ ρπῶτον· ἐρὴν δ’ εἰς ἄκπον ἵκηται, ῥηιδίη δἤπειτα πέλει, χαλεπή περ ἐοῦσα . This passage was very famous in antiquity: Plato cites it again in
Rep. II. 364C
,
Laws, IV. 718E. Hesiod in effect says it is difficult to become good, but easy to be good. Simonides himself refers to Hesiod's verses in Frag. 58 (Bergk)
ἔστι τις λόγος τὰν ἀρετὰν ναίειν δυσαμβάτοις ἐπὶ ρέτπαις, νῦν δέ μιν θεῶν χῶπον ἁγνὸν ἀμφέρειν. . .οὐδ’ ἀραντᾶν βλεφάποις θνατῶν ἔσορτον, ᾧ μὴ δακέθυμος ἱδπὼς ἔνδοθεν μόλῃ θ’ ἵκηταί τ’ ἐς ἄκρον ἀνδρείας .
ἐκτῆσθαι
: to be taken with
ῥηϊδίην . B and T read
κτῆσθαι , but cf.
340E
For the form see above on
319A
ἰώμενος μεῖζον τὸ νόσημα ποιῶ
. Socrates is thinking of the proverb
κακὸν κακῷ ἰᾶσθαι .
ποιητοῦ—ἐκτῆσθαι
. The poet is not of course Hesiod but Simonides. Socrates nowhere said that in censuring Pittacus Simonides implies that it is
easy to ‘keep virtue’, i.e. to be virtuous: the quotation from Hesiod was put in the mouth of Prodicus and
ἄλλοι πολλοί (
340C
. At the same time Protagoras might fairly turn Socrates' fallacies (see on
331A
against himself and say that if Simonides said it was ‘not difficult’ to be virtuous, he meant that it was ‘easy’ to be so.
κινδυνεύει γάρ τοι
: the art of Prodicus (Socrates means) can lay as good claims to antiquity as yours: cf.
316D
θεία τις εἶναι πάλαι
. Kroschel's reading
εἶναι καὶ παλαιά would somewhat change the meaning, which is ‘has long been an art divine’:
divine because practised by poets and the like, cf.
Rep. I. 331E
ἀλλὰ μέντοι—Σιμωνίδῃ γε οὐ ῥᾴδιον ἀπιστεῖν·
σοφὸς γὰρ καὶ θεῖος ἁνήρ: above
315E
and note. In
ἤτοι ἀπὸ Σιμωνίδου there is an allusion to
316D
οὐχ ὥσπερ ἐγώ
, sc.
εἰμί . The idiom is frequent in Plato, e.g.
Symp. 179E
οὐχ ὥσπερ Ἀχιλλέα—ἐτίμησαν καὶ εἰς μακάρων νήσους ἀπέπεμψαν.
μαθητής
. Socrates calls himself a disciple of Prodicus also in
Crat. 384B
,
Meno, 96D
,
Charm. 163D.
τὸ χαλεπὸν τοῦτο.
τόmarks
χαλεπόν as a quotation: see above on
331C
ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ κτλ.
The application of the illustration follows in
341B
ll. 27 ff.
ἴσως οὖν καὶ τὸ χαλεπὸν—ὑπολαμβάνουσιν , where see note.
Πρωταγόρας σοφὸς καὶ δεινός ἐστιν
. The
ἢ ἄλλον τινά is neglected, and
Πρωταγόρας takes us back to
σέ : cf. note on
ἐνδείξασθαι καὶ καλλωπίσασθαι in
317C
The collocation
σοφὸς καὶ δεινός is tolerably frequent in ironical characterisations, e.g.
Theaet. 173B
δεινοί τε καὶ σοφοὶ γεγονότες, ὡς οἴονται.
ἐρωτᾷ
explains
νουθετεῖ , whence the
asyndeton explicativum : see on
335A
above.
τὸ γὰρ δεινὸν—κακόν ἐστιν
. Prodicus' canon—which rests on the derivation of
δεινόν from
δέος —is not borne out by Greek usage, except to this extent, that when a man is called
δεινός , it is generally implied that he is more clever than good.
δεινοῦ πλούτου κτλ.
