Ton hetto logon kreitto poiein. Aristotle, Plato, and the epangelma of Protagoras

Modern critics have offered various, often conflicting, interpretations of the programme, the ἐπάγγελμα, attributed by tradition to Protagoras: making the weaker λόγος stronger, τόν ἥττω λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν (DK 80 B 6). We may distinguish positions which place this programme of Protagoras in the development of his reflection on rhetoric, from others which connect it rather with the heart of the pre-Socratic reflection on nature and knowledge. But ancient tradition, starting from Aristotle, agrees in presenting us with an image of this famous expression of Protagoras' thought clearly oriented in the direction of rhetoric. Before Aristotle, however, we find a significant exception: Plato, our main source of information about Protagoras, offers us information, particularly regarding the ἐπάγγελμα, which differs from the rest of the tradition because it places the ἐπάγγελμα quite particularly in the context of the educational activity developed by Protagoras. I will focus here precisely on this singular dichotomy between Plato and the rest of the tradition (Aristotle and Eudoxus, and Aristophanes in particular), conducting as detailed an analysis as possible of the data at our disposal.