The home of Callias becomes the setting for a dramatic showdown between Socrates and the most famous sophist of the age, Protagoras. The debate centers on the unity of the virtues and whether political skill can be taught, with the two thinkers frequently reversing their initial positions. Plato vividly dramatizes the clash between the long, eloquent speeches of the sophist and the short, incisive questions of the philosopher. The text offers a nuanced look at the relativism of the sophists and the Socratic equation of virtue with knowledge.