Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 14 of 65
Alcibiades I · 109c–110a
Ancient Greek
p. 22ΣΩ. Ἄλλο τι οὖν, ὃ νυνδὴ ἐγὼ ἠρώτων βέλτιον πρὸς τὸ πολεμεῖν καὶ μή, καὶ οἷς δεῖ καὶ οἷς μή, καὶ ὁπότε καὶ μή, τὸ δικαιότερον τυγχάνει ὄν; ἢ οὔ;
ΑΛ. Φαίνεταί γε.
109dΣΩ. Πῶς οὖν, ὦ φίλε Ἀλκιβιάδη; πότερον σαυτὸν λέληθας ὅτι οὐκ ἐπίστασαι τοῦτο, ἢ ἐμὲ ἔλαθες μανθάνων καὶ φοιτῶν εἰς διδασκάλου ὅς σε ἐδίδασκε διαγιγνώσκειν τὸ δικαιότερόν τε καὶ ἀδικώτερον; καὶ τίς ἐστιν οὗτος; φράσον καὶ ἐμοί, ἵνα αὐτῷ φοιτητὴν προξενήσῃς καὶ ἐμέ.
ΑΛ. Σκώπτεις, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. Οὐ μὰ τὸν Φίλιον τὸν ἐμόν τε καὶ σόν, ὃν ἐγὼ ἥκιστ’ ἂν ἐπιορκήσαιμι· ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἔχεις, εἰπὲ τίς ἐστιν.
109eΑΛ. Τί δ’ εἰ μὴ ἔχω; οὐκ ἂν οἴει με ἄλλως εἰδέναι περὶ τῶν δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων;
ΣΩ. Ναί, εἴ γε εὕροις.
ΑΛ. Ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἂν εὑρεῖν με ἡγῇ;
ΣΩ. Καὶ μάλα γε, εἰ ζητήσαις.
ΑΛ. Εἶτα ζητῆσαι οὐκ ἂν οἴει με;
ΣΩ. Ἔγωγε, εἰ οἰηθείης γε μὴ εἰδέναι.
ΑΛ. Εἶτα οὐκ ἦν ὅτ’ εἶχον οὕτω;
ΣΩ. Καλῶς λέγεις. ἔχεις οὖν εἰπεῖν τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον 110a ὅτε οὐκ ᾤου εἰδέναι τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰ ἄδικα; φέρε, πέρυσιν ἐζήτεις τε καὶ οὐκ ᾤου εἰδέναι; ἢ ᾤου; καὶ τἀληθῆ ἀποκρίνου, ἵνα μὴ μάτην οἱ διάλογοι γίγνωνται.
ΑΛ. Ἀλλ’ ᾤμην εἰδέναι.
ΣΩ. Τρίτον δ’ ἔτος καὶ τέταρτον καὶ πέμπτον οὐχ οὕτως;
ΑΛ. Ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ μὴν τό γε πρὸ τοῦ παῖς ἦσθα. ἦ γάρ;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
Alcibiades I
p. 23Soc. Then is it not the case that this better I was asking about just now — in making war or not, and on whom one should and on whom not, and when and when not — is in fact the more just? Or not?
Alc. So it appears.
Soc. 109d How is this, then, my dear Alcibiades? Has it escaped your own notice that you do not know this, or did it escape mine that you were learning, and going to a teacher who taught you to tell the more just from the more unjust? And who is he? Tell me too, so that you may introduce me to him as a pupil as well.
Alc. You’re teasing, Socrates.
Soc. No, by the god of Friendship, mine and yours, by whom I would least of all swear falsely.1 But if you really can, tell me who he is.
Alc. 109e And what if I can’t? Don’t you think I could know about what is just and unjust in some other way?
Soc. Yes, if you discovered it.
Alc. Well, don’t you think I could discover it?
Soc. Very much so, if you sought it.
Alc. Then don’t you think I would seek it?
Soc. I do, if you thought you did not know.
Alc. Well, wasn’t there a time when I was in that state?
Soc. Well said. Can you tell me, then, the time 110a when you did not think you knew what is just and unjust? Come: last year, were you seeking it, and not thinking you knew? Or did you think you knew? And answer truly, so that our conversations may not be held in vain.
Alc. Well, I thought I knew.
Soc. And two years ago, and three, and four, wasn’t it the same?2
Alc. It was.
Soc. But before that, at any rate, you were a child, weren’t you?
Alc. Yes.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 109c–110a
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.