Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 39 of 65
Alcibiades I · 124b–124e
Ancient Greek
p. 72τε καὶ βαρβάροις, οὗ μοι δοκεῖς ἐρᾶν ὡς οὐδεὶς ἄλλος ἄλλου.
ΑΛ. Τίνα οὖν χρὴ τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ποιεῖσθαι; ἔχεις ἐξηγήσασθαι; παντὸς γὰρ μᾶλλον ἔοικας ἀληθῆ εἰρηκότι.
ΣΩ. Ναί· ἀλλὰ γὰρ κοινὴ βουλὴ ᾧτινι τρόπῳ ἂν ὅτι 124c βέλτιστοι γενοίμεθα. ἐγὼ γάρ τοι οὐ περὶ μὲν σοῦ λέγω ὡς χρὴ παιδευθῆναι, περὶ ἐμοῦ δὲ οὔ· οὐ γὰρ ἔσθ’ ὅτῳ σου διαφέρω πλήν γ’ ἑνί.
ΑΛ. Τίνι;
ΣΩ. Ὁ ἐπίτροπος ὁ ἐμὸς βελτίων ἐστὶ καὶ σοφώτερος ἢ Περικλῆς ὁ σός.
ΑΛ. Τίς οὗτος, ὦ Σώκρατες;
ΣΩ. Θεός, ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη, ὅσπερ σοί με οὐκ εἴα πρὸ τῆσδε τῆς ἡμέρας διαλεχθῆναι· ᾧ καὶ πιστεύων λέγω ὅτι ἡ ἐπιφάνεια δι’ οὐδενὸς ἄλλου σοι ἔσται ἢ δι’ ἐμοῦ.
124dΑΛ. Παίζεις, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. Ἴσως· λέγω μέντοι ἀληθῆ, ὅτι ἐπιμελείας δεόμεθα, μᾶλλον μὲν πάντες ἄνθρωποι, ἀτὰρ νώ γε καὶ μάλα σφόδρα.
ΑΛ. Ὅτι μὲν ἐγώ, οὐ ψεύδῃ.
ΣΩ. Οὐδὲ μὴν ὅτι γε ἐγώ.
ΑΛ. Τί οὖν ἂν ποιοῖμεν;
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἀπορρητέον οὐδὲ μαλθακιστέον, ὦ ἑταῖρε.
ΑΛ. Οὔτοι δὴ πρέπει γ’, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. Οὐ γάρ, ἀλλὰ σκεπτέον κοινῇ. καί μοι λέγε· 124e φαμὲν γὰρ δὴ ὡς ἄριστοι βούλεσθαι γενέσθαι. ἦ γάρ;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Τίνα ἀρετήν;
ΑΛ. Δῆλον ὅτι ἥνπερ οἱ ἄνδρες οἱ ἀγαθοί.
Alcibiades I
p. 73and barbarians, the thing you seem to me to love as no one has ever loved anything.
Alc. Then what care ought one to take, Socrates? Can you explain? For you certainly seem to have spoken the truth.
Soc. Yes; but let us deliberate together on how we might become 124c as good as we can. For I am not, you know, saying that you need to be educated and I do not: there is nothing in which I differ from you, except in one thing.
Alc. What is that?
Soc. My guardian is better and wiser than your Pericles.
Alc. Who is he, Socrates?
Soc. The god, Alcibiades, who did not let me talk with you before this day;1 and trusting in him I say that your distinction will come to you through no one else but me.
Alc. 124d You’re joking, Socrates.
Soc. Perhaps; but I am telling the truth when I say that we need care: all men need it a good deal, but the two of us very much indeed.
Alc. That I do is no lie.
Soc. Nor that I do, either.
Alc. Then what are we to do?
Soc. We must not give up or go soft, my friend.
Alc. No, it certainly is not befitting, Socrates.
Soc. No; but we must look into it together. Now tell me: 124e we say, surely, that we want to become as good as possible. Isn’t that so?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. In what virtue?
Alc. Plainly the virtue of good men.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 124b–124e
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.