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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 23 of 28
Alcibiades II · 150b–150e
Ancient Greek
p. 40ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν μέμνησαι ἐν πολλῇ ἀπορίᾳ φάσκων εἶναι, 150c ὅπως μὴ λάθῃς σεαυτὸν εὐχόμενος κακά, δοκῶν δὲ ἀγαθά;
ΑΛ. Ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Ὁρᾷς οὖν ὡς οὐκ ἀσφαλές σοί ἐστιν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν εὐξομένῳ, ἵνα μηδ’ ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, βλασφημοῦντός σου ἀκούων οὐθὲν ἀποδέξηται τῆς θυσίας ταύτης, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ ἕτερόν τι προσαπολαύσῃς. ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν δοκεῖ βέλτιστον εἶναι ἡσυχίαν ἔχειν· τῇ μὲν γὰρ Λακεδαιμονίων εὐχῇ διὰ τὴν μεγαλοψυχίαν—τοῦτο γὰρ κάλλιστον τῶν ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ γε ὀνομάτων—οὐκ ἂν οἶμαί σε ἐθέλειν χρῆσθαι. 150d ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἐστι περιμένειν ἕως ἄν τις μάθῃ ὡς δεῖ πρὸς θεοὺς καὶ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους διακεῖσθαι.
ΑΛ. Πότε οὖν παρέσται ὁ χρόνος οὗτος, ὦ Σώκρατες, καὶ τίς ὁ παιδεύσων; ἥδιστα γὰρ ἄν μοι δοκῶ ἰδεῖν τοῦτον τὸν ἄνθρωπον τίς ἐστιν.
ΣΩ. Οὗτος ᾧ μέλει περὶ σοῦ. ἀλλὰ δοκεῖ μοι, ὥσπερ τῷ Διομήδει φησὶν τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν Ὅμηρος ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀφελεῖν τὴν ἀχλύν,
ὄφρ’ εὖ γιγνώσκοι ἠμὲν θεὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἄνδρα,150eοὕτω καὶ σοὶ δεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς πρῶτον τὴν ἀχλὺν ἀφελόντα, ἣ νῦν παροῦσα τυγχάνει, τὸ τηνικαῦτ’ ἤδη προσφέρειν δι’ ὧν μέλλεις γνώσεσθαι ἠμὲν κακὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἐσθλόν. νῦν μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἄν μοι δοκεῖς δυνηθῆναι.
ΑΛ. Ἀφαιρείτω, εἴτε βούλεται τὴν ἀχλὺν εἴτε ἄλλο τι· ὡς ἐγὼ παρεσκεύασμαι μηθὲν ἂν φυγεῖν τῶν ὑπ’ ἐκείνου προσταττομένων, ὅστις ποτ’ ἐστὶν ἅνθρωπος, εἴ γε μέλλοιμι βελτίων γενέσθαι.
Alcibiades II
p. 41Soc. Then do you remember saying that you were in great perplexity, 150c lest you should, without noticing it, pray for bad things while thinking them good?
Alc. I do.
Soc. You see, then, that it is not safe for you to go to the god to pray, in case, as may happen, he hears you speaking ill-omened words and accepts nothing of this sacrifice of yours, and you even come in, perhaps, for something else besides. So I think it best to keep quiet; for the Spartans’ prayer, I think, you would not be willing to use, because of your greatness of soul—for this is the finest of the names in unintelligence, at least.1 150d So it is necessary to wait until one learns how one must be disposed toward gods and toward men.
Alc. When, then, will that time be here, Socrates, and who is to educate me? For I think I should most gladly see who this man is.
Soc. The man who cares about you.2 But I think that, just as Homer says Athena took the mist from the eyes of Diomedes,
so that he might know well both god and man,
150eso he must first take from your soul the mist that is in fact present in it now, and then at last apply the things through which you are going to know both bad and good. For as things are, I think, you would not be able to.3
Alc. Let him take it away, the mist or anything else he wishes; for I am prepared to shrink from none of the things he orders, whoever on earth the man is, if only I am to become better.
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades II · Alcibiades II · 150b–150e
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.