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Facing Pages · Branch 43 of 65
Alcibiades I · 126b–126d
Ancient Greek
p. 80κωφότητος μὲν ἀπογιγνομένης, ἀκοῆς δὲ ἐγγιγνομένης βελτίω τε γίγνεται καὶ ἄμεινον θεραπεύεται.
ΑΛ. Ὀρθῶς.
ΣΩ. Τί δὲ δή; πόλις τίνος παραγιγνομένου καὶ ἀπογιγνομένου βελτίων τε γίγνεται καὶ ἄμεινον θεραπεύεται καὶ διοικεῖται;
126cΑΛ. Ἐμοὶ μὲν δοκεῖ, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὅταν φιλία μὲν αὐτοῖς γίγνηται πρὸς ἀλλήλους, τὸ μισεῖν δὲ καὶ στασιάζειν ἀπογίγνηται.
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν φιλίαν λέγεις ὁμόνοιαν ἢ διχόνοιαν;
ΑΛ. Ὁμόνοιαν.
ΣΩ. Διὰ τίν’ οὖν τέχνην ὁμονοοῦσιν αἱ πόλεις περὶ ἀριθμούς;
ΑΛ. Διὰ τὴν ἀριθμητικήν.
ΣΩ. Τί δὲ οἱ ἰδιῶται; οὐ διὰ τὴν αὐτήν;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ αὐτὸς αὑτῷ ἕκαστος;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Διὰ τίνα δὲ τέχνην ἕκαστος αὐτὸς αὑτῷ ὁμονοεῖ 126d περὶ σπιθαμῆς καὶ πήχεος ὁπότερον μεῖζον; οὐ διὰ τὴν μετρητικήν;
ΑΛ. Τί μήν;
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ οἱ ἰδιῶται ἀλλήλοις καὶ αἱ πόλεις;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Τί δέ; περὶ σταθμοῦ οὐχ ὡσαύτως;
ΑΛ. Φημί.
ΣΩ. Ἣν δὲ δὴ σὺ λέγεις ὁμόνοιαν, τίς ἐστι καὶ περὶ τοῦ, καὶ τίς αὐτὴν τέχνη παρασκευάζει; καὶ ἆρα ἥπερ πόλει, αὑτὴ καὶ ἰδιώτῃ, αὐτῷ τε πρὸς αὑτὸν καὶ πρὸς ἄλλον;
Alcibiades I
p. 81when deafness is absent and hearing comes to be in them, become better and are better tended.
Alc. Rightly said.
Soc. Well then: a city, what is it whose presence and absence make it become better and be better tended and ordered?
Alc. 126c It seems to me, Socrates, that it is when friendship comes to be among them toward one another, and hatred and faction are absent.
Soc. By friendship, then, do you mean concord or discord?
Alc. Concord.
Soc. And through what craft are cities in concord about numbers?
Alc. Through arithmetic.
Soc. And private persons? Isn’t it through the same?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And each man with himself, too?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And through what craft is each man in concord with himself 126d about a span and a cubit, which is the bigger? Isn’t it through measurement?
Alc. Of course.
Soc. And private persons with one another, and cities too?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. Well then: about weight, isn’t it likewise?
Alc. I say so.
Soc. And the concord you speak of, what is it, and about what, and what craft produces it? And is the one that belongs to a city the same for a private person too, for himself with himself and with another?1
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 126b–126d
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.