Protas

First Appearance and Context

Protas is referenced 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. In a curated display of the theoric golden age centered on the city‑state of Ethras, Protas is shown at one end, gazing up at clouds painted on the ceiling, with his teacher anchoring the other end and situating Protas within that intellectual lineage.

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 is treated as the essential doctrine of Protism. He is said to have returned to the Periklyne to proclaim it.

Influence and Interpretation

  • Later mathic discussion frames Protas’s doctrine as an early expression of the Hylaean Theoric World.
  • In contemporary debate, avout refer to “Protan forms” as shared theoric truths that might enable communication with other minds; a lineage is cited in which CnoĂĽs glimpsed it, Hylaea interpreted it, Protas formalized it, and figures such as Fraa Paphlagon developed it within metatheorics.

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.
  • In display, Protas is depicted gazing upward toward painted clouds.

Current Status/Location

Not specified. Protas is treated as a historical figure from the dialog tradition whose doctrine is actively referenced in current discussion.

Summary:

Protas is remembered as the greatest fid (disciple) of Thelenes, credited with the doctrine that things perceived are shadows of more perfect realities in a higher world. His “Protan forms” are cited in current discussion as a shared basis for communicating theoric truths; the doctrine is later called Protism.

First seen:
Part 2: Apert - Chapter 11: Sline
Most recently seen:
Part 5: Voco - Chapter 25: Terrible Events
Known as:
Protas