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Facing Pages · Branch 13 of 28
Alcibiades II · 143e–144c
Ancient Greek
p. 20μάλα παρεσταίη, οἰηθέντι βέλτιον εἶναι, Περικλέα τὸν σεαυτοῦ ἐπίτροπόν τε καὶ φίλον, ἐγχειρίδιον λαβόντα, 144a ἐλθόντα ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας, εἰπεῖν εἰ ἔνδον ἐστί, βουλόμενον ἀποκτεῖναι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον, ἄλλον δὲ μηδένα· οἱ δὲ φαῖεν ἔνδον εἶναι—καὶ οὐ λέγω ἐθέλειν ἄν σε τούτων τι πράττειν· ἀλλ’ εἰ, οἶμαι, δόξει σοι, ὅπερ οὐθὲν κωλύει δήπου τῷ γε ἀγνοοῦντι τὸ βέλτιστον παραστῆναί ποτε δόξαν, ὥστε οἰηθῆναι καὶ τὸ κάκιστόν ποτε βέλτιστον εἶναι· ἢ οὐκ ἂν δοκεῖ σοι;
ΑΛ. Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
ΣΩ. Εἰ οὖν παρελθὼν εἴσω καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον 144b ἀγνοήσαις τε καὶ οἰηθείης ἂν ἄλλον εἶναί τινα, ἆρ’ ἔτι ἂν αὐτὸν τολμήσαις ἀποκτεῖναι;
ΑΛ. Οὐ μὰ τὸν Δία, οὐκ ἄν μοι δοκῶ.
ΣΩ. Οὐ γὰρ δήπου τὸν ἐντυχόντα, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον ὃν ἠβούλου. ἦ γάρ;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ εἰ πολλάκις ἐγχειροῖς, αἰεὶ δὲ ἀγνοοῖς τὸν Περικλέα, ὁπότε μέλλοις τοῦτο πράττειν, οὔποτε ἂν ἐπίθοιο αὐτῷ.
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Τί δέ; τὸν Ὀρέστην δοκεῖς ἄν ποτε τῇ μητρὶ ἐπιθέσθαι, εἴ γε ὡσαύτως ἠγνόησεν;
144cΑΛ. Οὐκ οἶμαι ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Οὐ γὰρ δήπου οὐδ’ ἐκεῖνος τὴν προστυχοῦσαν γυναῖκα οὐδὲ τὴν ὁτουοῦν μητέρα διενοεῖτο ἀποκτεῖναι, ἀλλὰ τὴν αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ.
ΑΛ. Ἔστι ταῦτα.
ΣΩ. Ἀγνοεῖν ἄρα τά γε τοιαῦτα βέλτιον τοῖς οὕτω διακειμένοις καὶ τοιαύτας δόξας ἔχουσιν.
Alcibiades II
p. 21it should suddenly occur to you, having thought it better, to take up a dagger and 144a go to the doors of Pericles, your own guardian and friend, and ask whether he is in, wishing to kill him himself and no one else; and they should say he is in—and I do not say that you would be willing to do any of these things; but if, I think, it will seem so to you; and surely nothing prevents such an opinion from occurring at some time to one who is ignorant of the best, so that he thinks even what is worst to be at some time best; or don’t you think so?1
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. If, then, having gone inside and seen him himself, 144b you were ignorant of him and thought he was someone else, would you still dare to kill him?
Alc. No, by Zeus, I don’t think I would.
Soc. For it was not, surely, the first man you met, but him himself, whom you wished to kill. Isn’t that so?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. Then even if you made the attempt many times, but were always ignorant of Pericles whenever you were about to do this, you would never attack him.
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. What, then? Do you think Orestes would ever have attacked his mother, if he had been ignorant of her in the same way?
Alc. 144c I don’t think so.
Soc. For he too, surely, did not have it in mind to kill the first woman he met, nor the mother of anyone at all, but his own.
Alc. That is so.
Soc. Then to be ignorant of such things, at least, is better for those so disposed and holding such opinions.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades II · Alcibiades II · 143e–144c
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 prayer, ignorance, and the knowledge of what is best. Their inquiry asks whether receiving what we desire can harm us when we do not know what is good. This complete revised edition presents the dialogue, 138a–151c, across twenty-one 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, verse quotations, and critical apparatus are retained. 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 and the vocabulary of prayer and ritual. 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.