Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers 9.54 (Protagoras) = T 40 Kannicht
M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
πρῶτον δὲ τῶν λόγων ἑαυτοῦ ἀνέγνω τὸν Περὶ Θεῶν, οὗ τὴν ἀρχὴν “περὶ μὲν θεῶν οὐχ ἔχω εἰδέναι οὔθ’ ὡς εἰσίν, οὔθ’ ὡς οὐκ εἰσίν· πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ κωλύοντα εἰδέναι, ἥ τε ἀδηλότης καὶ βραχὺς ὢν ὁ βίος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.” ‘Concerning the gods, I am not able to know either that they exist or that they do not exist. For there are many things which prevent knowledge—lack of clarity and the shortness of human life.’ (D.L. 9.51 = 80 B4 D.-K.) ἄνω παρεθέμεθα· ἀνέγνω δ’ Ἀθήνησιν ἐν τῆι Εὐριπίδου οἰκίαι ἤ, ὥς τινες, ἐν τῆι Μεγακλείδου· ἄλλοι ἐν Λυκείωι, μαθητοῦ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶι χρήσαντος Ἀρχαγόρου τοῦ Θεοδότου.
First of all his speeches he read out On the Gods, whose beginning we quoted above. He read it at Athens in the house of Euripides; or, as some say, in that of Megacleides; others, again, say that it was in the Lyceum. His pupil Archagorus, the son of Theodotus, lent him his voice.
| Relevant guides | Euripides |
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