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19. λίαν: with ζητεῖν: κατὰ βραχύ as in Gorg. 449B ἀλλ᾽
ἐθέλησον κατὰ βραχὺ τὸ ἐρωτώμενον ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
20. ἐφεῖναι καὶ χαλάσαι τὰς ἡνίας τοῖς λόγοις. For the
metaphor Kroschel compares Laws, III. 701C καθάπερ ἀχάλινον
κεκτημένον τὸ στόμα, βίᾳ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου φερόμενον κτλ.
22. ἡμῖν: so most editions: BT have ὑμῖν, which can hardly
be right, as Hippias is at this moment addressing Socrates alone.
‘Pro ὑμῖν dici potuit σοί, sed ὑμιν recte explicari nequit’
(Kroschel).
23. πάντα κάλων ἐκτείναντα. παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ χρωμένων, says a scholiast (quoted by Sauppe). This
nautical metaphor means to stretch out every reefing rope and
so set all sail: κάλως does not refer to the sheet, which is πούς.
κινεῖν, σείειν, ἐξιέναι, ἐφιέναι, ἐκλύειν are also found with κάλων
in much the same sense.
οὐρίᾳ ἐφέντα: see on συγκαθεῖναι 336A For the asyndeton
before these words Heindorf compares Euthyphr. 4C συνδήσας
τοὺς ρόδας καὶ τὰς χεῖπας αὐτοῦ, καταβαλὼν εἰς τάφπον τινά, ρέμρει
δεῦρο ἄνδρα κτλ.
24. πέλαγος τῶν λόγων. Sauppe aptly refers to Symp.
210D ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ πέλαγος τετραμμένος τοῦ καλοῦ. Similar metaphors abound in Plato: e.g. Euthyd. 293A σῶσαι ἡμᾶς—ἐκ τῆς
τρικυμίας τοῦ λόγου, Rep. V. 472A ἴσως γὰρ οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι μόγις
μοι τὼ δύο κύματε ἐκφυγόντι νῦν τὸ μέγιστον καὶ χαλερώτατον τῆς
τρικυμίας ἐπάγεις κτλ.
ἀποκρύψαντα: like Virgil's ‘protinus aerias Phaeacum
abscondimus arces’ (Aen. III. 291): cf. the use of καταδύω in
Callimachus, Epigr. 2 ἥλιον ἐν λέσχῃ κατεδύσαμεν and Virgil's
imitation ‘saepe ego longos Cantando puerum memini me
condere soles’ (Ecl. IX. 51).
25. μέσον τι—τεμεῖν. τέμνειν ὁδόν like secare viam is a
natural metaphor. Cf. Pindar, Isthm. VI. 22 μυρίαι δ᾽ ἔργων
καλῶν τέτμηνθ᾽ ἑκατόμπεδοι ἐν σχερῷ κέλευθοι, Pl. Laws, VII.
803E τὸ μὲν τῶν τύπων εἴρηται καὶ καθάπερ ὁδοὶ τέτμηνται καθ᾽ ἃς
ἰτέον κτλ. Here μέσον τι τεμεῖν = μέσην τινὰ ὁδὸν τεμεῖν.
ὣς οὖν ποιήσατε καὶ πείθεσθε. ὥς (so B: T has ὡς) is best
understood as for οὕτως—a rare usage, except after a preceding
ὡς or ὥσπερ as in 326D but it is found in Thuc. III. 37. 5 (with
οὖν and a form of ποιεῖν as here) ὣς οὖν χρὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς ποιοῦντας—
παραινεῖν. For ποιήσατε the MSS. read ποιήσετε, which is very
harsh before πείθεσθε, and is probably a mistake for ποιήσατε,
due to the influence of the common construction of ὅπως with
2nd person fut. ind. It is, however, possible that this use of the
future as well as the use of ὥς for οὕτως was characteristic of
Hippias' style.
26. ῥαβδοῦχον—πρύτανιν. ῥαβδοῦχος, ἐπιστάτης and βραβευτής are said of umpires or presidents at games: ῥαβδούχους
εἶπε τοὺς κριτὰς τοῦ ἀγῶνος, says the schol. on Ar. Peace, 733;
for ἐπιστάτης cf. Laws, XII. 949A γυμνικῶν τε καὶ ἱππικῶν ἄθλων
ἐπιστάτας καὶ βραβέας. πρύτανις is an old word with lofty associations for ruler or prince. Cron thinks Hippias made this proposal with a view to being chosen President himself; he was
probably still sitting on his θρόνος, cf. 315B 317D
Plato. Protagoras. J. Adam & A. M. Adam. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1893.
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