Protas

First Appearance and Context

Protas is referenced during an Apert reflection as an exemplar of a classic upsight: a thinker whose observations about clouds, shadows, and perspective led to a unifying doctrine about forms. The mention is used to frame an analogy between different sacred or meaningful places without asserting that they are identical.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Described as the greatest fid (student) of Thelenes.
• Climbing a mountain near Ethras, he compared the shapes of cloud shadows cast on the plain with the clouds themselves, noting that the shadows were degraded projections of more complex originals. Turning back toward the mountain, he noted how its apparent shape changed with the viewer’s position, despite its single underlying form.
• From these linked insights, he concluded that the things people think they know are shadows of more perfect things in a higher world; this became the essential doctrine of Protism.
• Returning to the Periklyne, he proclaimed this doctrine.

Relationships

• Teacher–student relationship: Protas is presented as the foremost fid of Thelenes.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• No physical description is provided in the available text. He is characterized by a sequence of upsights: careful observation, analogy, and a unifying philosophical conclusion about forms and their shadows.

Current Status/Location

Not specified. Protas is treated as a historical figure from the dialog tradition and is referenced for his doctrine during Apert.