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Facing Pages · Branch 8 of 65
Alcibiades I · 106b–106e
Ancient Greek
p. 10ΣΩ. Ἀποκρίνου δή.
ΑΛ. Ἐρώτα.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ὡς διανοουμένου σου ταῦτα ἐρωτῶ, ἅ φημί σε 106c διανοεῖσθαι;
ΑΛ. Ἔστω, εἰ βούλει, οὕτως, ἵνα καὶ εἰδῶ ὅτι καὶ ἐρεῖς.
ΣΩ. Φέρε δή· διανοῇ γάρ, ὡς ἐγώ φημι, παριέναι συμβουλεύσων Ἀθηναίοις ἐντὸς οὐ πολλοῦ χρόνου· εἰ οὖν μέλλοντός σου ἰέναι ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα λαβόμενος ἐροίμην· “Ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη, ἐπειδὴ περὶ τίνος Ἀθηναῖοι διανοοῦνται βουλεύεσθαι, ἀνίστασαι συμβουλεύσων; ἆρ’ ἐπειδὴ περὶ ὧν σὺ ἐπίστασαι βέλτιον ἢ οὗτοι;” τί ἂν ἀποκρίναιο;
106dΑΛ. Εἴποιμ’ ἂν δήπου, περὶ ὧν οἶδα βέλτιον ἢ οὗτοι.
ΣΩ. Περὶ ὧν ἄρ’ εἰδὼς τυγχάνεις, ἀγαθὸς σύμβουλος εἶ.
ΑΛ. Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ταῦτα μόνον οἶσθα, ἃ παρ’ ἄλλων ἔμαθες ἢ αὐτὸς ἐξηῦρες;
ΑΛ. Ποῖα γὰρ ἄλλα;
ΣΩ. Ἔστιν οὖν ὅπως ἄν ποτε ἔμαθές τι ἢ ἐξηῦρες μήτε μανθάνειν ἐθέλων μήτ’ αὐτὸς ζητεῖν;
ΑΛ. Οὐκ ἔστιν.
ΣΩ. Τί δέ; ἠθέλησας ἂν ζητῆσαι ἢ μαθεῖν ἃ ἐπίστασθαι ᾤου;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
106eΣΩ. Ἃ ἄρα νῦν τυγχάνεις ἐπιστάμενος, ἦν χρόνος ὅτε οὐχ ἡγοῦ εἰδέναι;
ΑΛ. Ἀνάγκη.
ΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ μὴν ἅ γε μεμάθηκας σχεδόν τι καὶ ἐγὼ οἶδα· εἰ δέ τι ἐμὲ λέληθεν, εἰπέ. ἔμαθες γὰρ δὴ σύ γε κατὰ μνήμην τὴν ἐμὴν γράμματα καὶ κιθαρίζειν καὶ παλαίειν· οὐ γὰρ δὴ αὐλεῖν γε ἤθελες μαθεῖν. ταῦτ’ ἐστὶν ἃ σὺ ἐπίστασαι,
Alcibiades I
p. 11Soc. Answer, then.
Alc. Ask.
Soc. Then may I ask you on the understanding that you have in mind what I say you 106c have in mind?
Alc. Let it be so, if you like, so that I may know what you are actually going to say.
Soc. Come, then. You have it in mind, as I say, to come forward and advise the Athenians before long. Suppose that as you were about to go up to the platform I took hold of you and asked, “Alcibiades, what is it the Athenians have in mind to deliberate about, that you are getting up to advise them? Is it about things you know better than they do?” What would you answer?
Alc. 106d I would say, surely, that it is about things I know better than they do.
Soc. So you are a good adviser about the things you in fact know.
Alc. Of course.
Soc. Now, do you know only the things you learned from others or discovered for yourself?
Alc. What else could I know?
Soc. And is there any way you could ever have learned or discovered anything if you were willing neither to learn it nor to seek it for yourself?
Alc. There isn’t.
Soc. Well then: would you have been willing to seek or learn what you thought you knew?
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. 106e So there was a time when you did not think you knew the things you now in fact know?
Alc. Necessarily.
Soc. But what you have learned I too pretty much know; if anything has escaped me, tell me. You learned, as far as I remember, your letters, the lyre and wrestling; the pipes, of course, you would not learn.1 These are the things you know,
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 106b–106e
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.