James A. Towle, Commentary on Plato: Protagoras
James A. Towle, Ed.

Cf. Hom. K 224 ff., where Diomedes says, when offering to go out as a spy, σύν τε δὔ ἐρχομένω, καί τε πρὸ ὁ τοῦ ἐνόησεν | ὅππως κέρδος ἔῃ: μοῦνος δ᾽ εἴ πέρ τε νοήσῃ, | ἀλλά τέ οἱ βράσσων τε νόος λεπτὴ δέ τε μῆτις, also Symp. 174 d, where Socrates refers to v. 224. We should have expected σύν τε δύο ἐρχομένω πρὸ ὁ τοῦ ἐνόησαν, but, as though ἔρχονται had preceded, καί follows with a change of construction, so that ἐρχομένω is left as nom. abs. πρὸ ὁ τοῦ stands in transposed order for ὁ πρὸ τοῦ equiv. to ἕτερος πρὸ ἑτέρου.

ἐσμέν: sc. οὕτως ἔχοντες (sc. σύνδυο ἐρχομένω). Similar to this are clauses like 350 b αἰσχρὸν μέντἂν εἴη, and those in which we insert an explanatory otherwise, as 355 d οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐξημάρτανεν.—The art. οἱ in the expression ἅπαντες ἄνθρωποι is against Plato's usage, but the insertion of ἐσμέν makes οἱ ἅνθρωποι almost independent of ἅπαντες.

ἐπιδείξεται, βεβαιώσεται: can, not shall. Hence the subjv., the reading of most of the Mss., cannot be used. Cf. Eur. Heracl. 46 ζητοῦσ᾽ ὅπου γῆς πύργον οἰκιούμεθα, Dem. de Cor. 16 οὐχ ἑτέρῳ ὅτῳ κακόν τι δώσομεν ζητεῖν, Menander (Meineke Com. Gr. iv. 240) οὐκ ἐκ πότων ζητοῦμεν, ᾧ πιστεύσομεν τὰ τοῦ βίου.

ἡγούμενος: explains the preparatory ἕνεκα τούτου. Cf. Theaet. 151 b ταῦτα ἕνεκα τοῦδε ἐμήκυνα, ὑποπτεύων σε ὠδίνειν τι κυοῦντα ἔνδον (suspecting that you are in labor, great with some conception), Parm. 126 a πάρειμί γε ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, δεησόμενος ὑμῶν.