15. οἴεταί οἱ μάλιστ᾽ ἂν γενέσθαι. B and T read μάλιστα
without ἄν: see on Crito, 51E. It is more likely that ἄν should
have dropped out after μάλιστα here than that Plato's usage
should have varied with οἴομαι and the aorist infinitive referring
to the future: cf. below, 353Bᾗ οἶμαι ἂν ἔγωγε κάλλιστα φανερὸν
γενέσθαι, where ἄν is in all the MSS.
17. μόνος οἴει δεῖν—πρὸς μόνους. οἴει δεῖν is virtually like
one verb, ἀξιοῖς or the like: it therefore takes the nom. (not the
acc.) with inf.; cf. Demosth. Fals. Leg. 235 εὐθὺς ἡγούμην ἐν
τούτοις—αὐτὸς περιεῖναι δεῖν αὐτῶν καὶ μεγαλοψυχότερος φαίνεσθαι, quoted by Stallbaum on Crito, 50E. Note that Protagoras
here uses the more precise μόνος πρὸς μόνους, but above only
μόνῳ (316 B)—unless (with Cobet and Schanz) we there insert
μόνοι before μόνῳ.
19. ξένον γὰρ ἄνδρα καὶ ἰόντα κτλ. For καὶ ἰόντα T reads
in the margin κατιόντα: Liebhold suggests καταλύοντα. ἰόντα,
however, is parallel to ξένον and to πείθοντα, ‘a man who is a
stranger and goes—and tries to persuade etc.’ The whole
passage recalls Apol. 19E-20A τούτων (viz. Gorgias, Prodicus,
Hippias) γὰρ ἕκαστος—οἷός τ᾽ ἐστὶν ἰὼν εἰς ἑκάστην τῶν πόλεων
τοὺς νέους οἷς ἔξεστι τῶν ἑαυτῶν ρολιτῶν ρποῖκα ξυνεῖναι ᾧ ἂν
βούλωνται—τούτους ρείθουσι τὰς ἐκείνων ξυνουσίας ἀρολιρόντας
σφίσιν ξυνεῖναι χρήματα διδόντας καὶ χάριν προσειδέναι. Notice
throughout the longwinded character of Protagoras' speeches:
cf. Philostrat. Vit. Soph. I. 494 (quoted by Kroschel on 320C,
γνοὺς δὲ τὸν Πρωταγόραν ὁ Πλάτων σεμνῶς μὲν ἑρμηνεύοντα, ὑπτιάζοντα δὲ τῇ σεμνότητι καί που καὶ μακρολογώτερον τοῦ συμμέτρου, τὴν
ἰδέαν αὐτοῦ μύθῳ μακρῷ ἐχαρακτήρισεν.
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