Myth and partnership

Protagoras

pp. 83-109

in: Omid Tofighian, Myth and philosophy in Platonic dialogues, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016

Abstract

Tofighian examines the introduction (frame dialogue) to the Protagoras and explains its relevance for interpreting the philosophical arguments. Both the dramatic form that opens the dialogue and the beginning of Socrates's narration of events contain elements that complement scenes and ideas pertaining to Protagoras's myth. Tofighian examines how Plato presents a somewhat challenged and sometimes unconvincing Socrates; Socrates is neither heroic nor authoritative. He introduces Laurence Coupe's theory of "radical typology" and applies it to explain how Protagoras's myth refigures earlier narrative elements in order to deliver the hypothesis that political skill and good citizenship are essentially linked to virtue and that therefore virtue can be taught.