FRAGMENTS
A.
Physical
1.
πάντων χρημάτων μέτρον ἄνθρωπος· τῶν μὲν ὄντων ὡς ἔστι, τῶν δὲ οὐκ ὄντων ὡς οὐκ ἔστι (from
Ἀλήθεια ἢ περὶ τοῦ ὄντος s.
Καταβάλλοντες : see Pl.
Theaet. 152A
).
2.
περὶ μὲν θεῶν οὐκ ἔχω εἰδέναι οὔθ’ ὡς εἰσὶν οὔθ’ ὡς οὐκ εἰσίν· ρολλὰ γὰπ τὰ κωλύοντα εἰδέναι· ἥ τε ἀδηλότης καὶ βπαχὺς ὢν ὁ βίος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (from
περὶ θεῶν
ap. Diog. Laert. IX. 51).
From Protagoras'
περὶ τῶν ἐν Αἵδου no fragments seem to survive.
B.
Ethical
Of the
περὶ ἀρετῶν there seem to be no fragments.
3.
τῶν γὰρ υἱέων νεηνιῶν ὄντων καὶ καλῶν, ἐν ὀκτὼ δὲ ταῖς ράσῃσι ἡμέπῃσι ἀροθανόντων νηρενθέως ἀνέτλη. εὐδίης γὰπ εἴχετο, ἐξ ἧς ρολλὸν ὤνητο κατὰ ρᾶσαν ἡμέπην εἰς εὐροτμίην καὶ ἀνωδυνίην καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖσι ρολλοῖσι δόξαν. ρᾶς γάπ τίς μιν ὁπῶν τὰ ἑωυτοῦ ρένθεα ἐππωμένως φέποντα μεγαλόφπονά τε καὶ ἀνδπεῖον ἐδόκει εἶναι καὶ ἑωυτοῦ κρείσσω, κάρτα εἰδὼς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ ἐν τοιοῖσδε πράγμασι ἀμηχανίην
1
(from (?)
περὶ τῶν οὐκ ὀρθῶς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πρασσομένων
ap. Plut.
Consol. ad Apoll. 33. 118E-F. The subject is the fortitude of Pericles on hearing of the death of his two sons, Paralus and Xanthippus).
The
περὶ φιλοτιμίας is known only from Diogenes' catalogue (IX. 55).
C.
Political
Of the
περὶ πολιτείας nothing (so far as is known) survives.
4.
ἦν γάρ ποτε χρόνος—κτείνειν ὡς vόσον πόλεως (from (?)
περὶ τῆς ἐν ἀρχῆ? καταστάσεως
ap. Pl.
Prot.
320C
322D
.
D.
Grammatical
Of the
περὶ ὀρθοεπείας (mentioned in Pl.
Phaedr. 267C
) nothing remains.
E.
Rhetorical
5. (?)
δύο λόγοι εἰσὶ περὶ παντὸς πράγματος ἀντικείμενοι ἀλλήλοις (from the
ἀντιλογιῶν δύο
ap. Diog. Laert. IX. 51).
6.
τὸν ἥττω λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν (from the
τέχνη ἐριστικῶν
ap. Ar.
Rhet. 11. 24, p. 1402
a . 23).
The
δίκη ὑπὲρ μισθοῦ (Diog. Laert. IX. 55) and the ‘rerum illustrium disputationes, quae nunc communes appellantur loci’ (Cic.
Brut. 46) have apparently left no trace.
F.
Various
7.
φύσεως καὶ ἀσκήσεως διδασκαλία δεῖται, καὶ ἀπὸ vεότητος δὲ ἀρξαμένους δεῖ μανθάνειν (from the
μέγας λόγος —probably identical with the
Προστακτικός : see Cramer,
Anecdot. Paris, 1, 171).
8.
[Πρωταγόρας ἔλεγε] μηδὲν εἶναι μήτε τέχνην ἄνευ μελέτης μήτε μελέτην ἄνευ τέχνης
2
(perhaps from the same,
ap. Stob.
Flor. 29. 80).
Another fragment, probably from the same work, is quoted by J. Gildermeister and F. Bücheler from a Syriac translation of Plutarch's
περὶ ἀσκήσεως (
Rhein. Mus. XXVII, 1872, 526). The original perhaps ran:
9.
οὐ βλαστάνει παιδεία ἐν τῆ? ψυχῆ?, ἐὰν μή τις εἰς βυθὸν ἔλθη? .
Of the
περὶ μαθημάτων , and the
περὶ τεχνῶν (of which perhaps the
περὶ πάλης was a part) nothing (so far as is certainly known) survives. Gomperz's ingenious and learned attempt
3
to prove that the ‘Defence of Medicine’ which under the title of
περὶ τέχνης appears in the collection of Hippocratean works
4
was written by Protagoras and belongs to the treatise
περὶ τεχνῶν has not, as yet, commended itself to critics.
5
Commentary on Plato, Protagoras. James Adam. ed. James Adam, ed. Adela Marion Adam. Cambridge. 1921.
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