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Europe and Asia

Εὐρώπῃ (Eurōpēi); Ἀσίαν (Asian); Ἀσίας (Asias)

The continental names mark the successive geographical limits that Socrates says Alcibiades’ ambition refuses to accept.

From the book

Alcibiades I

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordThe continental names mark the successive geographical limits that Socrates says Alcibiades’ ambition refuses to accept.
  • In Alcibiades IThe imagined god first tests whether Alcibiades would live without acquiring more than he has.
  • In this editionBurnet prints Ἀσίαν at 105c against B’s Ionic-looking ἀσίην in the apparatus.
  • A place to readA divine hypothetical enlarges the scale of ambition.

Meaning

The continental names mark the successive geographical limits that Socrates says Alcibiades’ ambition refuses to accept.

Use in the book

The imagined god first tests whether Alcibiades would live without acquiring more than he has. A second restriction permits supremacy in Europe but forbids crossing into Asia; Socrates says even this would not satisfy him. The movement is therefore hypothetical, not an itinerary or a report of a planned expedition. In the royal comparison Asia recurs as the vast area over which Persian kings may rule and whose inhabitants celebrate the heir’s birthday. Both uses turn scale into an instrument of correction: Alcibiades wants a worldwide name but has not prepared himself to contend with rulers whose resources already extend beyond his local world.

Places to read

  1. 105b–105cA divine hypothetical enlarges the scale of ambition.
  2. 121aPersian dynastic rule extends at times to Asia.
  3. 121c–121dAll Asia is depicted as observing the royal birthday.

Translation in this edition

Burnet prints Ἀσίαν at 105c against B’s Ionic-looking ἀσίην in the apparatus. The names should not be supplied with modern geopolitical boundaries absent from the dialogue.

Ἀσία

Attested: Ἀσίαν (asian; 105c); Ἀσίας (asias; 121a). Asia, the next scale of ambition and the vast royal domain in the comparison. Lexical identification: lemma: Ἀσία. See Europe and Asia.

Εὐρώπη

Attested: Εὐρώπῃ (eurōpēi; 105b). Europe, an imagined limit of dominion Alcibiades would refuse to accept. Lexical identification: lemma: Εὐρώπη. See Europe and Asia.