The Presocratic Reader

Protagoras

DK 80

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Original textTranslation

Available translations: English · Italian · Spanish

φησὶ γάρ που πάντων χρημάτων μέτρον ἄνθρωπον εἶναι, τῶν μὲν ὄντων ὡς ἔστι, τῶν δὲ μὴ ὄντων ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν.

Man, he says, is the measure of all things, of the existence of things that are, and of the non-existence of things that are not

Benjamin Jowett · The Dialogues of Plato, translated by Benjamin Jowett (historical nineteenth-century text; Project Gutenberg transcription)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 1, pp. 228, 229
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Jowett’s published wording of Plato’s direct quotation is paired with Plato’s Greek formulation. The fuller Sextus and Plato discussion in DK is not reproduced with this reading. This uses the dialogue text, not Jowett’s introductory analysis

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Plato Theaetetus 152a: Diels prints ἔστι in the affirmative clause and ἔστιν in the negative clause; final nu restored only in the latter.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 1, pp. 228, 229 View original source ↗

English: Benjamin Jowett · The Dialogues of Plato, translated by Benjamin Jowett (historical nineteenth-century text; Project Gutenberg transcription) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Benjamin Jowett died in 1893.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Benjamin Jowett. The Dialogues of Plato, translated by Benjamin Jowett (historical nineteenth-century text; Project Gutenberg transcription). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Benjamin Jowett died in 1893.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Spanish · Patricio de Azcárate. Obras completas de Platón, tomo III (Madrid: Medina y Navarro, 1871), Teetetes, pp.174–175,194; 151e–152c and 161c. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English

σπάνια δὲ τὰ τῶν πρὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος γεγονότων βιβλία· ἐπεὶ ἴσως πλείους ἄν τις ἐφώρασε τοῦ φιλοσόφου 〈κλοπάς〉· ἐγὼ δ’ οὖν ἧι κατὰ τύχην περιπέπτωκα Πρωταγόρου τὸν Περὶ τοῦ ὄντος ἀναγινώσκων λόγον πρὸς τοὺς ἓν τὸ ὂν εἰσάγοντας τοιαύταις αὐτὸν εὑρίσκω χρώμενον ἀπαντήσεσιν· ἐσπούδασα γὰρ αὐταῖς λέξεσι τὰ ῥηθέντα μνημονεύειν.

καὶ ταῦτ’ εἰπὼν διὰ πλειόνων τίθησι τὰς ἀποδείξεις.

Now the books of Plato's predecessors are rare: else perhaps one might have detected more of the philosopher's plagiarisms. As to one, however, which I myself lighted upon by chance, in reading the discourse of Protagoras Concerning Being against those who represent “Being” as one, I find him employing answers of the following kind; for I was careful to remember what he said in his very words.

And after this preface he sets out the proofs at large.

E. H. Gifford · Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel (1903), X.3.25; Eusebius’s following comment included
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 2, p. 229
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Prosenes, in the discussion reported by Porphyry and quoted by Eusebius, reports reading Protagoras; the lost argument itself is not transmitted in this extract. Eusebius’s following sentence is separated as its own paragraph

Gifford’s historical translation as transcribed by ToposText (X.3.12–13 in that site’s section numbering). Its corrected “what” is used; the parallel Tertullian.org transcription has the OCR error “wlfat”. The original editorial title and source references are not reproduced with this reading

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Porphyry via Eusebius Praeparatio evangelica X 3.25. Final sigma in the historical supplement 〈κλοπάς〉 corrected; both quoted portions verified.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 2, p. 229 View original source ↗

English: E. H. Gifford · Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel (1903), X.3.25; Eusebius’s following comment included Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
  • English · E. H. Gifford. Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel (1903), X.3.25; Eusebius’s following comment included. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: German

φύσεως καὶ ἀσκήσεως διδασκαλία δεῖται· ἀπὸ νεότητος δὲ ἀρξαμένους δεῖ μανθάνειν.

Der Naturanlage und der Übung bedarf der Unterricht, von Jugend an muß man mit dem Lernen beginnen

German · Heinrich Gomperz · Sophistik und Rhetorik (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1912)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 3, p. 229
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

The two Protagoras quotations from Anecdota Parisina I 171.31 are joined by a semicolon; the surrounding carrier text is omitted, as in the displayed translation.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 3, p. 229 View original source ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

The two quoted sayings are explicitly identified as Protagoras fragment 3 in Gomperz’s footnote 177. The surrounding biographical argument is not reproduced with this reading

German · Heinrich Gomperz · Sophistik und Rhetorik (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1912) Published translation ↗

Public domain: Heinrich Gomperz (1873–1942), translation published in 1912; expired under life-plus-70 and US publication terms.

Available translations & credits
  • German · Heinrich Gomperz. Sophistik und Rhetorik (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1912). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: Heinrich Gomperz (1873–1942), translation published in 1912; expired under life-plus-70 and US publication terms.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian · Spanish

περὶ μὲν θεῶν οὐκ ἔχω εἰδέναι οὔθ’ ὡς εἰσίν, οὔθ’ ὡς οὐκ εἰσίν· πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ κωλύοντα εἰδέναι, ἥ τ’ ἀδηλότης καὶ βραχὺς ὢν ὁ βίος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

Concerning the Gods, I am not able to know to a certainty whether they exist or whether they do not. For there are many things which prevent one from knowing, especially the obscurity of the subject, and the shortness of the life of man.

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 4, pp. 229, 230
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Yonge follows the shorter Diogenes wording. The additional Eusebius clause about the gods’ form is not included in this English pairing; the assembled DK dossier is not reproduced with this reading. Greek transcription checked against the retained Diogenes XML, excluding its editorial note supplying the Eusebius clause

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Uses the Diogenes Laertius IX 51 form documented in Diels’s text and apparatus. The clause οὔθ’ ὁποῖοί τινες ἰδέαν is absent from Diogenes (explicitly recorded in Diels’s p. 230 note) and is therefore not inserted into the paired passage.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 4, pp. 229, 230 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Spanish · José Ortiz y Sanz. Los diez libros de Diógenes Laercio, tomo II (Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1792), p.265; Diogenes IX.51. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian · Spanish

Εὐφορίων δὲ καὶ Παναίτιος εἰρήκασι πολλάκις ἐστραμμένην εὑρῆσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς Πολιτείας, ἣν Πολιτείαν Ἀριστόξενος φησι πᾶσαν σχεδὸν ἐν τοῖς Πρωταγόρου γεγράφθαι Ἀντιλογικοῖς.

… ἣν καὶ εὑρίσκεσθαι σχεδὸν ὅλην παρὰ Πρωταγόραι ἐν τοῖς Ἀντιλογικοῖς φησι Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Παντοδαπῆς ἱστορίας δευτέρωι.

Euphorion and Panætius have stated that the beginning of the treatise on the Republic was often altered and re-written; and that very treatise, Aristoxenus affirms, was found almost entire in the Contradictions of Protagoras;

… which Phavorinus, in the second book of his Universal History, says may be found almost entire in the Contradictions of Protagoras.

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 5, p. 230
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Both ancient testimonia are translated. The second begins mid-sentence as in the DK excerpt; the ellipsis marks the omitted Plato works-list context. The Greek editorial bibliography is excluded from the pairing

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Diogenes Laertius III 37 and, where present, III 57. Greek wording checked against p. 230. Modern fragment-number annotations removed, including Scheidweiler; the ancient text and translation are unchanged in substance.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 5, p. 230 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Spanish · José Ortiz y Sanz. Los diez libros de Diógenes Laercio, tomo I (1792), Platón, §§18,31; Diogenes III.37,57, Wikisource transcription. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English

scriptasque fuisse et paratas a Protagora rerum inlustrium disputationes, quae nunc communes appellantur loci.

