Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
English Page · Branch 54 of 65
Alcibiades I · 131e–132c
Ancient Greek
p. 102ἐπεὶ πρότερος ἄν μοι προσελθεῖν, βουλόμενος πυθέσθαι δι’ ὅτι μόνος οὐκ ἀπέρχομαι;
ΑΛ. Ἦν γὰρ οὕτω.
ΣΩ. Τοῦτο τοίνυν αἴτιον, ὅτι μόνος ἐραστὴς ἦν σός, οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι τῶν σῶν· τὰ δὲ σὰ λήγει ὥρας, σὺ δ’ ἄρχῃ ἀνθεῖν. 132a καὶ νῦν γε ἂν μὴ διαφθαρῇς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀθηναίων δήμου καὶ αἰσχίων γένῃ, οὐ μή σε ἀπολίπω. τοῦτο γὰρ δὴ μάλιστα ἐγὼ φοβοῦμαι, μὴ δημεραστὴς ἡμῖν γενόμενος διαφθαρῇς· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἤδη καὶ ἀγαθοὶ αὐτὸ πεπόνθασιν Ἀθηναίων. εὐπρόσωπος γὰρ ὁ τοῦ μεγαλήτορος δῆμος Ἐρεχθέως· ἀλλ’ ἀποδύντα χρὴ αὐτὸν θεάσασθαι. εὐλαβοῦ οὖν τὴν εὐλάβειαν ἣν ἐγὼ λέγω.
ΑΛ. Τίνα;
132bΣΩ. Γύμνασαι πρῶτον, ὦ μακάριε, καὶ μάθε ἃ δεῖ μαθόντα ἰέναι ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς πόλεως, πρότερον δὲ μή, ἵν’ ἀλεξιφάρμακα ἔχων ἴῃς καὶ μηδὲν πάθῃς δεινόν.
ΑΛ. Εὖ μοι δοκεῖς λέγειν, ὦ Σώκρατες· ἀλλὰ πειρῶ ἐξηγεῖσθαι ὅντιν’ ἂν τρόπον ἐπιμεληθεῖμεν ἡμῶν αὐτῶν.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τοσοῦτον μὲν ἡμῖν εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν πεπέρανται —ὃ γὰρ ἐσμέν, ἐπιεικῶς ὡμολόγηται—ἐφοβούμεθα δὲ μὴ τούτου σφαλέντες λάθωμεν ἑτέρου τινὸς ἐπιμελόμενοι ἀλλ’ οὐχ ἡμῶν.
ΑΛ. Ἔστι ταῦτα.
132cΣΩ. Καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο δὴ ὅτι ψυχῆς ἐπιμελητέον καὶ εἰς τοῦτο βλεπτέον.
ΑΛ. Δῆλον.
ΣΩ. Σωμάτων δὲ καὶ χρημάτων τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἑτέροις παραδοτέον.
ΑΛ. Τί μήν;
Alcibiades I
p. 103since you would have come to me first, wanting to find out why I alone do not go away?1
Alc. Yes, it was so.
Soc. Well, the cause of it was this: that I alone was your lover, and the others lovers of what is yours. What is yours is leaving its prime, but you are beginning to bloom. 132a And now, unless you are corrupted by the Athenian people and grow uglier, I will never leave you. For this is what I fear most, that you may become a lover of the people and be corrupted, to our cost;2 for many good men among the Athenians have suffered it already. For “the people of great-hearted Erechtheus” has a handsome face; but one should look at it stripped.3 So take the precaution I speak of.
Alc. What precaution?
Soc. 132b Exercise first, my dear fellow, and learn what one must learn before going into the city’s affairs, and not before, so that you may go with antidotes and come to no harm.
Alc. I think you speak well, Socrates; but try to explain in what way we might care for ourselves.
Soc. Well, so much has been accomplished for us so far (for what we are has been fairly well agreed); and we were afraid that, missing this, we might fail to notice that we were caring for something else and not for ourselves.
Alc. That is so.
Soc. 132c And after this, that we must care for the soul, and look to this.
Alc. Clearly.
Soc. And hand over the care of bodies and money to others.
Alc. Of course.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 131e–132c
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.