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Facing Pages · Branch 7 of 28
Alcibiades II · 139d–140b
Ancient Greek
p. 8ΣΩ. Οὐδ’ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ. ἀλλὰ τῇδέ πῃ ἀθρητέον.
ΑΛ. Πῇ ποτε λέγεις;
ΣΩ. Ἐγὼ δή σοί γε ἐρῶ. ὑπολαμβάνομέν γέ τινας εἶναι νοσοῦντας· ἢ οὔ;
ΑΛ. Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
139eΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν δοκεῖ σοι ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τὸν νοσοῦντα ποδαγρᾶν ἢ πυρέττειν ἢ ὀφθαλμιᾶν, ἢ οὐκ ἂν δοκεῖ σοι καὶ μηδὲν τούτων πεπονθὼς ἑτέραν νόσον νοσεῖν; πολλαὶ γὰρ δήπου γέ εἰσι, καὶ οὐχ αὗται μόναι.
ΑΛ. Ἔμοιγε δοκοῦσιν.
ΣΩ. Ὀφθαλμία σοι οὖν δοκεῖ πᾶσα νόσος εἶναι;
ΑΛ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν καὶ πᾶσα νόσος ὀφθαλμία;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα ἔμοιγε· ἀπορῶ μέντοι γε πῶς λέγω.
140aΣΩ. Ἀλλ’ ἐὰν ἔμοιγε προσέχῃς τὸν νοῦν, σύν τε δύο σκεπτομένω τυχὸν εὑρήσομεν.
ΑΛ. Ἀλλὰ προσέχω, ὦ Σώκρατες, εἰς δύναμιν τὴν ἐμήν.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ὡμολογήθη ἡμῖν ὀφθαλμία μὲν πᾶσα νόσος εἶναι, νόσος μέντοι οὐκ εἶναι πᾶσα ὀφθαλμία;
ΑΛ. Ὡμολογήθη.
ΣΩ. Καὶ ὀρθῶς γέ μοι δοκεῖ ὁμολογηθῆναι. καὶ γὰρ οἱ πυρέττοντες πάντες νοσοῦσιν, οὐ μέντοι οἱ νοσοῦντες πάντες πυρέττουσιν οὐδὲ ποδαγρῶσιν οὐδέ γε ὀφθαλμιῶσιν, 140b οἶμαι· ἀλλὰ νόσος μὲν πᾶν τὸ τοιοῦτόν ἐστι, διαφέρειν δέ φασιν οὓς δὴ καλοῦμεν ἰατροὺς τὴν ἀπεργασίαν αὐτῶν. οὐ γὰρ πᾶσιν οὔτε ὅμοιαι οὔτε ὁμοίως διαπράττονται, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν αὑτῆς δύναμιν ἑκάστη· νόσοι μέντοι πᾶσαί εἰσιν. ὥσπερ δημιουργούς τινας ὑπολαμβάνομεν· ἢ οὔ;
ΑΛ. Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τοὺς σκυτοτόμους καὶ τέκτονας καὶ ἀν-
Alcibiades II
p. 9Soc. Nor do I think so. But we must look at it somehow this way.
Alc. What way on earth do you mean?
Soc. I will tell you. We suppose that there are some people who are ill; or not?
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. 139e Do you think, then, that one who is ill must have gout or fever or ophthalmia, or don’t you think that one might be in none of these conditions and be ill with another disease? For there are many, surely, and not these alone.1
Alc. I think there are.
Soc. Do you think, then, that all ophthalmia is disease?
Alc. Yes.
Soc. And is all disease ophthalmia, then?
Alc. Not to my mind, no; but I am at a loss what I mean.
Soc. 140a Well, if you pay attention to me, perhaps the two of us together, looking into it, will discover it.2
Alc. Well, I am paying attention, Socrates, to the best of my power.
Soc. Then it was agreed between us that all ophthalmia is disease, but that not all disease is ophthalmia?
Alc. It was agreed.
Soc. And rightly agreed, I think. For all who have fever are ill, but not all who are ill have fever, or gout, or ophthalmia either, 140b I think; rather, everything of that kind is disease, but those we call doctors say that the diseases differ in what they bring about. For they are neither alike in all people nor do they act alike, but each according to its own power; yet they are all diseases. Just as we suppose there are craftsmen; or not?
Alc. Certainly.
Soc. Then shoemakers and carpenters and
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades II · Alcibiades II · 139d–140b
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.