Abderites P., a quo decem milibus denariorum didicisse artem, quam edidit, Euathlus dicitur.

horum primi communis locos tractasse dicuntur P., Gorgias, affectus Prodicus et Hippias et idem P. et Thrasymachus.

but Protagoras took the pains to compose a number of dissertations, on such leading and general topics as are now called commonplaces.

Protagoras of Abdera, for whose instructions, which he afterwards published in a text-book, Euathlus is said to have paid 10,000 denarii

Of these Protagoras and Gorgias are said to have been the first to treat commonplaces, Prodicus, Hippias, Protagoras and Thrasymachus the first to handle emotional themes.

E. Jones, revised/edited by J. S. Watson; H. E. Butler · Cicero on Oratory and Orators (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860), Brutus 12.46, p. 274; Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, vol. I (1920), III.1.10 and III.1.12, p. 375
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 6, p. 230
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Three quotations, kept as three separate paragraphs in DK order. The first is Jones in Watson’s 1860 edition; the next two are Butler 1920

The first and second excerpts are clauses within longer sentences; text outside the DK quotations is excluded. The initial “but” and the second excerpt’s lack of terminal punctuation are retained

The surviving witnesses here are Latin, as in the DK dossier

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Latin, not Greek: Cicero Brutus 12.46; Quintilian III 1.10 and III 1.12. All three passages verified against Diels p. 230.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 6, p. 230 View original source ↗

English: E. Jones, revised/edited by J. S. Watson; H. E. Butler · Cicero on Oratory and Orators (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860), Brutus 12.46, p. 274; Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, vol. I (1920), III.1.10 and III.1.12, p. 375 Published translation ↗

Source pages: 1 · 2 · 3

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain (identified historical translation; edition and contributor evidence reviewed for Romania/EU and US)

Available translations & credits
  • English · E. Jones, revised/edited by J. S. Watson; H. E. Butler. Cicero on Oratory and Orators (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860), Brutus 12.46, p. 274; Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, vol. I (1920), III.1.10 and III.1.12, p. 375. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Source pages: 1 · 2 · 3

    Translation: Public domain (identified historical translation; edition and contributor evidence reviewed for Romania/EU and US)

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · French · Italian · Spanish

Καὶ πρῶτος ἔφη δύο λόγους εἶναι περὶ παντὸς πράγματος ἀντικειμένους ἀλλήλοις·

He was the first person who asserted that in every question there were two sides to the argument exactly opposite to one another.

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74, A 1, Diogenes Laertius IX 51, p. 219
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek from Diogenes IX.51, without surrounding biography or apparatus

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

The later B 6a quotation occurs in Diels 1922 as A 1, p. 219. Parenthetical author-identification removed from the ancient quotation; initial capitalization and terminal punctuation are display conventions.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74, A 1, Diogenes Laertius IX 51, p. 219 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • French · Charles Zévort (1816–1887). Diogène Laërce, Vies et doctrines des philosophes de l’Antiquité, traduction Charles Zévort, Charpentier, 1847. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Spanish · José Ortiz y Sanz. Los diez libros de Diógenes Laercio, tomo II (Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1792), p.264; Diogenes IX.51. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · French

τὸν ἥττω δὲ λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν

making the worse argument seem the better

W. Rhys Roberts · Aristotle, Rhetoric (1924), II.24, 1402a23
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74, A 21, Aristotle Rhetoric II 24, 1402a 23, p. 225
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The quoted phrase is extracted verbatim from Roberts’s published translation. Greek spacing is normalized; the reference apparatus is not reproduced with this reading

Aristotle associates this phrase with the teaching of Protagoras in the following sentence. It is not a surviving continuous book by Protagoras

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

The later B 6b quotation occurs in Diels 1922 as A 21. Restores Aristotle’s connective δὲ as printed; this does not change the translated phrase.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74, A 21, Aristotle Rhetoric II 24, 1402a 23, p. 225 View original source ↗

