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Facing Pages · Branch 34 of 65
Alcibiades I · 120d–121b
Ancient Greek
p. 62ΑΛ. Δῆλον ὅτι εἰ δεινοὺς οἰοίμην.
ΣΩ. Μῶν οὖν οἴει τι βλαβήσεσθαι ἐπιμεληθεὶς σαυτοῦ;
ΑΛ. Οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ μεγάλα ὀνήσεσθαι.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ἓν μὲν τοῦτο τοσοῦτον κακὸν ἔχει ἡ οἴησις αὕτη.
ΑΛ. Ἀληθῆ λέγεις.
ΣΩ. Τὸ δεύτερον τοίνυν, ὅτι καὶ ψευδής ἐστιν, ἐκ τῶν εἰκότων σκέψαι.
ΑΛ. Πῶς δή;
ΣΩ. Πότερον εἰκὸς ἀμείνους γίγνεσθαι φύσεις ἐν γεν120eναίοις γένεσιν ἢ μή;
ΑΛ. Δῆλον ὅτι ἐν τοῖς γενναίοις.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τοὺς εὖ φύντας, ἐὰν καὶ εὖ τραφῶσιν, οὕτω τελέους γίγνεσθαι πρὸς ἀρετήν;
ΑΛ. Ἀνάγκη.
ΣΩ. Σκεψώμεθα δή, τοῖς ἐκείνων τὰ ἡμέτερα ἀντιτιθέντες, πρῶτον μὲν εἰ δοκοῦσι φαυλοτέρων γενῶν εἶναι οἱ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Περσῶν βασιλῆς. ἢ οὐκ ἴσμεν ὡς οἱ μὲν Ἡρακλέους, οἱ δὲ Ἀχαιμένους ἔκγονοι, τὸ δ’ Ἡρακλέους τε γένος καὶ τὸ Ἀχαιμένους εἰς Περσέα τὸν Διὸς ἀναφέρεται;
121aΑΛ. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἡμέτερον, ὦ Σώκρατες, εἰς Εὐρυσάκη, τὸ δ’ Εὐρυσάκους εἰς Δία.
ΣΩ. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἡμέτερον, ὦ γενναῖε Ἀλκιβιάδη, εἰς Δαίδαλον, ὁ δὲ Δαίδαλος εἰς Ἥφαιστον τὸν Διός. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν τούτων ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ἀρξάμενα βασιλῆς εἰσιν ἐκ βασιλέων μέχρι Διός, οἱ μὲν Ἄργους τε καὶ Λακεδαίμονος, οἱ δὲ τῆς Περσίδος τὸ ἀεί, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας, ὥσπερ καὶ νῦν· ἡμεῖς δὲ αὐτοί τε ἰδιῶται καὶ οἱ πατέρες. 121b εἰ δὲ καὶ τοὺς προγόνους σε δέοι καὶ τὴν πατρίδα Εὐρυσάκους ἐπιδεῖξαι Σαλαμῖνα ἢ τὴν Αἰακοῦ τοῦ ἔτι προτέρου
Alcibiades I
p. 63Alc. If I thought them formidable, plainly.
Soc. And surely you don’t think you would come to any harm by caring for yourself?
Alc. Not at all; I would even gain a great deal.
Soc. So this is one bad thing, and a great one, that this notion of yours has.
Alc. What you say is true.
Soc. Then look into the second, from what is likely: that it is also false.
Alc. How so?
Soc. Is it likely that better natures arise in wellborn 120e families, or not?
Alc. In wellborn ones, plainly.
Soc. And that those who are well endowed by nature, if they are also well brought up, become in this way complete in virtue?
Alc. Necessarily.
Soc. Then let us look into it, setting what we have against what they have: first, whether the kings of the Spartans and of the Persians seem to be of humbler families. Or don’t we know that the one line descends from Heracles and the other from Achaemenes, and that the family of Heracles and that of Achaemenes go back to Perseus son of Zeus?1
Alc. 121a Why, ours too, Socrates, goes back to Eurysaces, and that of Eurysaces to Zeus.2
Soc. Why, ours too, my wellborn Alcibiades, goes back to Daedalus, and Daedalus to Hephaestus son of Zeus.3 But their lines, beginning from themselves, are kings sprung from kings all the way to Zeus, the one kings of Argos and Lacedaemon, the other of Persia always, and often of Asia too, as now; while we are private persons ourselves, and so were our fathers. 121b And if you had to show your ancestors, and Eurysaces’ homeland Salamis, or the homeland of Aeacus, who came still earlier,
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 120d–121b
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.