Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 18 of 65
Alcibiades I · 111e–112c
Ancient Greek
p. 30111eκρήγυοι διδάσκαλοί εἰσιν τούτων, ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲν ὁμολογοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς περὶ αὐτῶν;
ΑΛ. Ἔμοιγε.
ΣΩ. Τί δ’ εἰ βουληθεῖμεν εἰδέναι, μὴ μόνον ποῖοι ἄνθρωποί εἰσιν, ἀλλ’ ὁποῖοι ὑγιεινοὶ ἢ νοσώδεις, ἆρ’ ἱκανοὶ ἂν ἡμῖν ἦσαν διδάσκαλοι οἱ πολλοί;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Ἦν δ’ ἄν σοι τεκμήριον ὅτι μοχθηροί εἰσι τούτων διδάσκαλοι, εἰ ἑώρας αὐτοὺς διαφερομένους;
ΑΛ. Ἔμοιγε.
ΣΩ. Τί δὲ δή; νῦν περὶ τῶν δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων ἀνθρώ112aπων καὶ πραγμάτων οἱ πολλοὶ δοκοῦσί σοι ὁμολογεῖν αὐτοὶ ἑαυτοῖς ἢ ἀλλήλοις;
ΑΛ. Ἥκιστα νὴ Δί’, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. Τί δέ; μάλιστα περὶ αὐτῶν διαφέρεσθαι;
ΑΛ. Πολύ γε.
ΣΩ. Οὔκουν οἴομαί γε πώποτέ σε ἰδεῖν οὐδ’ ἀκοῦσαι σφόδρα οὕτω διαφερομένους ἀνθρώπους περὶ ὑγιεινῶν καὶ μή, ὥστε διὰ ταῦτα μάχεσθαί τε καὶ ἀποκτεινύναι ἀλλήλους.
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων ἔγωγ’ οἶδ’ ὅτι, 112b καὶ εἰ μὴ ἑώρακας, ἀκήκοας γοῦν ἄλλων τε πολλῶν καὶ Ὁμήρου· καὶ Ὀδυσσείας γὰρ καὶ Ἰλιάδος ἀκήκοας.
ΑΛ. Πάντως δήπου, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ταῦτα ποιήματά ἐστι περὶ διαφορᾶς δικαίων τε καὶ ἀδίκων;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Καὶ αἱ μάχαι γε καὶ οἱ θάνατοι διὰ ταύτην τὴν διαφορὰν τοῖς τε Ἀχαιοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Τρωσὶν ἐγένοντο, καὶ τοῖς μνηστῆρσι τοῖς τῆς Πηνελόπης καὶ τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ.
112cΑΛ. Ἀληθῆ λέγεις.
Alcibiades I
p. 31111eare they useful teachers of these things,1 since they agree among themselves about them not at all?
Alc. For me, yes.
Soc. And what if we wanted to know not only what sort of things men are, but what sort are healthy or sickly: would the many be good enough teachers for us?
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. And would it be evidence to you that they are poor teachers of this, if you saw them disagreeing?
Alc. For me, yes.
Soc. Well, then: now, about just and unjust men 112a and actions, do the many seem to you to agree with themselves, or with one another?
Alc. Least of all, by Zeus, Socrates.
Soc. What? To disagree about them most of all?
Alc. By far.
Soc. I don’t suppose you have ever seen or heard of people disagreeing so violently about what is healthy and what is not that they fight and kill one another over it.
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. But about what is just and unjust I know that, 112b even if you have not seen it, you have heard of it at least, from many others and from Homer; for you have heard the Odyssey and the Iliad.
Alc. Of course I have, Socrates.
Soc. Then aren’t these poems about a disagreement over what is just and unjust?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And it was over this disagreement that the battles and the deaths came about, for the Achaeans and the Trojans besides, and for Penelope’s suitors and Odysseus.
Alc. 112c What you say is true.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 111e–112c
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.