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λίαν: belongs to ζητεῖν, and stands at the end of the clause because it is emphatic.
φαίνωνται: come into view, present themselves. Cf. Euthyd. 288 c οἶμαι γάρ τι αὐτοῖν πάγκαλον φανεῖσθαι, ἐπειδὰν ἄρξωνται σπουδάζειν for I think some great beauty will appear in the two, when they begin to be in earnest, 294 a ὡς θαυμαστὸν λέγεις καὶ ἀγαθὸν μέγα πεφάνθαι. — As this refers only to Socrates's words, it cannot have ὑμῖν with the Mss. ἡμῖν is ethical dat. — πάντα κάλων ἐκτείναντα: (or σείειν, ἐφιέναι, κινεῖν, ἐκλύειν), like οὐρίᾳ ἐφιέναι and ἀποκρύπτειν γῆν, a nautical expression, “letting out all the ropes, that hold and stretch the sails, as long as possible,” i.e. setting every sail. Then figuratively, cf. Schol. on Plato ii., p. 466 Bk. παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ χρωμένων. Cf. Eur. Med. 278 ἐχθροὶ γὰρ ἐξιᾶσι πάντα δὴ κάλων, Ar. Eq. 756 νῦν δή σε πάντα δεῖ κάλων ἐξιέναι σεαυτοῦ, Zenobius v. 62.
οὐρίᾳ ἐφέντα: Ovid Met. XV. 176 (Pythagoras speaks), et quoniam magno feror aequore plenaque ventis | vela dedi. ἐφέντα is intr., see on 336 a. — πέλαγος: a freq. comparison. Cf. Rep. v. 453 d οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡμῖν νευστέον (must swim) καὶ πειρατέον σῴζεσθαι ἐκ τοῦ λόγου, Symp. 210 d ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ πέλαγος τετραμμένος τοῦ καλοῦ, Polit. 273 d ἵνα μὴ χειμασθεὶς (tempest-tossed) εἰς τὸν τῆς ἀνομοιότητος ἄπειρον ὔντα τόπον δύῃ, Cic. Tusc. 4, 9 statimne nos vela facere, an quasi e porta egredientes paullulum remigare.
ἀποκρύψαντα: cause to disappear, lose from sight. Cf. Thuc. v. 65. 6 ἐπειδὴ ἐκεῖνοι ἀπέκρυψαν (sc. αὐτούς), Luc. V. H. ii. 38 ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπεκρύψαμεν αὐτούς, Verg. Aen. iii. 291 protinus aërias Phaeacum abscondimus arces.
Hermann Sauppe. James A. Towle. Commentary on Plato: Protagoras. Ginn & Company. Boston and London. 1889.
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