Genitives of exclamation in the Platonic dialogues are generally (as Turner remarks) preceded by an interjection, e.g.
Euthyd, 303A
πυππὰξ ὦ Ἡράκλεις καλοῦ λόγουand
ibid.
ὦ Πόσειδον δεινῶν λόγων . Here of course the exclamation is left out as irrelevant: the only relevant point is the use of
δεινός .
ἴσως οὖν καὶ τὸ χαλεπόν
. Sauppe remarks that we should expect
οὕτω καὶ τὸ χαλεπόν to introduce the apodosis to the
ὥσπερ clause (
341A
l. 20);
καί is however enough to show that we have reached the application;
οὖν is introduced on account of the parenthesis from
τὸ γὰρ δεινόν to
κακοῦ ὄντος ; and
ἴσως marks the suggestion as only tentative.
φωνήν
: ‘dialect’ as often, e.g.
Phaedo, 62A
καὶ ὁ Κέβης—ἴττω Ζεύς, ἔφη, τῇ αὑτοῦ φωνῇ εἰπών.
κακόν, ἔφη
. Prodicus enters into the spirit of the joke: in view of C and D it would be absurd to take this seriously: see note on
ἀλλὰ παίζειν in D below.
τὰ ὀνόματα—ὀρθῶς διαιρεῖν
: cf. above,
340A
and below,
358A
τὴν δὲ Προδίκου τοῦδε διαίρεσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων παραιτοῦμαι . Prodicus pretends to regard Simonides (cf. 341 A) as a teacher like himself of
ὀνομάτων διαίρεσις .
ἅτε Λέσβιος ὤν
: had he been
Κεῖος , he would have learnt
ὀνομάτων διαίρεσις forsooth in its natural home.
ἐν φωνῇ βαρβάρῳ
: a malicious exaggeration inspired by the
odium philologicum.
ἀλλὰ παίζειν
. The editors suppose that Socrates is here turning the tables on Prodicus, who it is supposed meant his criticism seriously, but the tone of the passage seems to imply that Prodicus is in league with Socrates to make fun of Protagoras, who is represented throughout the whole dialogue as lacking all sense of humour. It would not be wit, but sheer buffoonery, in Plato to represent Prodicus as
seriously believing that Simonides had censured Pittacus for having said: ‘It is bad to be good.’
καὶ σοῦ δοκεῖν ἀποπειρᾶσθαι.
δοκεῖνis not pleonastic after
οἶμαι but means ‘think fit’—a very idiomatic use, cf. Aesch.
Ag. 16
ὅταν δ’ ἀείδειν ἢ μινύρεσθαι δοκῶ . See
Class. Rev. III, 148, where Mr Arthur Sidgwick discusses and illustrates this usage.
οὐ δήπου τοῦτό γε λέγων.
οὐ δήπουgoes with
λέγων , which is ‘meaning’ not ‘saying’, and
τοῦτο is explained by
κακὸν ἐσθλὸν ἔμμεναι . For the asyndeton see on
335A
and for the use of
εἶτα cf.
311A
and
Symp. 200A
πότερον ἔχων αὐτὸ οὗ ἐπιθυμεῖ τε καὶ ἐρᾷ, εἶτα ἐπιθυμεῖ τε καὶ ἐρᾷ, ἢ οὐκ ἔχων
;
τοῦτο γέρας
. Heindorf reads
τοῦτο τὸ γέρας as in
344C
but
γέρας may be regarded as predicative and going closely with
ἀπένειμε , so that
τοῦτο—τοῦτο balance each other. Sauppe compares
Symp. 179C
εὐαριθμήτοις δή τισιν ἔδοσαν τοῦτο γέρας οἱ θεοί.
ἀκόλαστον—οὐδαμῶς Κεῖον
. This seems to be the earliest passage making allusion to the sobriety and uprightness of the Ceans, to which, perhaps, Aristophanes sarcastically alludes in
Frogs, 970 (
οὐ Χῖος, ἀλλὰ Κεῖος ). In
Laws, I. 638B
(quoted by Sauppe) Plato cites the subjugation of the Ceans by the Athenians as a proof that victory does not always favour the more virtuous side. Strabo (X. 486) quotes from Menander the lines
καλὸν τὸ Κείων νόμιμόν ἐστι, Φανία· ὁ μὴ δυνάμενος ζῆν καλῶς οὐ ζῇ κακῶς and explains them by saying that a Cean law required those above the age of 60 to take hemlock so as to make their country's produce suffice to feed the others.
