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Prodicus the Sophist Texts, Translations, and Commentary ROBERT MAYHEW OXFORD UNIVEH. . SITY Plι.ESS OXFORD \JNIVBRSITY PRRSS G1·eat Clarendon Street, Oxford οχ2 6DP Oxford University Press is a departmenι of the University of Oxford. Ιι furthers the University's objective of excellence ίη research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide ίη Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices ίη Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press ίη the UK and ίη certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Robert Mayhew 2011 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (rnaker) First published 2011 All rights reserved. Νο part of this publication rnay be reproduced, stored ίη a retrieval systern, or transrnitted, in any forrn or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly perrnitted by law, or under terrns agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Departrnent, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this sarne condition οη any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by RefineCatch Lirnited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain οη acid-free paper by MPG Books Group, Bod1nin and Κing' s Lynn ISBN 978-0-19-960787-7 Leonard Peikoff Το Contents Preface 1Χ Acknowledgments χ .. Abbreviations Xll Introduction Xlll TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS Ι. Life and Character 2 ΙΙ. Language 16 ΙΙΙ. Natural Philosophy, Cosmology, and Religion 38 IV. Ethics 50 COMMENTARY Life and Character 68 Ι. Language 107 ΙΙ. Natural Philosophy, Cosmology, and Religion 159 ΠΙ. IV. Ethics 194 Appendices 237 Sources 249 254 Bibliography Index Locorum 261 269 Index Nominum Preface The past fifty years has witnessed the flourishing of scholarship in virtually every area of ancient Greek philosophy; but the sophists have, by comparison or for the most part, been neglected. This is certainly true of Prodicus. Of the four most well-known sophists Protagoras, Gorgias, Prodicus, and Antiphon-he has received the least attention. The time is right for a reassessment of this important fifth-century thinker-of his views οη language, religion, and ethics-and one that considers not simply the texts included in Diels and Κranz' s Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, but all the relevant ancient evidence. The present volume makes available this material, and includes a lengthy examination of it. Prodicus the Sophist consists of ninety texts with facing translation, and extensive commentary. have relied the best available Ι οη editions of the texts (see the list of sources pp. 249-253 ); the οη translations are new, and aim to be faithful to the original Greek ( or Latin). Where possible, key terms are translated consistently. have Ι tried to make the commentary serve the needs of a wide range of people. include basic information about the sources for the texts, Ι the context in which they appear, discussion of relevant philological issues, and of course analysis of the issues and arguments presented in them. My hope is that both scholars of ancient philosophy and advanced students curious about this interesting figure who appears in over a dozen Platonic dialogues will find this volume useful. Robert Mayhew Acknowledgments Ι wish to acknowledge three debts to my home institution, Seton Hall University. First, in spring 2005, Ι taught a seminar on the Greek sophists, and it was while preparing for and teaching that course that Ι first began thinking about a book on Prodicus. Ι' d like to thank the students in that class for making an interesting subject more enjoyable, and especially Edward Guetti, for his astute critical com ments on my presentation of Prodicus' Heracles-speech. Second, am grateful to the College of Arts and Sciences and especially Ι my colleagues in the Department of Philosophy for approving my 2006-7 sabbatical leave, during which period began to work in Ι earnest on this project. Ayn Rand Institute Research Grant, for (Αη which am very grateful, allowed me to take a full year's sabbatical Ι leave.) Third, wish to express my gratitude to Fred Booth, chair of Ι the Classics Department, for providing me with translations of the seven Latin texts included in the present collection ( as well as a couple of others quoted in the commentary), and for taking the time to discuss them with me. It has once again been a pleasure to work with the personnel at Oxford University Press. Special thanks to Peter Momtchiloff for his encouragement and support. Two anonymous referees for the Press produced extensive com ments on a draft of the work, and Gregory Salmieri provided useful comments οη an early version of my treatment of the Heracles speech. Ι was very pleased that-nearly twenty years after directing my doctoral dissertation-Alfonso Gomez-Lobo was willing to answer a series of questions aboιιt particularly difficult texts. Ι cannot say to what extent Alfonso, Greg, or either of the referees agrees with any of the final product, but I'm extremely grateful for their feedback. Needless to say, any remaining errors or infelicitie are entirely my own. * * * Ιη the early 1980s, when Ι was an undergradιιat , Ι fi nnd n1y lf in ,1 position not unlike Pr dicus) Heracl , puzzling ν r wl1i h p itl1 ιη life to follow-th ιιgh th choi e confr nting 111 w,ι η t iι-tιι )f . k11owledgrnents Α Xl \ Ti bnt raduate cl1ool or Law school. Dιιring tl1at period, Ι li t d to a eries of lectures the history of Western philosophy, η οη fro1n Thales to the twentieth century, by Leonard Peikoff. It was a tour de force, covering thousands of years in about sixty hours, and it influenced my decision the following year to pursue the serious tudy of the history of ideas. don't recall whether Leonard ever Ι mentioned Prodicus in that course (though he surely discussed the sophists); and he is, philosophically, the antipode of a sophist (t hough if, as argue, Prodicus was more likely an atheist than an Ι agnostic, the two of them have at least this much in common). Nevertheless, for opening my eyes to just how important the history of philosophy is and how enjoyable it can be, and for his encourage ment and support over the past two decades, dedicate this book to Ι him.