The Works of Plato

We entered and found Protagoras walking in the portico original: "ἐν τῷ προστῴῳ" — in the inner courtyards of large houses there were four porticos or covered colonnades.; walking with him in an orderly fashion on one side was Callias, son of Hipponicus, and his half-brother Paralus, as well as Charmides original: "315." — refers to the Stephanus pagination, son of Glaucon original: "312." — Charmides is the brother of Plato’s mother Perictione, the same to whom the dialogue of that name is dedicated.. On the other side were Xanthippus, son of Pericles, and Philippides, son of Philomelus, and Antimoerus of Mende, the most famous of Protagoras’s students, who is specifically studying the art to become a sophist. Those who followed behind them, listening to the conversation, were for the most part, it seemed, foreigners—those whom Protagoras leads with him from every city through which he passes, bewitching them with his voice like Orpheus, and they follow him by his voice, as if spellbound original: "κηλῶν τῇ φωνῇ ὥσπερ Ὀρφεύς, οἱ δὲ κατὰ τὴν φωνὴν ἕπονται κεκηλημένοι."; there were also some locals in this chorus. Watching him, I especially noticed how perfectly they arranged themselves so as not to get ahead of Protagoras, but when he and his interlocutors turned, how beautifully and orderly these listeners divided in half and circled around, always positioning themselves behind in the most excellent manner.

"That man I beheld," original: "Τὸν δὲ μετ᾽ εἰσενόησα" — a hemistich from the Odyssey (λ, 601), from the account of the hero’s descent into the underworld. This verse refers to the shade of Hercules. as Homer says, — Hippias of Elis, sitting in the opposite portico on a high seat original: "ἐν θρόνῳ.". Around him sat on benches Eryximachus, son of Acumenus, and Phaedrus the Myrrhinusian...

A woodcut depicts the layout of the porticos in a grand house, showing the various groups of students and scholars gathered around the teachers.