Protagoras, on the other hand, who started by saying that it might be
taught, is now eager to prove it to be anything rather than knowledge; and
if this is true, it must be quite incapable of being taught.' Now I,
Protagoras, perceiving this terrible confusion of our ideas, have a great
desire that they should be cleared up. And I should like to carry on the
discussion until we ascertain what virtue is, whether capable of being
taught or not, lest haply Epimetheus should trip us up and deceive us in
the argument, as he forgot us in the story; I prefer your Prometheus to
your Epimetheus, for of him I make use, whenever I am busy about these
questions, in Promethean care of my own life. And if you have no
objection, as I said at first, I should like to have your help in the
enquiry.
Protagoras replied: Socrates, I am not of a base nature, and I am the last
man in the world to be envious. I cannot but applaud your energy and your
conduct of an argument. As I have often said, I admire you above all men
whom I know, and far above all men of your age; and I believe that you will
become very eminent in philosophy. Let us come back to the subject at some
future time; at present we had better turn to something else.
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