“It was beautiful.”

The Protagoras is one of the more brilliantly staged of the lesser-read dialogues, and also has a large character list overlap with the Symposium. I’ve been tempted to reproduce so many of its passages here, but some of the good ones are too long to be worth typing.

However, here’s a manageable one. It’s Socrates speaking of the great train of admirers trailing Protagoras as he walks in the portico. By the way, this comes right after a eunuch –I kid you not– slams the door in Socrates’s face and tells him to go away, after which Socrates has to persuade the eunuch to let him in.

“As I looked at the party I was delighted to notice what special care they took never to get in front or to be in Protagoras’ way. When he and those with him turned round, the listeners divided this way and that, and executing a circular movement took their places each time in the rear. It was beautiful.”