ABSTRACT
During the twentieth century, scholars who interpreted what Plato's dialogues have to say about the Pre-Socratics commonly held that Plato was well-acquainted with the philosophers of the past and therefore is an important source of information concerning several Pre-Socratics. More is said in the Hippias Major passage, but the other parts deal with evaluation rather than with the identification of some qualifying features of the already rich Greek philosophical tradition. As a matter of fact, since Eduard Zeller we have been told many times that the second first-order change affecting Greek philosophy after the Sophistic movement occurred only when Plato became the superb metaphysician we all admire. Moreover, whereas the Sophists portrayed or mentioned in these dialogues are often treated as mere butts of severe attacks, most philosophers dealt with in non-aporetic dialogues are treated with much greater respect and seriousness.
