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[334a] things that are profitable to no human being, or things not profitable in any way at all? Can you call such things as these good?

By no means, he replied; but I know a number of things that are unprofitable to men, namely, foods, drinks, drugs, and countless others, and some that are profitable; some that are neither one nor the other to men, but are one or the other to horses; and some that are profitable only to cattle, or again to dogs; some also that are not profitable to any of those, but are to trees; and some that are good for the roots of a tree, but bad for its shoots—such as dung,


Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 3 translated by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967.

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  • Commentary references to this page (5):
    • R. G. Bury, The Symposium of Plato, 187A
    • James A. Towle, Commentary on Plato: Protagoras, 330a
    • James A. Towle, Commentary on Plato: Protagoras, 351c
    • J. Adam, A. M. Adam, Commentary on Plato, Protagoras, CHAPTER XXVI
    • J. Adam, A. M. Adam, Commentary on Plato, Protagoras, CHAPTER XXXV
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (3):
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