English: W. Rhys Roberts · Aristotle, Rhetoric (1924), II.24, 1402a23 Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
  • English · W. Rhys Roberts. Aristotle, Rhetoric (1924), II.24, 1402a23. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • French · Charles-Émile Ruelle (1833–1912). Aristote, Poétique et Rhétorique, traduction Charles-Émile Ruelle, Garnier, 1922. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Spanish

οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀληθές, ὡς ἡ γεωδαισία τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐστι μεγεθῶν καὶ φθαρτῶν· ἐφθείρετο γὰρ ἂν φθειρομένων. ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἂν εἴη μεγεθῶν οὐδὲ περὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἡ ἀστρολογία τόνδε. οὔτε γὰρ αἱ αἰσθηταὶ γραμμαὶ τοιαῦταί εἰσιν οἵας λέγει ὁ γεωμέτρης· οὐθὲν γὰρ εὐθὺ τῶν αἰσθητῶν οὕτως οὐδὲ στρογγύλον· ἅπτεται γὰρ τοῦ κανόνος οὐ κατὰ στιγμὴν ὁ κύκλος, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ Π. ἔλεγεν ἐλέγχων τοὺς γεωμέτρας.

but, at the same time, neither is this true that geodesy is conversant about sensible magnitudes and those that are corruptible; for it would fall into decay when they were in process of being destroyed. But, truly, neither will astronomy be conversant about sensible magnitude nor about yon heaven. For neither are the lines that fall under the cognisance of the senses the same as the geometrician describes them; for nought of the things that are perceived by the senses is in this way strictly straight or round, for the circle touches the rule not in a point, but as Protagoras was accustomed to say in his refutation of the geometricians.

John H. M’Mahon · The Metaphysics of Aristotle (1857), Book II, chapter II, pp. 62–63; conventional reference III.2, 997b32–998a4
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 7, pp. 230, 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The passage was transcribed from the printed pages, with line breaks and line-end hyphenation joined; marginal headings and footnote calls are omitted. The excerpt begins within the English sentence, hence its lower-case opening

M’Mahon numbers this Book II; the conventional reference is Metaphysics III (Beta), chapter 2. The passage ends after Aristotle’s reference to Protagoras and the geometricians, matching the complete quoted portion in this entry. The editorial heading and trailing source continuation marker are not reproduced with this reading

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Aristotle Metaphysics III 2, 997b 32. The expanded author name is returned to Diels’s printed Π.; wording otherwise matches.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 7, pp. 230, 231 View original source ↗

English: John H. M’Mahon · The Metaphysics of Aristotle (1857), Book II, chapter II, pp. 62–63; conventional reference III.2, 997b32–998a4 Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
  • English · John H. M’Mahon. The Metaphysics of Aristotle (1857), Book II, chapter II, pp. 62–63; conventional reference III.2, 997b32–998a4. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Spanish · Patricio de Azcárate. Obras de Aristóteles, tomo X: Metafísica (Madrid, 1875), libro III, capítulo II, pp.103–104; 997b32–998a4. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English

ΠΕΡΙ ΠΑΛΗΣ PLATO Soph. 232D E τά γε μὴν περὶ πασῶν τε καὶ κατὰ μίαν ἑκάστην τέχνην, ἃ δεῖ πρὸς ἕκαστον αὐτὸν τὸν δημιουργὸν ἀντειπεῖν, δεδημοσιωμένα που καταβέβληται γεγραμμένα τῶι βουλομένωι μαθεῖν. —Τὰ Πρωταγόρειά μοι φαίνει περί τε πάλης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τεχνῶν εἰρηκέναι... 233A Πῶς οὖν ἄν ποτέ τις πρός γε τὸν ἐπιστάμενον αὐτὸς ἀνεπιστήμων ὢν δύναιτ’ ἂν ὑγιές τι λέγων ἀντειπεῖν; —Οὐδαμῶς.

