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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 22 of 65
Alcibiades I · 114b–114d
Ancient Greek
p. 38114bφέροντα· πότερον δὲ ταὐτά ἐστι δίκαιά τε καὶ συμφέροντ’ ἢ ἕτερα, τί οὐκ ἀπέδειξας; εἰ μὲν βούλει, ἐρωτῶν με ὥσπερ ἐγὼ σέ, εἰ δέ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ σεαυτοῦ λόγῳ διέξελθε.
ΑΛ. Ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδα εἰ οἷός τ’ ἂν εἴην, ὦ Σώκρατες, πρὸς σὲ διελθεῖν.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλ’, ὠγαθέ, ἐμὲ ἐκκλησίαν νόμισον καὶ δῆμον· καὶ ἐκεῖ τοί σε δεήσει ἕνα ἕκαστον πείθειν. ἦ γάρ;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἕνα τε οἷόν τε εἶναι κατὰ μόνας 114c πείθειν καὶ συμπόλλους περὶ ὧν ἂν εἰδῇ, ὥσπερ ὁ γραμματιστὴς ἕνα τέ που πείθει περὶ γραμμάτων καὶ πολλούς;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν οὐ καὶ περὶ ἀριθμοῦ ὁ αὐτὸς ἕνα τε καὶ πολλοὺς πείσει;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Οὗτος δ’ ἔσται ὁ εἰδώς, ὁ ἀριθμητικός;
ΑΛ. Πάνυ γε.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ σὺ ἅπερ καὶ πολλοὺς οἷός τε πείθειν εἶ, ταῦτα καὶ ἕνα;
ΑΛ. Εἰκός γε.
ΣΩ. Ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα δῆλον ὅτι ἃ οἶσθα.
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Ἄλλο τι οὖν τοσοῦτον μόνον διαφέρει τοῦ ἐν τῷ 114d δήμῳ ῥήτορος ὁ ἐν τῇ τοιᾷδε συνουσίᾳ, ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἁθρόους πείθει τὰ αὐτά, ὁ δὲ καθ’ ἕνα;
ΑΛ. Κινδυνεύει.
ΣΩ. Ἴθι νῦν, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φαίνεται πολλούς τε καὶ ἕνα πείθειν, ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐμμελέτησον καὶ ἐπιχείρησον ἐπιδεῖξαι ὡς τὸ δίκαιον ἐνίοτε οὐ συμφέρει.
ΑΛ. Ὑβριστὴς εἶ, ὦ Σώκρατες.
Alcibiades I
p. 39114bBut whether what is just and what is advantageous are the same or different, why not prove it? If you like, by questioning me as I questioned you; or else go through it yourself, in a speech of your own.
Alc. But I don’t know whether I would be able, Socrates, to go through it before you.
Soc. But, my good friend, think of me as the Assembly and the people. There too, you know, you will have to persuade each one of them. Isn’t that so?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And doesn’t it belong to the same man to be able 114c to persuade one on his own and many together about the things he knows, just as the writing-master, I suppose, persuades one about letters, and many too?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And about number too, won’t the same man persuade one and many?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And this will be the one who knows, the arithmetician?
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. And you too: the things you can persuade many of, you can persuade one of as well?
Alc. Likely, at any rate.
Soc. And these are plainly the things you know.
Alc. Yes.
Soc. Then isn’t this the only difference between the speaker before the 114d people and the speaker in a gathering like this: that the one persuades them of the same things all together, and the other one by one?
Alc. It looks like it.
Soc. Come now: since it appears to belong to the same man to persuade many and one, practise on me, and try to demonstrate that what is just is sometimes not advantageous.
Alc. You’re insolent, Socrates.1
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 114b–114d
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.