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English Page · Branch 46 of 65
Alcibiades I · 127e–128b
Ancient Greek
p. 86ΑΛ. Τί οὖν τὸν αἰσθανόμενον χρὴ ποιεῖν, ὦ Σώκρατες;
ΣΩ. Ἀποκρίνεσθαι τὰ ἐρωτώμενα, ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη· καὶ ἐὰν τοῦτο ποιῇς, ἂν θεὸς θέλῃ, εἴ τι δεῖ καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ μαντείᾳ πιστεύειν, σύ τε κἀγὼ βέλτιον σχήσομεν.
ΑΛ. Ἔσται ταῦτα ἕνεκά γε τοῦ ἐμὲ ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
ΣΩ. Φέρε δή, τί ἐστιν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι—μὴ πολ128aλάκις λάθωμεν οὐχ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιμελούμενοι, οἰόμενοι δέ —καὶ πότ’ ἄρα αὐτὸ ποιεῖ ἅνθρωπος; ἆρ’ ὅταν τῶν αὑτοῦ ἐπιμελῆται, τότε καὶ αὑτοῦ;
ΑΛ. Ἐμοὶ γοῦν δοκεῖ.
ΣΩ. Τί δέ; ποδῶν ἅνθρωπος ποτε ἐπιμελεῖται; ἆρ’ ὅταν ἐκείνων ἐπιμελῆται ἅ ἐστι τῶν ποδῶν;
ΑΛ. Οὐ μανθάνω.
ΣΩ. Καλεῖς δέ τι χειρός; οἷον δακτύλιον ἔστιν ὅτου ἂν ἄλλου τῶν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φαίης ἢ δακτύλου;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ποδὸς ὑπόδημα τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
⟨ΣΩ. Καὶ ἱμάτια καὶ στρώματα τοῦ ἄλλου σώματος ὁμοίως;
128bΑΛ. Ναί.⟩
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν ὅταν ὑποδημάτων ἐπιμελώμεθα, τότε ποδῶν ἐπιμελούμεθα;
ΑΛ. Οὐ πάνυ μανθάνω, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. Τί δέ, ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη; ὀρθῶς ἐπιμελεῖσθαι καλεῖς τι ὁτουοῦν πράγματος;
ΑΛ. Ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν ὅταν τίς τι βέλτιον ποιῇ, τότε ὀρθὴν λέγεις ἐπιμέλειαν;
Alcibiades I
p. 87Alc. Then what must the one who perceives it do, Socrates?
Soc. Answer what you are asked, Alcibiades. And if you do that, if god wills — if my divination too is to be trusted at all — you and I will both be in a better state.
Alc. So it shall be, as far as my answering goes.
Soc. Come, then: what is caring for oneself (we may perhaps 128a fail to notice that we are not caring for ourselves, though we think we are), and when does a man do it? Is it when he cares for what is his own that he cares for himself as well?
Alc. So it seems to me, at least.
Soc. Well then: when does a man care for his feet?1 Is it when he cares for the things that belong to his feet?
Alc. I don’t understand.
Soc. Is there anything you call a hand’s? A ring, for instance: would you say it belongs to any other part of a man than the finger?
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. And the shoe belongs to the foot in the same way?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And cloaks and bedclothes, likewise, to the rest of the body?
Alc. 128b Yes.2
Soc. So when we care for our shoes, are we then caring for our feet?
Alc. I don’t quite understand, Socrates.
Soc. Well, Alcibiades: is there something you call caring rightly for a thing, any thing at all?
Alc. There is.
Soc. Then when someone makes a thing better, do you call that right care?
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 127e–128b
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.