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English Page · Branch 24 of 65
Alcibiades I · 115a–115d
Ancient Greek
p. 42ΣΩ. Ἦ καὶ αἰσχρὰ ἀγαθά;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
115bΣΩ. Ἆρα λέγεις τὰ τοιάδε, οἷον πολλοὶ ἐν πολέμῳ βοηθήσαντες ἑταίρῳ ἢ οἰκείῳ τραύματα ἔλαβον καὶ ἀπέθανον, οἱ δ’ οὐ βοηθήσαντες, δέον, ὑγιεῖς ἀπῆλθον;
ΑΛ. Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τὴν τοιαύτην βοήθειαν καλὴν μὲν λέγεις κατὰ τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν τοῦ σῶσαι οὓς ἔδει, τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν ἀνδρεία· ἢ οὔ;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Κακὴν δέ γε κατὰ τοὺς θανάτους τε καὶ ἕλκη· ἦ γάρ;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
115cΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν οὐκ ἄλλο μὲν ἡ ἀνδρεία, ἄλλο δὲ ὁ θάνατος;
ΑΛ. Πάνυ γε.
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα κατὰ ταὐτόν γ’ ἐστι καλὸν καὶ κακὸν τὸ τοῖς φίλοις βοηθεῖν;
ΑΛ. Οὐ φαίνεται.
ΣΩ. Ὅρα τοίνυν εἰ, ᾗ γε καλόν, καὶ ἀγαθόν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐνταῦθα. κατὰ τὴν ἀνδρείαν γὰρ ὡμολόγεις καλὸν εἶναι τὴν βοήθειαν· τοῦτ’ οὖν αὐτὸ σκόπει, τὴν ἀνδρείαν, ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακόν; ὧδε δὲ σκόπει· σὺ πότερ’ ἂν δέξαιό σοι εἶναι, ἀγαθὰ ἢ κακά;
ΑΛ. Ἀγαθά.
115dΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τὰ μέγιστα μάλιστα.
⟨ΑΛ. Ναί.⟩
ΣΩ. Καὶ ἥκιστα τῶν τοιούτων δέξαιο ἂν στέρεσθαι;
ΑΛ. Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
ΣΩ. Πῶς οὖν λέγεις περὶ ἀνδρείας; ἐπὶ πόσῳ ἂν αὐτοῦ δέξαιο στέρεσθαι;
Alcibiades I
p. 43Soc. And some shameful things good?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. 115b Do you mean things like this: many in war have gone to the help of a comrade or a kinsman and been wounded and died, while others did not go to help when they should have, and came away unharmed?
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. Now such help you call fine in respect of the attempt to save those they ought to save, and that is courage, isn’t it?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. But bad in respect of the deaths and wounds, isn’t it?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. 115c Now isn’t courage one thing and death another?
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. Then helping one’s friends is not fine and bad in the same respect?
Alc. It appears not.
Soc. See, then, whether insofar as it is fine it is also good, as here too. For you agreed that the help was fine in respect of courage. Now look into this very thing, courage: is it good or bad? Look into it this way: which would you be willing to have, good things or bad?
Alc. Good things.
Soc. 115d And the greatest most of all.
Alc. Yes.1
Soc. And these are the things you would least be willing to be deprived of?
Alc. Of course.
Soc. Then what do you say about courage? At what price would you be willing to be deprived of it?
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 115a–115d
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.