Protagoras and Logos: A Study in Greek Philosophy and Rhetoric

10 PROTAGORAS AND FIFTH-CENTURY EDUCATION

10 PROTAGORAS AND FIFTH-CENTURY EDUCATION Clear-cut conceptual categories such as political theory, ethics, educational philosophy, and rhetorical theory were nascent at best in the mid-fifth century. Though any scholarly analysis of fifth-century thinking is bound to engage in a certain amount of oversimplification, it is possible to minimize the risk of misreading Protagoras' words. In such an inquiry scope and accuracy can be provided by moving from a broad view of the ontological and epistemological aspects of Protagoras' approach to logos (the goal, broadly speaking, of Part 2) to more specific views pertaining to what we now readily identify as educational philosophy , political philosophy, and rhetorical theory. THE MYTHIC-POETIC TRADITION Greek educational practices underwent dramatic changes between 450 and 350 BCE. By the fourth century formal schools with distinct curricula began to emerge and compete. There is a tendency (even in the fourth century) to assume that the same was true in the fifth century. However, there is no evidence of distinct and competing "schools" (except for children) prior to the time of Plato.1 Further, the notion of an educational text that could be privately read and studied is primarily a fourth157 Protagoras and Early Greek Philosophy and Rhetoric century phenomenon. In the mid-fifth century serious thinkers might write down their thoughts, but it would be primarily with the intention of presenting them orally. A consistent readership for books did not emerge until around the last third of the fifth century, and even then books were very rare.2 I believe that Protagoras' contributions to the advancement of the educational practices of his time involved changes in the predominant style and doctrine (keeping in mind that form and content are very much intertwined in this context). This being so, how Protagoras taught is at least as important as what he taught. Protagoras was a good example of what Thomas S. Kuhn describes as a "revolutionary" pioneer in his field.3 He was clearly influenced by and to some extent constrained by the mythic-poetic tradition he inherited , but he also played a significant role in changing that tradition. He did so by advancing different prose forms of discourse and by introducing (and popularizing) new patterns of explanation. Nevertheless, it is highly doubtful that Protagoras ever wrote a techne. The fifth-century manuals referred to in the fourth century were collections of exemplary speeches or, in some cases, perhaps general guidelines for speaking procedures in the law courts. In the case of Protagoras neither sort of text seems likely. Though his books appear to have been among the first written in prose, his surviving fragments bear the mark of aphorism: self-contained maxims designed for easy memorization.4 The oral characteristics of Protagoras' fragments may serve as a clue to the disparate treatments one finds, even in ancient times, of his ideas. I conjectured in the previous chapter that the first line of Protagoras' book Peri Theon may have achieved a life of its own through oral transmission that was quite different than the original direction of the written text. The same could be true of other Protagorean sayings. Some later commentators state that they have actually read a book by Protagoras (DK 80 B2). But others talk about some of Protagoras' ideas in such a way that it is plausible they knew only what they had heard. Accordingly, when Plato discussed ouk estin antilegein in the Euthydemus, or when Aristotle conjectured about Protagoras' "promise" ton hetto de logon kreitto poiein in his Rhetoric, it is entirely possible that they are responding to a primarily oral legacy-the uses to which later speakers (perhaps Euthydemus and Aristophanes, respectively) put Protagoras' notions. The more easily memorized Protagoras' comments were, the more likely they were to reappear in contexts quite different than Protagoras might have ever imagined. 158 Protagoras and Fifth-Century Education In the case of the human-measure statement, memorization is encouraged through the use of antithesis, rhythm, and balanced phrasingobvious in the English translation as well as in the original Greek. The two-logoi fragment is easily divided into three phrases: duo logous einai I peri pantos pragmatos I antikeimenous allelois. The phrases are conceptually as well as acoustically distinct; they also build-each successive phrase amplifies the phrase before-again both conceptually and acoustically . The fragment may or may not be Protagoras' ipsissima verba, but the basic notion of paired...