Andrea Capra

Eveno di Paro fra Protagora, Gorgia e Platone

Evenus of Parus plays a surprisingly important role in Plato’s account of the life and death of Socrates: in both the Apology and the Phaedo he works as a negative foil for the philosopher at two key moments, namely when he converts, respectively, to the practice of elenchus and to the composition of poetry. Evenus’ importance in Socrates’ life, I argue, reflects Plato’s appropriation of a number of his poems, which Plato reshapes so as to adapt the sophist’s relativism and values, arguably modelled on Protagoras’, to his own truth-oriented agenda. Plato’s Phaedrus echoes Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen along similar lines, that is by replacing doxa with aletheia . A pattern emerges: Plato appropriates the writings of the sophists by placing them in a markedly truth-oriented context. This helps explain a discussed piece of information, according to which Protagoras’ Antilogiai was a major influence on Plato’s Republic .

Protagoras’ Achilles: Homeric Allusion as a Satirical Weapon (Pl. Prt. 340a)

Socrates utters these words at a critical point of the dialogue, when he has just been cross-examined and successfully refuted by Protagoras. “As if hit by a good boxer” (339e), Socrates feels dizzy, tries to gain time, and finally calls on Prodicus for help with two Homeric lines referring to Achilles’ assault on the river god Scamander.2 Why does Socrates quote these lines? To be sure, Homer is the very basis of Greek paideia, so quotations from and allusions to the poems hardly need to be accounted for. Nonetheless, Plato is such a careful writer that hardly anything seems to be casual in his dialogues. Nowadays, there is an increasing awareness that at least some of his poetic quotations and allusions have a specific point, so it is always worthwhile to look for “hidden” meanings (that is, meanings that, for various reasons, are difficult for modern scholars to recognize but could be obvious for Plato’s original audiences). In the following, I will sketch two different types of Homeric allusion in the Protagoras, which I shall be referring to as “doctrinal allusion” and “malicious mythology.” Finally, I will argue that Socrates’ Iliadic quotation, far from being coincidental, falls under both types and reveals an unnoticed satirical vein on Plato’s part.3 Doctrinal allusion is palpable at Protagoras 337c–38b, where Hippias tries to settle the dispute between Socrates and Protagoras over the proper length of logoi. As has recently been pointed out, Hippias’ speech is modeled on that of Nestor in Iliad 1 (254–84), where the wise king tries to reconcile Agamemnon and Achilles.4 Not only are there similarities of content,5 but Hippias’ very language is unmistakably