# Protagoras — Dialogues character guide

> Protagoras in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0015-protagoras

## Snapshot

The celebrated Sophist whose price is as famous as his promise, he sells the art of making men eloquent about virtue itself.

## Who they are

Protagoras is the professional teacher of wisdom whose arrival in Athens draws Hippocrates before dawn and Socrates along as wary chaperone. He trades in the most dangerous commodity of all — the shaping of souls — and charges accordingly, which makes him both magnetic and suspect. His calm claim to teach virtue forces the dialogue's central question: can excellence be taught at all, or is he selling something he cannot deliver?

## In the story

### [Protagoras](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/protagoras)

The renowned sophist who defends his profession and engages in a dialectical exchange with Socrates.

### [Protagoras](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/protagoras)

Defends the teachability of virtue, arguing that punishment aims at prevention and that all citizens must partake in justice and temperance for a city to exist.

### [The Myths of Plato](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/the-myths-of-plato)

Protagoras narrates the tale of Prometheus and Epimetheus in the dialogue named after him.

### [Introduction and Analysis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/introduction-and-analysis)

Referenced as the proponent of 'man is the measure' doctrine, which Socrates refutes by appealing to expertise and future judgments.

### [Introduction and Analysis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/introduction-and-analysis)

Mentioned as one of the historical Sophists, though Plato's Sophist is an ideal type rather than a depiction of any particular individual.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/endnotes)

Mentioned in an endnote referencing his book titled 'Truth' and the Theaetetus.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/protagoras_old
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters