 The comparison with the testimonies at our disposal on human civilisation shows what is distinctive, and remarkable, of Protagoras’ myth. Scholars insist on the parallels between the myth and these other texts. The differences, however, are even more interesting than the affinities. These texts all share a similar account of the history of human civilisation, underlining the importance of technical skills as the key condition for human progress. From Aeschylus and the other tragic poets to the corpus hippocraticum and Diodorus/Democritus, the history of human progress depends on technai, which are praised for enabling human beings to overcome natural needs and the perils of an hostile environment and thus to live a prosperous life (for a collection of these texts see Cole 1967 or Guthrie 1971: 79–84; the only remarkable exception is the Sisyphus fragment, 88B25 DK, which is later and clearly reminiscent of sophistical ideas). Techne is what marks the distinction between civilisation and savagery, and between human beings and animals. In Protagoras’ myth, on the contrary, technai do not play a decisive role—they do not suffice to warrant human survival and prosperity. Protagoras rather insists on the fact that technai, alone, are not able to warrant human progress, nor human survival, for the problem is not external, natural necessities, but internal, the human tendency to prevaricate and commit injustice: 