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English Page · Branch 25 of 65
Alcibiades I · 115d–116a
Ancient Greek
p. 44ΑΛ. Οὐδὲ ζῆν ἂν ἐγὼ δεξαίμην δειλὸς ὤν.
ΣΩ. Ἔσχατον ἄρα κακῶν εἶναί σοι δοκεῖ ἡ δειλία.
ΑΛ. Ἔμοιγε.
ΣΩ. Ἐξ ἴσου τῷ τεθνάναι, ὡς ἔοικε.
ΑΛ. Φημί.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν θανάτῳ τε καὶ δειλίᾳ ἐναντιώτατον ζωὴ καὶ ἀνδρεία;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
115eΣΩ. Καὶ τὰ μὲν μάλιστ’ ἂν εἶναι βούλοιό σοι, τὰ δὲ ἥκιστα;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἄριστα ἡγῇ, τὰ δὲ κάκιστα;
⟨ΑΛ. Πάνυ γε.
ΣΩ. Ἐν τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἄρα σὺ ἡγῇ ἀνδρείαν εἶναι κἀν τοῖς κακίστοις θάνατον.⟩
ΑΛ. Ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Τὸ ἄρα βοηθεῖν ἐν πολέμῳ τοῖς φίλοις, ᾗ μὲν καλόν, κατ’ ἀγαθοῦ πρᾶξιν τὴν τῆς ἀνδρείας, καλὸν αὐτὸ προσεῖπας;
ΑΛ. Φαίνομαί γε.
ΣΩ. Κατὰ δέ γε κακοῦ πρᾶξιν τὴν τοῦ θανάτου κακόν;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ὧδε δίκαιον προσαγορεύειν ἑκάστην τῶν πράξεων· εἴπερ ᾗ κακὸν ἀπεργάζεται κακὴν καλεῖς, καὶ ᾗ 116a ἀγαθὸν ἀγαθὴν κλητέον.
ΑΛ. Ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ.
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν καὶ ᾗ ἀγαθόν, καλόν· ᾗ δὲ κακόν, αἰσχρόν;
Alcibiades I
p. 45Alc. I wouldn’t even be willing to live, if I were a coward.
Soc. Then cowardice seems to you the very worst of bad things.
Alc. To me, yes.
Soc. On a par with being dead, it seems.
Alc. I say so.
Soc. And are not life and courage the most opposite to death and cowardice?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. 115e And the one pair you would most want to be yours, and the other least?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. Is that because you think the one pair best and the other worst?
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. So you think courage is among the best things, and death among the worst.1
Alc. I do.
Soc. Then helping one’s friends in war, insofar as it is fine, in respect of the doing of something good, the doing of courage, you called fine?
Alc. I appear to have, yes.
Soc. But in respect of the doing of something bad, the doing of death, bad?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. Then it is just to name each of our doings in this way: if you call it bad insofar as it produces something bad, then insofar as it produces something 116a good it must be called good.
Alc. I think so.
Soc. Then is it also fine insofar as it is good, and shameful insofar as it is bad?
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 115d–116a
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.