J. Adam, A. M. Adam, Commentary on Plato, Protagoras
J. Adam & A. M. Adam, Ed.

21. δικαιότης ὁσιότητι. Socrates gives the words the same termination to suggest their closer likeness (‘justness’ to ‘holiness’); δικαιότης is found also in Gorg. 508A as a balance to κοσμιότητα. Plato was fond of this suffix and coined by it the word ποιότης Theaet. 182A.

22. καὶ μάλιστα πάντων—οἷον δικαιοσύνη. Kroschel objects to the emphasis, and inclines to doubt the genuineness of this clause. If ὅτι in l. 20 is translated as ‘because’ and not as ‘that’, the difficulty disappears. ταὐτὰ ἂν ταῦτα in l. 20 thus means simply that δικαιοσύνη is ὄσιον and ὁσιότης δίκαιον (ll. 18-19), which is the meaning also assigned to ταὐτὰ ἂν ταῦτα by Protagoras in his reply (ll. 25 ff.). Socrates (for Protagoras) will reply that δικαιοσύνη is ὅσιον and ὁσιότης δίκαιον for two main reasons: (1) because δικαιότης is the same as ὁσιότης—this he does not much insist on—or because δικαιότης is ὅ τιὁμοιότατον ὁσιότητι—this he insists on more: (2) because δικαιοσύνη is οἷον ὁσιότης and ὁσιότης οἷον δικαιοσύνη—this he insists on most of all (μάλιστα πάντων), and with reason, because it expressly refutes Protagoras' assertion in 330AB. On the other hand if ὅτι is translated as ‘that’, Kroschel's objections can hardly be got over—viz. that ἤτοι ταὐτόν—δικαιοσύνη is not the same as Socrates' reply on his own behalf; that the words are ignored both by Protagoras in his reply and by Socrates himself in 333B and that the emphasis of μάλιστα πάντων is strained and unnatural.