Protagoras was the first Sophist. He came from Abdera, an Ionian colony on the coast of Thrace. As a child, he may have been educated by the Persians. As a young man, he went to live in Athens, and in 443 B.C., he was asked by Pericles to form a constitution for a colony in southern Italy. He knew Democritus. Although he probably wrote 18 works (12 of which are listed by Diogenes Laertius), there only remain a few sentences and phrases of these works. However, Plato discusses Protagoras' thoughts at length, especially in the dialogues, Protagoras and Theaetetus. From these and other sources, it is possible tentatively to reconstruct his philosophy.
