Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
Ancient Greek Page · Branch 16 of 65
Alcibiades I · 110d–111b
Ancient Greek
p. 26ΣΩ. Πάλιν εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν ἥκομεν λόγον. παρὰ τοῦ; φράζε κἀμοί.
110eΑΛ. Παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν.
ΣΩ. Οὐκ εἰς σπουδαίους γε διδασκάλους καταφεύγεις εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀναφέρων.
ΑΛ. Τί δέ; οὐχ ἱκανοὶ διδάξαι οὗτοι;
ΣΩ. Οὔκουν τὰ πεττευτικά γε καὶ τὰ μή· καίτοι φαυλότερα αὐτὰ οἶμαι τῶν δικαίων εἶναι. τί δέ; σὺ οὐχ οὕτως οἴει;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Εἶτα τὰ μὲν φαυλότερα οὐχ οἷοί τε διδάσκειν, τὰ δὲ σπουδαιότερα;
ΑΛ. Οἶμαι ἔγωγε· ἄλλα γοῦν πολλὰ οἷοί τ’ εἰσὶν διδάσκειν σπουδαιότερα τοῦ πεττεύειν.
ΣΩ. Ποῖα ταῦτα;
111aΑΛ. Οἷον καὶ τὸ ἑλληνίζειν παρὰ τούτων ἔγωγ’ ἔμαθον, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιμι εἰπεῖν ἐμαυτοῦ διδάσκαλον, ἀλλ’ εἰς τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀναφέρω οὓς σὺ φῂς οὐ σπουδαίους εἶναι διδασκάλους.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλ’, ὦ γενναῖε, τούτου μὲν ἀγαθοὶ διδάσκαλοι οἱ πολλοί, καὶ δικαίως ἐπαινοῖντ’ ἂν αὐτῶν εἰς διδασκαλίαν.
ΑΛ. Τί δή;
ΣΩ. Ὅτι ἔχουσι περὶ αὐτὰ ἃ χρὴ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς διδασκάλους ἔχειν.
ΑΛ. Τί τοῦτο λέγεις;
ΣΩ. Οὐκ οἶσθ’ ὅτι χρὴ τοὺς μέλλοντας διδάσκειν ὁτιοῦν 111b αὐτοὺς πρῶτον εἰδέναι; ἢ οὔ;
ΑΛ. Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τοὺς εἰδότας ὁμολογεῖν τε ἀλλήλοις καὶ μὴ διαφέρεσθαι;
Alcibiades I
p. 27Soc. We have come back to the same argument. From whom? Tell me too.
Alc. 110e From the many.
Soc. It is no serious teachers you take refuge in, when you refer it to the many.
Alc. Why? Aren’t they good enough to teach?
Soc. Not, at any rate, what is good play at draughts and what is not;1 and yet these things, I think, are more trivial than what is just. What? Don’t you think so?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. Then they cannot teach the more trivial things, but can teach the more serious?
Alc. I think so. At any rate there are many other things, more serious than playing draughts, that they can teach.
Soc. What sort of things?
Alc. 111a For instance, I learned to speak Greek from them; and I could not name my own teacher, but I refer it to the same people you say are not serious teachers.
Soc. But of that, my noble friend, the many are good teachers, and they might justly be praised for their teaching of it.
Alc. Why so?
Soc. Because in that matter they have what good teachers ought to have.
Alc. What do you mean by that?
Soc. Don’t you know that those who are to teach anything must 111b first know it themselves? Or not?
Alc. Of course.
Soc. And that those who know agree with one another and do not disagree?
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 110d–111b
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.