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English Page · Branch 58 of 65
Alcibiades I · 133e–134c
Ancient Greek
p. 110ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν εἰ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ τὰ τῶν πόλεων ἀγνοήσει.
ΑΛ. Ἀνάγκη.
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρ’ ἂν γένοιτο ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀνὴρ πολιτικός.
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Οὐ μὴν οὐδ’ οἰκονομικός γε.
134aΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Οὐδέ γε εἴσεται ὅτι πράττει.
ΑΛ. Οὐ γὰρ οὖν.
ΣΩ. Ὁ δὲ μὴ εἰδὼς οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται;
ΑΛ. Πάνυ γε.
ΣΩ. Ἐξαμαρτάνων δὲ οὐ κακῶς πράξει ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ;
ΑΛ. Πῶς δ’ οὔ;
ΣΩ. Κακῶς δὲ πράττων οὐκ ἄθλιος;
ΑΛ. Σφόδρα γε.
ΣΩ. Τί δ’ οἷς οὗτος πράττει;
ΑΛ. Καὶ οὗτοι.
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα οἷόν τε, ἐὰν μή τις σώφρων καὶ ἀγαθὸς ᾖ, εὐδαίμονα εἶναι.
134bΑΛ. Οὐχ οἷόν τε.
ΣΩ. Οἱ ἄρα κακοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄθλιοι.
ΑΛ. Σφόδρα γε.
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα οὐδ’ ὁ πλουτήσας ἀθλιότητος ἀπαλλάττεται, ἀλλ’ ὁ σωφρονήσας.
ΑΛ. Φαίνεται.
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα τειχῶν οὐδὲ τριήρων οὐδὲ νεωρίων δέονται αἱ πόλεις, ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη, εἰ μέλλουσιν εὐδαιμονήσειν, οὐδὲ πλήθους οὐδὲ μεγέθους ἄνευ ἀρετῆς.
ΑΛ. Οὐ μέντοι.
ΣΩ. Εἰ δὴ μέλλεις τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράξειν ὀρθῶς καὶ 134c καλῶς, ἀρετῆς σοι μεταδοτέον τοῖς πολίταις.
Alcibiades I
p. 111Soc. Then if of what belongs to others, he will be ignorant of what belongs to cities too.
Alc. Necessarily.
Soc. Then such a man could not become a statesman.
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. Nor a household manager either.
Alc. 134a Certainly not.
Soc. Nor will he even know what he is doing.
Alc. No indeed.
Soc. And will the one who does not know not make mistakes?
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. And making mistakes, will he not do badly, in private and in public?
Alc. How could he not?
Soc. And doing badly, is he not wretched?
Alc. Very much so.
Soc. And what of those for whom he is acting?
Alc. They too.
Soc. Then it is not possible, unless someone is temperate and good, to be happy.
Alc. 134b It is not possible.
Soc. Then the bad among men are wretched.
Alc. Very much so.
Soc. Then it is not even the one who has grown rich who is rid of wretchedness, but the one who has grown temperate.
Alc. It appears so.
Soc. Then it is not walls or triremes or dockyards that cities need, Alcibiades, if they are to be happy, nor numbers nor size, without virtue.
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. If, then, you are going to manage the city’s affairs rightly and 134c finely, you must give the citizens a share of virtue.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades I · Alcibiades I · 133e–134c
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.