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τί . . . οὐ διηγήσω: cf. 317 d; Symp. 173 b τί οὖν, ἔφη, οὐ διηγήσω μοι; Phaedo 86 d εἰ οὖν τις ὑμῶν εὐπορώτερος ἐμοῦ, τί οὐκ ἀπεκρίνατο; The surprise that the action has not already taken place contains an urgent exhortation to its performance (GMT. 19, N. 6), but εἰ μή σέ τι κωλύει here and ἵνα ἐπακούσωσιν 317 d, show that the expression has become a mere formula of exhortation. So the pres. in 310 e τί οὐ βαδίζομεν;

We may picture a scene like the one in Charm. 155 b. Socrates is invited by some friends (ἡμῖν, ἀκούετε) who are sitting in a palaestra or a ‘lesche,’ to take a seat and discourse to them. An Athenian would hardly walk abroad without at least one slave, while the wealthy had many, and those who owned none frequently attempted to conceal their poverty by hiring attendants. The manners of these slaves are described in [Xen.] Rep. Ath. i. 10 τῶν δούλων . . . πλείστη ἐστὶν Ἀθήνησιν ἀκολασία, καὶ οὔτε πατάξαι ἔξεστιν αὐτόθι, οὔτε ὑπεκστήσεταί σοι (give place to you) δοῦλος, Ar. Nub. 7 οὐδὲ κολάσ᾽ ἔξεστί μοι τοὺς οἰκέτας. Socrates evidently must secure his own seat.

διπλῆ κτἑ.: proverbial, cf. Soph. Ph. 1370 χοὕτω διπλῆν μὲν ἐξ ἐμοῦ κτήσει χάριν (you will gain double thanks), | διπλῆν δὲ πατρός. From this point to the end of the dialogue Socrates narrates the circumstances of his interview with Protagoras.

βαθέος ὄρθρου: cf. Crito, 43 a ὄρθρος βαθύς.

δὲ ἀδελφός: in such double specifications, the Greek regularly uses δέ, without μέν in the former member. Cf. Xen. An. i. 7. 9 Δαρείου καὶ Παρυσάτιδος παῖς, ἐμὸς δὲ ἀδελφός, Aesch. Pers. 150 μήτηρ βασιλέως, βασίλεια δ᾽ ἐμή, Hdt. vii. 10 πατρὶ τῷ σῷ, ἀδελφεῷ δὲ ἐμῷ, Δαρείῳ, ἠγόρευον, Isae. ix. 23 ἐμὲ γὰρ υἱὸν ὄντα Θεοφράστου σαυτοῦ δὲ ἀδελφιδοῦν ἀποστερεῖς μοι οἱ νόμοι ἔδοσαν.

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  • Commentary references from this page (2):
    • Plato, Protagoras, 310e
    • Plato, Protagoras, 317d
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