Protagoras c.490-c.420BC
Greek Sophist and teacher

Born in Abdera in north-east Greece, he was a regular visitor to Athens, and was the first and most famous of the 'Sophists' who, for a fee, offered a professional training in public life and in other skills. He became a friend of Pericles and was invited by him to draft a legal code for the new pan-Hellenic colony of Thurii. His many works are lost, except for an agnostic first sentence from On the Gods. Much of our information about him comes from Plato's dialogues, one of which was named after him and portrays him memorably (and respectfully). His most famous maxim was 'Man is the measure of all things', which is usually taken to imply a sceptical or relativistic view of human knowledge.