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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 14 of 28
Alcibiades II · 144c–145a
Ancient Greek
p. 22ΑΛ. Φαίνεται.
ΣΩ. Ὁρᾷς οὖν ὅτι ἡ ἔστιν ὧν τε ἄγνοια καὶ ἔστιν οἷς καὶ ἔχουσί πως ἀγαθόν, ἀλλ’ οὐ κακόν, ὥσπερ ἄρτι σοι ἐδόκει;
ΑΛ. Ἔοικεν.
144dΣΩ. Ἔτι τοίνυν εἰ βούλει τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐπισκοπεῖν, ἄτοπον ἂν ἴσως ἄν σοι δόξειεν εἶναι.
ΑΛ. Τί μάλιστα, ὦ Σώκρατες;
ΣΩ. Ὅτι, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, κινδυνεύει τό γε τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιστημῶν κτῆμα, ἐάν τις ἄνευ τοῦ βελτίστου κεκτημένος ᾖ, ὀλιγάκις μὲν ὠφελεῖν, βλάπτειν δὲ τὰ πλείω τὸν ἔχοντα αὐτό. σκόπει δὲ ὧδε. ἆρ’ οὐκ ἀναγκαῖόν σοι δοκεῖ εἶναι, ὅταν τι μέλλωμεν ἤτοι πράττειν ἢ λέγειν, οἰηθῆναι δεῖν πρῶτον ἡμᾶς εἰδέναι ἢ τῷ ὄντι εἰδέναι τοῦθ’ ὃ ἂν προχει144eροτέρως μέλλωμεν ἢ λέγειν ἢ πράττειν;
ΑΛ. Ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν οἱ ῥήτορες αὐτίκα ἤτοι εἰδότες συμβουλεύειν ἢ οἰηθέντες εἰδέναι συμβουλεύουσιν ἡμῖν ἑκάστοτε, οἱ μὲν περὶ πολέμου τε καὶ εἰρήνης, οἱ δὲ περὶ τειχῶν οἰκοδομίας ἢ καὶ λιμένων κατασκευῆς· ἑνὶ δὲ λόγῳ, ὅσα δή ποτε ἡ 145a πόλις πράττει πρὸς ἄλλην πόλιν ἢ αὐτὴ καθ’ αὑτήν, ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ῥητόρων συμβουλῆς πάντα γίγνεται.
ΑΛ. Ἀληθῆ λέγεις.
ΣΩ. Ὅρα τοίνυν καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις.
ΑΛ. Ἂν δυνηθῶ.
ΣΩ. Καλεῖς γὰρ δήπου φρονίμους τε καὶ ἄφρονας;
ΑΛ. Ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τοὺς μὲν πολλοὺς ἄφρονας, τοὺς δ’ ὀλίγους φρονίμους;
Alcibiades II
p. 23Alc. It appears so.
Soc. Do you see, then, that there is ignorance of some things, and for some people in some state, that is a good thing and not, as it seemed to you just now, a bad thing?
Alc. It seems so.
Soc. 144d Further, then, if you wish to look into what comes after this, it might perhaps seem strange to you.
Alc. What in particular, Socrates?
Soc. That, so to speak, the possession of the other kinds of knowledge, if someone possesses it without the best, looks as though it seldom benefits and for the most part harms the one who has it.1 Look into it this way. Doesn’t it seem necessary to you, whenever we are about to do or to say something, that we must first think we know, or really know, whatever we are rather readily 144e about to say or do?
Alc. I think so.
Soc. Then the orators, for instance, advise us on each occasion either knowing how to advise or thinking they know: some about war and peace, others about the building of walls or again the construction of harbors; in a word, whatever the 145a city does toward another city, or by itself on its own, all comes about from the orators’ advice.
Alc. What you say is true.
Soc. See, then, what follows this as well.
Alc. If I can.
Soc. For surely you call people both intelligent and unintelligent?
Alc. I do.
Soc. And the many unintelligent, and the few intelligent?
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades II · Alcibiades II · 144c–145a
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.