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Facing Pages · Branch 8 of 28
Alcibiades II · 140b–140e
Ancient Greek
p. 10δριαντοποιοὺς καὶ ἑτέρους παμπληθεῖς, οὓς τί δεῖ καθ’ ἕκαστα λέγειν; ἔχουσι δ’ οὖν διειληφότες δημιουργίας μέρη, καὶ 140c πάντες οὗτοί εἰσι δημιουργοί, οὐ μέντοι εἰσὶ τέκτονές γε οὐδὲ σκυτοτόμοι οὐδ’ ἀνδριαντοποιοί, οἳ σύμπαντές εἰσι δημιουργοί.
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Οὕτως μὲν τοίνυν καὶ τὴν ἀφροσύνην διειληφότες εἰσί, καὶ τοὺς μὲν πλεῖστον αὐτῆς μέρος ἔχοντας μαινομένους καλοῦμεν, τοὺς δ’ ὀλίγον ἔλαττον ἠλιθίους τε καὶ ἐμβροντήτους· οἱ δὲ ἐν εὐφημοτάτοις ὀνόμασι βουλόμενοι κατονομάζειν οἱ μὲν μεγαλοψύχους, οἱ δὲ εὐήθεις, ἕτεροι δὲ 140d ἀκάκους καὶ ἀπείρους καὶ ἐνεούς· εὑρήσεις δὲ καὶ ἕτερα πολλὰ ἀναζητῶν ὀνόματα. πάντα δὲ ταῦτα ἀφροσύνη ἐστίν, διαφέρει δέ, ὥσπερ τέχνη τέχνης ἡμῖν κατεφαίνετο καὶ νόσος νόσου· ἢ πῶς σοι δοκεῖ;
ΑΛ. Ἐμοὶ μὲν οὕτως.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ἀπ’ ἐκείνου πάλιν ἐπανέλθωμεν. ἦν γὰρ δήπου καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ λόγου, σκεπτέον εἶναι τοὺς ἄφρονάς τε καὶ φρονίμους, τίνες ποτ’ εἰσίν. ὡμολόγητο γὰρ εἶναί τινας· ἦ γὰρ οὔ;
ΑΛ. Ναί, ὡμολόγηται.
140eΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν τούτους φρονίμους ὑπολαμβάνεις, οἳ ἂν εἰδῶσιν ἅττα δεῖ πράττειν καὶ λέγειν;
ΑΛ. Ἔγωγε.
ΣΩ. Ἄφρονας δὲ ποτέρους; ἆρά γε τοὺς μηδέτερα τούτων εἰδότας;
ΑΛ. Τούτους.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν οἵ γε μὴ εἰδότες μηδέτερα τούτων λήσουσιν αὑτοὺς καὶ λέγοντες καὶ πράττοντες ἅττα μὴ δεῖ;
ΑΛ. Φαίνεται.
ΣΩ. Τούτων μέντοι ἔλεγον, ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη, καὶ τὸν
Alcibiades II
p. 11sculptors and a great many others — but what need is there to tell them one by one? At any rate, they have divided the parts of craftsmanship among them, and 140c all of these are craftsmen; but those who are craftsmen all together are not carpenters, nor shoemakers, nor sculptors.
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. In the same way, then, men have divided unintelligence among them too: those who have the largest part of it we call mad, those who have a little less, idiots and thunderstruck; and those who wish to name them by the most auspicious names call them, some, great-souled, others simple, others again 140d innocent and inexperienced and tongue-tied; and if you search you will find many other names as well. All of these are unintelligence, but they differ, as craft appeared to us to differ from craft, and disease from disease. Or how does it seem to you?1
Alc. That is how it seems to me.
Soc. Then let us go back and start again from there. For at the beginning of the argument too, surely, it was this: that we must look into who on earth the unintelligent and the intelligent are. For it had been agreed that there are some; or was it not?
Alc. Yes, it has been agreed.
Soc. 140e Do you suppose, then, that the intelligent are those who know what they must do and say?
Alc. I do.
Soc. And which are the unintelligent? Is it those who know neither of these?
Alc. Those.
Soc. Then those who know neither of these will, without noticing it, both say and do what they must not?
Alc. It appears so.
Soc. Now it was among these, Alcibiades, that I was saying
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades II · Alcibiades II · 140b–140e
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.