his own thought, 'Hardly can a man become truly good'; and then a little
further on in the poem, forgetting, and blaming Pittacus and refusing to
agree with him, when he says, 'Hardly can a man be good,' which is the very
same thing. And yet when he blames him who says the same with himself, he
blames himself; so that he must be wrong either in his first or his second
assertion.

Many of the audience cheered and applauded this. And I felt at first giddy
and faint, as if I had received a blow from the hand of an expert boxer,
when I heard his words and the sound of the cheering; and to confess the
truth, I wanted to get time to think what the meaning of the poet really
was. So I turned to Prodicus and called him. Prodicus, I said, Simonides
is a countryman of yours, and you ought to come to his aid. I must appeal
to you, like the river Scamander in Homer, who, when beleaguered by
Achilles, summons the Simois to aid him, saying:

'Brother dear, let us both together stay the force of the hero (Il.).'

And I summon you, for I am afraid that Protagoras will make an end of
Simonides. Now is the time to rehabilitate Simonides, by the application
of your philosophy of synonyms, which enables you to distinguish 'will' and
'wish,' and make other charming distinctions like those which you drew just
now. And I should like to know whether you would agree with me; for I am
of opinion that there is no contradiction in the words of Simonides. And
first of all I wish that you would say whether, in your opinion, Prodicus,
'being' is the same as 'becoming.'

Not the same, certainly, replied Prodicus.

Did not Simonides first set forth, as his own view, that 'Hardly can a man