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Facing Pages · Branch 33 of 65
Alcibiades I · 120a–120d
Ancient Greek
p. 60120aΑΛ. Λέγεις δὲ τίνας τούτους, ὦ Σώκρατες;
ΣΩ. Οὐκ οἶσθα ἡμῶν τὴν πόλιν Λακεδαιμονίοις τε καὶ τῷ μεγάλῳ βασιλεῖ πολεμοῦσαν ἑκάστοτε;
ΑΛ. Ἀληθῆ λέγεις.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν εἴπερ ἐν νῷ ἔχεις ἡγεμὼν εἶναι τῆσδε τῆς πόλεως, πρὸς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίων βασιλέας καὶ τοὺς Περσῶν τὸν ἀγῶνα ἡγούμενός σοι εἶναι ὀρθῶς ἂν ἡγοῖο;
ΑΛ. Κινδυνεύεις ἀληθῆ λέγειν.
ΣΩ. Οὔκ, ὠγαθέ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς Μειδίαν σε δεῖ τὸν ὀρτυγο120bκόπον ἀποβλέπειν καὶ ἄλλους τοιούτους—οἳ τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράττειν ἐπιχειροῦσιν, ἔτι τὴν ἀνδραποδώδη, φαῖεν ἂν αἱ γυναῖκες, τρίχα ἔχοντες ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ὑπ’ ἀμουσίας καὶ οὔπω ἀποβεβληκότες, ἔτι δὲ βαρβαρίζοντες ἐληλύθασι κολακεύσοντες τὴν πόλιν ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἄρξοντες—πρὸς τούτους σε δεῖ, οὕσπερ λέγω, βλέποντα σαυτοῦ δὴ ἀμελεῖν, καὶ μήτε μανθάνειν ὅσα μαθήσεως ἔχεται, μέλλοντα τοσοῦτον ἀγῶνα ἀγωνίζεσθαι, μήτε ἀσκεῖν ὅσα δεῖται ἀσκήσεως, 120c καὶ πᾶσαν παρασκευὴν παρεσκευασμένον οὕτως ἰέναι ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς πόλεως.
ΑΛ. Ἀλλ’, ὦ Σώκρατες, δοκεῖς μέν μοι ἀληθῆ λέγειν, οἶμαι μέντοι τούς τε Λακεδαιμονίων στρατηγοὺς καὶ τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα οὐδὲν διαφέρειν τῶν ἄλλων.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλ’, ὦ ἄριστε, τὴν οἴησιν ταύτην σκόπει οἵαν ἔχεις.
ΑΛ. Τοῦ πέρι;
ΣΩ. Πρῶτον μὲν ποτέρως ἂν οἴει σαυτοῦ μᾶλλον ἐπι120dμεληθῆναι, φοβούμενός τε καὶ οἰόμενος δεινοὺς αὐτοὺς εἶναι, ἢ μή;
Alcibiades I
p. 61Alc. 120a And who do you mean by these, Socrates?
Soc. Don’t you know that our city is at war with the Spartans and the Great King time after time?
Alc. What you say is true.
Soc. Then if you mean to be a leader of this city, you would be right to think that your contest is with the kings of the Spartans and of the Persians?
Alc. You may well be right.
Soc. No, my good friend: it is to Meidias the quail-tapper that you must 120b look, and others like him, who set about managing the city’s affairs with the slave’s hair, as the women would say, still on their souls from their lack of culture, and have not yet cast it off, and who, still talking like barbarians, have come to flatter the city, not to rule it. To these, the very ones I mean, you must look, and take no care of yourself, of course, and neither learn what calls for learning, when you are going to contend in so great a contest, nor train in what calls for training, 120c and, thus prepared in every way, go into the city’s affairs.1
Alc. Well, Socrates, you seem to me to be right; and yet I think the generals of the Spartans and the king of the Persians are no different from anyone else.
Soc. But, best of men, look into this notion of yours, what sort of notion it is.
Alc. In what respect?
Soc. First: in which case do you think you would care for yourself more, 120d if you feared them and thought them formidable, or not?
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 120a–120d
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.