In all and every art, what the craftsman ought to say in answer to any question is written down in a popular form, and he who likes may learn. THEAETETUS: I suppose that you are referring to the precepts of Protagoras about wrestling and the other arts?

…

But how can any one who is ignorant dispute in a rational manner against him who knows? THEAETETUS: He cannot.

Benjamin Jowett · The Dialogues of Plato, third edition (1892)
How this fragment survives

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The two excerpted stretches and intervening ellipsis follow the selection in DK

Published passage: Plato, Sophist232d–e,233a

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Plato Sophist 232d–e, 233a. Diels’s running Greek verified; omitted intervening text remains explicitly marked.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Benjamin Jowett · The Dialogues of Plato, third edition (1892) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain · Licence terms ↗

Available translations & credits

Available translations: English · Italian

ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑΣ

one on a Republic

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8a, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8a; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8a, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian

ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΝ ΑΡΧΗΙ ΚΑΤΑΣΤΑΣΕΩΣ

one on the Original Condition of Man

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8b, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8b; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Corrected the transcription error ΑΡΧΑΙ to Diels’s ΑΡΧΗΙ.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8b, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian

ΠΕΡΙ ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΙΑΣ

one on Ambition

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8c, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8c; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8c, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian

ΠΕΡΙ ΑΡΕΤΩΝ

one on Virtues

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8d, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8d; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8d, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian

ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΟΥΚ ΟΡΘΩΣ ΤΟΙΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΙΣ ΠΡΑΣΣΟΜΕΝΩΝ

one on the Things which are not done properly by Men

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8e, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8e; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8e, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian

ΠΡΟΣΤΑΚΤΙΚΟΣ

one volume of Precepts

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8f, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8f; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8f, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian

ΔΙΚΗ ΥΠΕΡ ΜΙΣΘΟΥ

one essay entitled Justice in Pleading for Hire

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8g, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8g; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8g, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English · Italian

ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΑΙΔΟΥ

one on those in the Shades Below

Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8h, p. 231
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact title phrase excerpted from Yonge’s list; the introductory “one” refers to one book. No body text survives in this DK slot

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Ancient book title listed verbatim in Diels 1922 B 8h; also attested in Diogenes Laertius IX 55, Diels p. 220. This is a surviving title, not prose from the lost work.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 8h, p. 231 View original source ↗

English: Charles Duke Yonge · The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Charles Duke Yonge. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (1853; G. Bell and Sons stereotype reprint, 1915). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: historical translation first published before 1931; Charles Duke Yonge died in 1891.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

  • Italian · Luigi Lechi. Diogene Laerzio, Vite dei filosofi, volgarizzate dal conte Luigi Lechi (Milano: Tipografia Molina, vol. I, 1842; vol. II, 1845). Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical translation (Luigi Lechi, 1786–1867; published 1842–1845). Wikisource transcription attributed and reused under CC BY-SA 3.0. · Licence terms ↗

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: English

Περικλέα δὲ τὸν Ὀλύμπιον προσαγορευθέντα διὰ τὴν περὶ τὸν λόγον καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν ὑπερβεβλημένην δύναμιν, πυθόμενον ἀμφοτέρους αὐτοῦ τοὺς υἱοὺς μετηλλαχέναι τὸν βίον Πάραλόν τε καὶ Ξάνθιππον (ὥς φησι Π. εἰπὼν οὕτως· «τῶν γὰρ υἱέων νεηνιῶν ὄντων καὶ καλῶν, ἐν ὀκτὼ δὲ ταῖς πάσηισιν ἡμέρηισιν ἀποθανόντων, νηπενθέως ἀνέτλη· εὐδίης γὰρ εἴχετο, ἐξ ἧς πολλὸν ὤνητο κατὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέρην εἰς εὐποτμίην καὶ ἀνωδυνίην καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖσι δόξαν· πᾶς γάρ τίς μιν ὁρῶν τὰ ἑαυτοῦ πένθεα ἐρρωμένως φέροντα, μεγαλόφρονά τε καὶ ἀνδρεῖον ἐδόκει εἶναι καὶ ἑαυτοῦ κρείσσω, κάρτα εἰδὼς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τοιοῖσδε πράγμασιν ἀμηχανίην»)· τοῦτον γὰρ εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν προσαγγελίαν ἀμφοτέρων τῶν υἱέων οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐστεφανωμένον κατὰ τὸ πάτριον ἔθος καὶ λευχειμονοῦντα δημηγορεῖν ‘βουλάς τ’ ἐξάρχοντ’ ἀγαθὰς‘ πρός τε τὸν πόλεμον ἐπιπαρορμῶντα τοὺς Ἀθηναίους.

