Phaedrus — Plato

p. 74and call in any experienced friend who knows what is good to be eaten or drunken, and what not, and how much and when ; and hence the danger of purchasing them is not so great.

But when you buy the wares of knowledge you cannot carry them away in another vessel; they have been sold to you, and you must take them into the soul and go your way, either greatly harmed or greatly benefited by the lesson : and therefore we should think about this and take counsel with our elders ; for we are still young — too young to determine such a matter.

And now let us go, as we were intending, and hear Protagoras ; and when we have heard what he has to say, we may take counsel of others ; for not only is Protagoras at the house df Callias, but there is Hippias of Elis, and, if I am not mistaken, Prodicus of Ceos, and several other wise men.

To this we agreed, and proceeded on our way until we reached the vestibule of the house ; and there we stopped in order to finish a dispute which had arisen as we were going along ; and we stood talking in the vestibule until we had finished and come to an understanding. And I think that the door-keeper, who was a eunuch, and who was probably annoyed at the great inroad of the Sophists, must have heard us talking.

At any rate, when we knocked at the door, and he opened and saw us, he grumbled : They are Sophists — he is not at home ; and instantly gave the door a hearty bang with both his hands. Again we knocked, and he answered without opening : Did you not hear me say that he was not at home, fellows ?

But, my friend, I said, we are not Sophists, and we are not come to see Callias ; fear not, for we want to see Protagoras ; and I must request you to announce us. At last, after a good deal of difficulty, the man was persuaded to open the door.

When we entered, we found Protagoras taking a walk in the portico ; ^* and next to him, on one side, were walking Callias the son of Hipponicus, and Paralus ^^ the son of Pericles, who, " The better Athenian houses were built around an inner open court surrounded by a kind of portico.

" Paralus (pSr'a-lus) ; Pericles (p^rT-klez) ; Charmides (kSr'nif-dez) ; Glaucon (gl^u'kon) ; Xanthippus (zSn-ti'p'pus) ; Philippides (fi-lip'pi-dez) ; Philomelus (fil'o-melus) ; Antimoerus (Sn'tf-me'rus) ; Mende (mdn'de). These Greeks, who are all doubtless historical personages, are of no importance in this dialogue except to show the class of persons whom the Sophists gathered about them. Most of them are known to have belonged to wesilthy aristocratic families.

p. 75by the mother's side, is his half-brother, and Charmides the son of Glaucon.

On the other side of him were Xanthippus the other son of Pericles, Philippides the son of Philomelus ; also Antimoerus of Mende, who of all the disciples of Protagoras is the most famous, and intends to make sophistry his profession, A train of listeners followed him, of whom the greater part appeared to be foreigners, who accompanied Protagoras out of the various cities through which he journeyed.

Now he, like Orpheus, ^^ attracted them by his voice, and they followed the attraction. I should mention also that there were some Athenians in the company.

Nothing delighted me more than the precision of their movements : they never got into his way at all, but when he and those who were with him turned back, then the band of listeners divided into two parts on either side ; he was always in front, and they wheeled round and took their places behind him in perfect order.

After him, as Homer says,^^ ** I lifted up my eyes and saw '* Hippias the Elean sitting in the opposite portico on a chair of state, and around him were seated on benches Eryximachus ^^ the son of Acumen us, and Phaedrus ^^ the Myrrhinusian, and Andron * the son of Androtion, and there were strangers whom he had brought with him from his native city of Elis, and some others t they appeared to be asking Hippias certain physical and astronomical questions, and he, ex cathedrAy ^ was determining their several questions to them and discoursing of them.

Also, ** my eyes beheld Tantalus'* ; for Prodicus the Caen was at Athens : he had been pat into a room which, in the days of Hipponicus, was a storehouse; but as the house was full, Callias had cleared this out and made the room into a »• The mythical musician and poet, celebrated especially for his lyre playing, which so enchanted even the trees and rocks that they followed him.

" By this and the following quotation from Homer's Odyssey, Socrates wittily represents himself as like Odysseus, wandering through the lower world, and seeing one after another, the celebrated personages there. " Eryximachus (er'yx-fm'a-kus) and Acumenus (a-ku'me-nus) were both learned physicians.

Both are mentioned in Phoedrus, 268, and the former in Symposium, 176, and following. •• See the dialogue Phaedrus, note i ; he is a speaker in the Symposium. Myrrhinus (myr'rr-nus) : a deme of Attica. •• Andron (Sn'dron) ; Androtion (3n-dro'shi-on). '* Ex cathedra (kSth'edra) : Literally, from the chair ; figuratively, with auth( rity. Probably both meanings were intended here.

76 PLATO THE T£ACH£R guest-chamber. Now Prodicus was still in bed, wrapped up in sheepskins and bedclothes, of which there seemed to be a great heap ; and there were sitting by him on the couches near, Pausanias of the deme of Cerameis,^ and with Pausanias was a youth quite young, who is certainly remarkable for his good looks, and, if I am not mistaken, is also of a fair and gentle nature.

I think that I heard him called Agathon,^^ and my suspicion is that he is the beloved of Pausanias. There was this youth and also there were the two Adeimantuses,^ one the son of Cepis, and the other of Leucolophides, and some others.

I was very anxious to hear what Prodicus was saying, for he seemed to me to be an extraordinarily wise and divine , man ; but I was not able to get into the inner circle, and his fine deep voice made an echo in the room which rendered his words inaudible.

No sooner had we entered than there followed us Alcibiades the beautiful, as you say, and I believe you ; and also Critias the son of Callaeschrus.^^ On entering we stopped a little, in order to look about us, and then walked up to Protagoras, and I said : Protagoras, my friend Hippocrates and I have come to see you. Do you wish, he said, to speak with me alone, or in the presence of others ?

That is as you please, I said : you shall determine when you have heard the object of our visit. And what is that ? he said. I must explain, I said, that my friend Hippocrates is a native Athenian ; he is the son of Apollodorus, and of a great and prosperous house, and he is himself in natural ability quite a match for those of his own age.

I believe that he aspires to political eminence ; and this he thinks that conversation with you is most likely to procure for him : now it is for you to decide whether you would wish to speak to him of these matters alone or in company. Thank you, Socrates, for your consideration of me.

For certainly a stranger finding his way into great cities, and persuading the flower of the youth in them to leave the company 22 Pausanias (paw-sa'nf-us) : speaker in Symposium. Cerameis (s^r'a-rals). 2> See Symposium, note i. 2« Adeimantus (ad'i-mSn'tus) ; Cepis (se'pis) j Leucolophides (IQlco-lCfidez). «» Callaeschrus (kai-l^sTcrus).