J. Adam, A. M. Adam, Commentary on Plato, Protagoras
J. Adam & A. M. Adam, Ed.

12. ἐμηχανᾶτο δύναμιν εἰς σωτηρίαν. Plato's own style rarely falls into verse: cf. Rep. X. 621B εἰς τὴν γένεσιν ᾁττοντας 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.

13. 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.