Pericles, who was called "the Olympian" because of his surpassing power of reasoning and of understanding, learned that both his sons, Paralus and Xanthippus, had passed from life. Protagoras describes his conduct in these words: "His sons were comely youths, but though they died within seven days of each other, he bore their deaths without repining. For he continued to hold to that serenity from which day by day he added greatly to his credit of being blest by Fortune and untroubled by sorrow, and to his high repute with the people at large. For each and every man, as he beheld Pericles bearing his sorrows so stoutly, felt that he was high-minded and manful and his own superior, being only too well aware of what would be his own helplessness under such circumstances. For Pericles, immediately after the tidings about his two sons, none the less placed the garland upon his head, according to the time-honoured custom at Athens, and, clad in garb of white, harangued the people, 'taking lead in good counsel,' and inspiriting the Athenians to war."

Frank Cole Babbitt · Plutarch, Moralia, volume II, Loeb Classical Library (1928)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 9, pp. 231, 232
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The translated witness presents the passage in its original sequence; DK moves the Protagoras quotation after the surrounding report. All the selected source content is present

The digital source has the obvious typographical slip “this two sons”; corrected here to “his two sons”. No translation was composed or otherwise rewritten

Babbitt’s “within seven days of each other” expresses the interval between the deaths; the Greek counts eight days inclusively

Published passage: Pseudo-Plutarch, Consolation to Apollonius 33, 118e–f; Loeb Moralia II, pp.195–197

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Pseudo-Plutarch Consolatio ad Apollonium 33, 118e. Diels prints the quoted words separately after the framing witness; they are restored to the explicitly marked quotation position here, so the Greek follows the order of the existing English. Split final letters repaired. The Greek says eight days in inclusive counting; the existing English gives seven days between the deaths. No English wording changed.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 9, pp. 231, 232 View original source ↗

English: Frank Cole Babbitt · Plutarch, Moralia, volume II, Loeb Classical Library (1928) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain · Licence terms ↗

Available translations & credits

Available translations: German

μηδὲν εἶναι μήτε τέχνην ἄνευ μελέτης μήτε μελέτην ἄνευ τέχνης.

Nichts vermag Wissenschaft ohne Übung, nichts Übung ohne Wissenschaft

German · Heinrich Gomperz · Sophistik und Rhetorik (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1912)
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 10, p. 232
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Same ancient passage and substantive scope; historical wording/variant differences, if any, are explicitly recorded in notes.

Stobaeus III 29.80; the reported maxim matches the printed text.

The supplementary Eulogikon compilation is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. Later cross-references, editorial apparatus and Antiphon reconstructions have not been treated as part of Diels’s historical text. The paired ancient text has been checked separately.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the third edition with addenda, chapter 74 (Protagoras), B 10, p. 232 View original source ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Gomperz explicitly cites Protagoras fragment 10 in footnote 178. His historical rendering of τέχνη is retained

German · Heinrich Gomperz · Sophistik und Rhetorik (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1912) Published translation ↗

Public domain: Heinrich Gomperz (1873–1942), translation published in 1912; expired under life-plus-70 and US publication terms.