ὃ σὺ λέγεις τοῦτο
refers to
περὶ ἐπῶν
338E
For the idiom cf. the usual
τὸ σὸν δὴ τοῦτο , e.g.
Symp. 221B
.
ἐξαρνοῦνται καὶ σχηματίζονται.
σχηματίζεσθαιof ‘posing’ as in
Soph. 268A
ἀγνοεῖ ταῦτα ἃ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ὡς εἰδὼς ἐσχημάτισται.
οὓς—ἔλεγε τοὺς σοφιστάς
: viz. in
316D
The attraction is common enough, e.g.
Crito, 48C
ἃς δὲ σὺ λέγεις τὰς σκέψεις περί τε ἀναλώσεως χρημάτων καὶ δόξης κτλ.and below,
359D
τὴν σοφίαν
. So B and the second hand in T: the first hand omits the words (so Schanz, Kroschel and Kral).
τοὺς—λακωνίζοντας
. The editors refer to
Ar.
Birds, 1281
ἐλακωνομάνουν ἅπαντες ἄνθρωποι τότε, ἐκόμων, ἐπείνων, ἐρρύπων, ἐσωκράτωνand Demosth.
κατὰ Κόνωνος 34
μεθ’ ἡμέραν μὲν ἐσκυθπωράκασι καὶ λακωνίζειν φασὶ καὶ τπίβωνας ἔχουσι καὶ ἁπλᾶς ὑποδέδενται . The Laconisers in Athens were tolerably numerous: Plato himself (
Rep. VIII. 544C
) places
ἡ Κρητική τε καὶ Λακωνικὴ πολιτεία nearest in merit to his ideal city.
οἱ μὲν ὦτά τε κατάγνυνται
: thanks, of course, to boxing: cf.
Gorg. 515E
τῶν τὰ ὦτα κατεαγότων(i.e.
τῶν λακωνιζόντων )
ἀκούεις ταῦτα, ὦ Σώκρατες , and Martial, VII. 32. 5 ‘at uvenes alios
fracta colit
aure magister’.
ἱμάντας περιειλίττονται
. The
ἱμάντες were thongs of leather bound round the knuckles for greater efficacy in boxing:
Hom.
Il. XXIII. 685
. The
caestus, being loaded with balls of lead, was a much more brutal instrument (Virg.
Aen. v. 404-5).
βραχείας ἀναβολάς
: ‘short cloaks’ in imitation of the
τρίβων (the national Spartan dress: see on
335D
.
ἀναβολή (here almost concrete) and
ἀναβάλλεσθαι were said of the
ἱμάτιον , to wear which rightly and like a gentleman was
ἐπὶ δεξιὰ ἀναβάλλεσθαι (
Theaet. 175 E), not
ὲπ’ ἀριστερά (
Ar.
Birds, 1567-8
, a passage which seems decisive against reading
ἐπιδέξια in this phrase). From Suidas (s.v.
ἀναβάλλει—ἀναβάλλεσθαι δὲ τὸ ἱμάτιον, οὐ περιβάλλεσθαι λέγουσιν ) we may infer that
ἀναβολή refers not to the throwing back of the
ἱμάτιον over the shoulder (since in point of fact it was thrown back over the
left shoulder) but to pulling it round the back (from left to right) before throwing the end over the left shoulder in front.
ὡσδὴ—κρατοῦντας
is ‘quasi vero—his superent’ (Kroschel). For the construction cf. (with Kroschel)
Rep. I. 345E
οὐκ ἐννοεῖς ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἐθέλει ἄπχειν ἑκών, ἀλλὰ μισθὸν αἰτοῦσιν, ὡς οὐχὶ αὐτοῖσιν ὠφέλειαν ἐσομένην ἐκ τοῦ ἄρχειν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀρχομένοις
;Madvig's
Gk Syntax, p. 168.
ξενηλασίας
. Heindorf quotes (
inter alia )
Ar.
Birds, 1012
ὥσπερ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι ξενηλατοῦνταιand Plut.
