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Facing Pages · Branch 9 of 28
Alcibiades II · 141a–141d
Ancient Greek
p. 12141aΟἰδίπουν εἶναι τῶν ἀνθρώπων· εὑρήσεις δ’ ἔτι καὶ τῶν νῦν πολλοὺς οὐκ ὀργῇ κεχρημένους, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνον, οὐδ’ οἰομένους κακά σφισιν εὔχεσθαι, ἀλλ’ ἀγαθά. ἐκεῖνος μὲν ὥσπερ οὐδ’ ηὔχετο, οὐδ’ ᾤετο· ἕτεροι δέ τινές εἰσιν οἳ τἀναντία τούτων πεπόνθασιν. ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οἶμαί σε πρῶτον, εἴ σοι ἐμφανὴς γενόμενος ὁ θεὸς πρὸς ὃν τυγχάνεις πορευόμενος, ἐρωτήσειεν, πρὶν ὁτιοῦν εὔξασθαί σε, εἰ ἐξαρκέσει σοι τύραννον γενέσθαι τῆς Ἀθηναίων πόλεως· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο φαῦλον ἡγήσαιο καὶ μὴ μέγα τι, προσθείη καὶ 141b πάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων· εἰ δέ σε ὁρῴη ἔτι ἔλαττον δοκοῦντα ἔχειν, εἰ μὴ καὶ πάσης Εὐρώπης, ὑποσταίη σοι καὶ τοῦτο, ⟨καὶ τοῦτο⟩ μὴ μόνον ὑποσταίη, ⟨ἀλλ’⟩ αὐθημερόν σου βουλομένου ὡς πάντας αἰσθήσεσθαι ὅτι Ἀλκιβιάδης ὁ Κλεινίου τύραννός ἐστιν· αὐτὸν οἶμαι ἄν σε ἀπιέναι περιχαρῆ γενόμενον, ὡς τῶν μεγίστων ἀγαθῶν κεκυρηκότα.
ΑΛ. Ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι, ὦ Σώκρατες, κἂν ἄλλον ὁντινοῦν, εἴπερ τοιαῦτα συμβαίη αὐτῷ.
141cΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ μέντοι ἀντί γε τῆς σῆς ψυχῆς οὐδ’ ἂν τὴν πάντων Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων χώραν τε καὶ τυραννίδα βουληθείης σοι γενέσθαι.
ΑΛ. Οὐκ οἶμαι ἔγωγε. πῶς γὰρ ἄν, μηθέν γέ τι μέλλων αὐτοῖς χρήσεσθαι;
ΣΩ. Τί δ’ εἰ μέλλοις κακῶς τε καὶ βλαβερῶς χρῆσθαι; οὐδ’ ἂν οὕτως;
ΑΛ. Οὐ δῆτα.
ΣΩ. Ὁρᾷς οὖν ὡς οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς οὔτε τὰ διδόμενα εἰκῇ δέχεσθαί τε οὔτε αὐτὸν εὔχεσθαι γενέσθαι, εἴ γέ τις 141d βλάπτεσθαι μέλλοι διὰ ταῦτα ἢ τὸ παράπαν τοῦ βίου ἀπαλλαγῆναι. πολλοὺς δ’ ἂν ἔχοιμεν εἰπεῖν, ὅσοι τυραν-
Alcibiades II
p. 13141aOedipus too belonged; and you will still find many even of the people of today, not in the grip of anger as he was, who do not think they are praying for bad things for themselves, but for good ones. He, just as he did not pray for good things, so did not think he did either; but there are some others who are in the opposite condition. For I think that you, first — if the god to whom you are in fact on your way were to appear to you and ask you, before you prayed for anything at all, whether it would suffice you to become tyrant of the city of the Athenians; and if you thought this a trivial thing and nothing great, he were to add 141b all the Greeks as well; and if he saw that you thought you would still have too little unless it were of all Europe too, he were to promise you that as well — and not only promise it, but that very day, if you wished, so that all would perceive that Alcibiades son of Cleinias is tyrant — you yourself, I think, would go away overjoyed, as one who had won the greatest of good things.1
Alc. I think I would, Socrates, and anyone else at all too, if such things happened to him.
Soc. 141c And yet in exchange for your soul you would not wish even the land and the tyranny of all the Greeks and barbarians to be yours.2
Alc. I don’t think so. How could I, if I were not going to use them at all?
Soc. And what if you were going to use them badly and harmfully? Not then either?
Alc. Certainly not.
Soc. You see, then, that it is not safe either to accept at random what is given, or to pray oneself that it come about, if one 141d is going to be harmed by it or to lose one’s life altogether. We could name many who
Socrates
Reading Alcibiades II · Alcibiades II · 141a–141d
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.