Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
Ancient Greek Page · Branch 12 of 65
Alcibiades I · 108c–109a
Ancient Greek
p. 18ΣΩ. Ἴθι δὴ καὶ σύ—πρέποι γὰρ ἄν που καὶ σοὶ τὸ καλῶς διαλέγεσθαι—εἰπὲ πρῶτον τίς ἡ τέχνη ἧς τὸ κιθαρίζειν καὶ τὸ ᾄδειν καὶ τὸ ἐμβαίνειν ὀρθῶς; συνάπασα τίς καλεῖται; οὔπω δύνασαι εἰπεῖν;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλ’ ὧδε πειρῶ· τίνες αἱ θεαὶ ὧν ἡ τέχνη;
ΑΛ. Τὰς Μούσας, ὦ Σώκρατες, λέγεις;
108dΣΩ. Ἔγωγε. ὅρα δή· τίνα ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ἐπωνυμίαν ἡ τέχνη ἔχει;
ΑΛ. Μουσικήν μοι δοκεῖς λέγειν.
ΣΩ. Λέγω γάρ. τί οὖν τὸ κατὰ ταύτην ὀρθῶς γιγνόμενόν ἐστιν; ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ ἐγώ σοι τὸ κατὰ τὴν τέχνην ἔλεγον ὀρθῶς, τὴν γυμναστικήν, καὶ σὺ δὴ οὖν οὕτως ἐνταῦθα τί φῄς; πῶς γίγνεσθαι;
ΑΛ. Μουσικῶς μοι δοκεῖ.
ΣΩ. Εὖ λέγεις. ἴθι δή, καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ πολεμεῖν βέλτιον καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ εἰρήνην ἄγειν, τοῦτο τὸ βέλτιον τί 108e ὀνομάζεις; ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ ἐφ’ ἑκάστῳ ἔλεγες τὸ ἄμεινον, ὅτι μουσικώτερον καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἑτέρῳ, ὅτι γυμναστικώτερον· πειρῶ δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα λέγειν τὸ βέλτιον.
ΑΛ. Ἀλλ’ οὐ πάνυ τι ἔχω.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ μέντοι αἰσχρόν γε εἰ μέν τὶς σε λέγοντα καὶ συμβουλεύοντα περὶ σιτίων ὅτι βέλτιον τόδε τοῦδε καὶ νῦν καὶ τοσοῦτον, ἔπειτα ἐρωτήσειεν “Τί τὸ ἄμεινον λέγεις, ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη;” περὶ μὲν τούτων ἔχειν εἰπεῖν ὅτι τὸ ὑγιεινότερον, καίτοι οὐ προσποιῇ γε ἰατρὸς εἶναι· περὶ δὲ οὗ 109a προσποιῇ ἐπιστήμων εἶναι καὶ συμβουλεύσεις ἀνιστάμενος
Alcibiades I
p. 19Soc. Come now, you too — for it would suit you as well, I suppose, to talk well1 — say first what the craft is to which playing the lyre, and singing, and keeping step rightly belong. What is it called as a whole? Can’t you say yet?
Alc. No, I can’t.
Soc. Well, try it this way: who are the goddesses the craft belongs to?
Alc. Do you mean the Muses, Socrates?
Soc. 108d I do. Now see: what name does the craft take from them?
Alc. You mean music, I think.2
Soc. I do. Then what is it that is done rightly according to it? Just as there I told you that what accorded with the craft, gymnastics, was done rightly, so you too, then, in the same way: what do you say here? How do you say it is done?
Alc. Musically, I think.
Soc. Well said. Come now: the better in making war, and in keeping peace — this better, what do you 108e call it? Just as there you said, in each case, what the better was: in the one, that it was more musical, and in the other, that it was more gymnastic. Try now to say what the better is here as well.
Alc. I can’t, not really.
Soc. And yet it is shameful, surely — if, when you were speaking and advising about food, that this is better than that, and now, and this much, someone were then to ask, “What do you mean by better, Alcibiades?”, about these things you could say that it is the healthier, though you don’t claim to be a doctor; but about the thing 109a you claim to have knowledge of, and will stand up to advise on
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 108c–109a
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Socrates and Alcibiades examine political ambition, education, justice, and the care of the soul. Their inquiry turns on what it means to know oneself. This complete revised edition presents the dialogue, 103a–135e, across fifty-eight Greek–English page pairs, with an introduction, Key Words of the Dialogue, an outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and translator’s notes. The dialogue is transmitted among Plato’s works; its authorship remains disputed.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows John Burnet’s Platonis Opera, volume II (Oxford, 1901), in a later Oxford impression printed by John Johnson and published by Humphrey Milford. The words were taken from the Perseus Digital Library transcription and checked against the supplied printed pages. Burnet’s lineation and critical apparatus are retained, including the extended mirror passage at 133c. The supplied PDF preserves the complete printed layout.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared and revised this independent English translation directly from the Greek, preserving the argument’s distinctions, consistent key terms, Socrates’ humor, and the quick exchanges with Alcibiades. Each English dialogue page translates the Greek page opposite it. Translator’s notes accompany their passages. The introduction and Key Words of the Dialogue precede the text; the Outline, Editorial Note, Glossary of Key Terms, and Note on this Edition follow it. Introductory and concluding matter reflows for the screen.
Rights
The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s printed edition are in the public domain. The Perseus digital Greek transcription and its modifications are attributed to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, and reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. The independent English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions.