L’aporie de Protagoras sur les dieux

The famous incipit of Protagoras’ Peri theôn (80 B 4 DK = 31 D 10 Laks-Most), where the sophist affirms that he is unable to know if the gods exist or not, plays undoubtedly an important part in the history of ancient atheism. Indeed, as D. Sedley points out, it suggests a cultural context in which atheism was an established position, available to endorse or reject. The present paper will deal with the main problems concerning Protagoras’ fragment and its tradition. First, we will consider some questions related to the constitutio textus and we will then go on to analyze the biographical tradition concerning Protagoras’ persecution, quoted from most sources of this fragment. In conclusion, we will try to read the text within the context of the preceding philosophical and literary tradition and to analyze it in the light of other Protagorean texts, in order to understand the point of view of the sophist on gods and religion.