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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 44 of 65
Alcibiades I · 126d–127b
Ancient Greek
p. 82ΑΛ. Εἰκός γέ τοι.
ΣΩ. Τίς οὖν ἔστι; μὴ κάμῃς ἀποκρινόμενος, ἀλλὰ 126e προθυμοῦ εἰπεῖν.
ΑΛ. Ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι φιλίαν τε λέγειν καὶ ὁμόνοιαν, ἥνπερ πατήρ τε ὑὸν φιλῶν ὁμονοεῖ καὶ μήτηρ, καὶ ἀδελφὸς ἀδελφῷ καὶ γυνὴ ἀνδρί.
ΣΩ. Οἴει ἂν οὖν, ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη, ἄνδρα γυναικὶ περὶ ταλασιουργίας δύνασθαι ὁμονοεῖν, τὸν μὴ ἐπιστάμενον τῇ ἐπισταμένῃ;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Οὐδέ γε δεῖ οὐδέν· γυναικεῖον γὰρ τοῦτό γε μάθημα.
ΑΛ. Ναί.
127aΣΩ. Τί δέ; γυνὴ ἀνδρὶ περὶ ὁπλιτικῆς δύναιτ’ ἂν ὁμονοεῖν μὴ μαθοῦσα;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Ἀνδρεῖον γὰρ τοῦτό γε ἴσως αὖ φαίης ἂν εἶναι.
ΑΛ. Ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Ἔστιν ἄρα τὰ μὲν γυναικεῖα, τὰ δὲ ἀνδρεῖα μαθήματα κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον.
ΑΛ. Πῶς δ’ οὔ;
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα ἔν γε τούτοις ἐστὶν ὁμόνοια γυναιξὶ πρὸς ἄνδρας.
ΑΛ. Οὔ.
ΣΩ. Οὐδ’ ἄρα φιλία, εἴπερ ἡ φιλία ὁμόνοια ἦν.
ΑΛ. Οὐ φαίνεται.
ΣΩ. Ἧι ἄρα αἱ γυναῖκες τὰ αὑτῶν πράττουσιν, οὐ φιλοῦνται ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν.
127bΑΛ. Οὐκ ἔοικεν.
ΣΩ. Οὐδ’ ἄρα οἱ ἄνδρες ὑπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν ᾗ τὰ αὑτῶν.
ΑΛ. Οὔ.
Alcibiades I
p. 83Alc. Likely, at any rate.
Soc. Then what is it? Don’t grow weary of answering, but 126e be eager to say.
Alc. For my part, I think I mean friendship and concord: the concord that a father who loves his son has with him, and a mother too, and brother with brother, and wife with husband.
Soc. Do you think, then, Alcibiades, that a husband could be in concord with his wife about wool-working, when he does not know it and she does?
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. Nor need he at all: for that, at least, is a woman’s subject.
Alc. Yes.
Soc. 127a Well then: could a wife be in concord with her husband about hoplite fighting, if she has not learned it?
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. For that, at least, you would perhaps say in turn, is a man’s.
Alc. I would.
Soc. Then by your argument some subjects are women’s and some men’s.
Alc. Of course.
Soc. Then in these, at least, there is no concord between wives and husbands.
Alc. No.
Soc. Nor friendship either, if friendship was concord.
Alc. It appears not.
Soc. Then insofar as wives do their own business, they are not loved by their husbands.1
Alc. 127b It seems not.
Soc. Nor, then, husbands by their wives, insofar as they do their own.
Alc. No.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 126d–127b
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.