Lyc. 27. 6
τοὺς
ἀθροιζομένους ἐπ’ οὐδενὶ χρησίμῳ καὶ παρεισρέοντας εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπήλαυνεν (sc.
Λυκοῦργος ),
οὐχ, ὡς Θουκυδίδης (II. 39)
φησί, δεδιὼς μὴ τῆς ρολιτείας μιμηταὶ γένωνται καὶ ρπὸς ἀπετήν τι χπήσιμον ἐκμάθωσιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὄρως μὴ διδάσκαλοι κακοῦ τινος ὑπάρξωσιν . The reasons assigned by Plutarch are no doubt the true ones.
οὐδένα ἐῶσιν—ἐξιέναι
. Plut.
Lyc. 27. 5
οὐδ’ ἀποδημεῖν ἔδωκε (
Λυκοῦργος )
τοῖς βουλομένοις καὶ πλανᾶσθαι ξενικὰ συνάγοντας ἤθη καὶ μιμήματα βίων ἀπαιδεύτων καὶ πολιτευμάτων διαφοράν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀθροιζομένους etc. (see last note). In
Laws, XII. 950C
ff. (quoted by Sauppe) Plato lays down similar though less stringent regulations as to
ἀποδημία .
ὥσπερ οὐδὲ Κρῆτες
. There seems to be no other authority for this statement, but (as Sauppe remarks) the resemblance between the Cretan and Spartan institutions is well known.
ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναῖκες
. Women in Sparta held a position of much greater power and influence than in the rest of Greece, partly at least in consequence of their superior education, physical and otherwise: cf.
Ar.
Pol. II. 9. 1269
b
. 32
πολλὰ διῳκεῖτο ὑπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῶν (sc.
τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ) and see Grote, 11, 383 ff. Heindorf remarks that wise and pregnant sayings by Spartan women (such as are given in pseudo-Plutarch's
Λακαινῶν ἀποφθέγματα , e.g. the famous
τέκνον, ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς ) were probably already current in Plato's time.
εἰ γὰρ ἐθέλει—εὑρήσει
. Cf.
324A
ἐνέβαλεν ῥῆμα—συνεστραμμένον
. The aorist is like ‘behold! he has thrown in’: it expresses rapidity by representing the action as no sooner begun than over. The idiom is very frequent in Plato: Turner refers to Stallbaum on
Rep. III. 406D
ἐὰν δέ τις αὐτῷ μικρὰν δίαιταν προστάττῃ—ταχὺ εἶπεν ὅτι οὐ σχολὴ κάμνειν . With
συνεστ ραμμένον cf. Ar.
Rhet. II. 24. 1401
a . 5
συνεστ ραμμένως—εἰπεῖν ; the metaphor is apparently from an animal gathering itself for a spring (cf. Ar.
Hist. Anim. IX. 48. 631
a . 27
συστρέψαντες ἑαυτοὺς φέρονται ὥσπερ τόξευμα and Plato,
Rep. I. 336B
συστρέψας ἑαυτὸν ὥσπερ θηρίον ἧκεν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς).
ὥσπερ δεινὸς ἀκοντιστής
. With the metaphor compare
Theaet. 165D
καὶ ἄλλα μυρία ἃ ἐλλοχῶν ἂν πελταστικὸς ἀνὴρ μισθοφόπος ἐν λόγοις ἐπόμενος—ἐμβαλὼν ἂν εἰς τὸ ἀκούειν—ἤλεγχεν ἂν ἐπέχων καὶ οὐκ ἀνιεὶς κτλ.,
ibid. 180A
ἀλλ’ ἄν τινά τι ἔρῃ, ὥσπερ ἐκ φαρέτρας ῥηματίσκια αἰνιγματώδη ἀνασπῶντες ἀποτοξεύουσιν .
παιδὸς μηδὲν βελτίω
. The phrase is almost proverbial: see on
Crito, 49B
παίδων οὐδὲν διαφέροντες.
φθέγγεσθαι
, here of an impressive (almost mystic) utterance, as often in Greek, e.g.
Ar.
Clouds, 315
αὗται αἱ φθεγξάμεναι τοῦτο τὸ σεμνόν.