Available translations & credits
  • German · Heinrich Gomperz. Sophistik und Rhetorik (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1912). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: Heinrich Gomperz (1873–1942), translation published in 1912; expired under life-plus-70 and US publication terms.

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations: German

This saying is transmitted in Syriac. No Greek survives, and the Syriac is not transcribed here. The historical German translation is displayed.

Nicht sproßt Bildung in der Seele, wenn man nicht zu vieler Tiefe kommt.

German · Johann Gildemeister and Franz Bücheler · Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, fourth edition, vol.II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the individually identified nineteenth-century German translation
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Ancient text from the individually cited witness; textual differences and transmission are documented below
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Diels (1922), vol. II, p. 232, old chapter 74 B11. Pseudo-Plutarch, On Exercise 178.25, survives in Syriac. The displayed German intermediary is attributed to J. Gildemeister and F. Buecheler, Rheinisches Museum 27 (1872), p. 526. No Greek original is supplied

Ancient text from the individually cited witness; textual differences and transmission are documented below View original source ↗

Additional original-language witness

Protagoras ferner hat gesagt: Nicht sproßt Bildung in der Seele, wenn man nicht zu vieler Tiefe kommt.

Witness source ↗

Pseudo-Plutarch, On Exercise 178.25. German from Johann Gildemeister and Franz Bücheler, Rheinisches Museum 27 (1872), p.526, reprinted by Diels. No Greek survives; the Syriac is not transcribed here

German · Johann Gildemeister and Franz Bücheler · Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, fourth edition, vol.II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the individually identified nineteenth-century German translation Published translation ↗

Public domain: translation published in 1872; Johann Gildemeister died in 1890 and Franz Bücheler in 1908.

Available translations & credits
  • German · Johann Gildemeister and Franz Bücheler. Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, fourth edition, vol.II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the individually identified nineteenth-century German translation. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: translation published in 1872; Johann Gildemeister died in 1890 and Franz Bücheler in 1908.

Available translations: German

This doubtfully attributed saying is transmitted in Syriac. No Greek survives, and the Syriac is not transcribed here. The historical German translation is displayed.

Protagoras hat gesagt: Mühsal und Arbeit und Unterricht und Erziehung und Weisheit sind der Ruhmeskranz, der geflochten wird von den Blumen einer beredten Zunge und denen aufs Haupt gesetzt wird, die ihn lieben. Schwer zwar ist die Zunge, doch ihre Blüten sind reich und immer neu, und die Zuschauer und die Beifallsspender und die Lehrer freuen sich und die Schüler machen Fortschritte und die Toren ärgern sich — oder vielleicht ärgern sie sich auch nicht, weil sie nicht einsichtig genug sind.

German · Victor Ryssel · Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, fourth edition, vol.II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the individually identified nineteenth-century German translation
How this fragment survives

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.

A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.

Original-text edition
Ancient text from the individually cited witness; textual differences and transmission are documented below
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Diels (1922), vol. II, p. 232, old chapter 74 B12, classed as poorly attested. Victor Ryssel’s German translation is from Rheinisches Museum 51 (1896), p. 539, no. 32. The maxim number was checked against the printed page. No Greek survives and no Syriac text is transcribed here

Ancient text from the individually cited witness; textual differences and transmission are documented below View original source ↗

Victor Ryssel, Graeco-Syriac Sayings, Rheinisches Museum 51 (1896), p.539, no.32. The printed number 32 was visually confirmed; prior scan OCR 39 was wrong. Diels classifies this as poorly attested. No Greek is supplied

German · Victor Ryssel · Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, fourth edition, vol.II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the individually identified nineteenth-century German translation Published translation ↗

Public domain: Victor Ryssel (1849–1905), translation published in 1896.

Available translations & credits
  • German · Victor Ryssel. Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, fourth edition, vol.II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1922), reprinting the individually identified nineteenth-century German translation. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain: Victor Ryssel (1849–1905), translation published in 1896.

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