Greeks and barbarians · Lexicon

From the book

Alcibiades I

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordGreeks and non-Greek peoples delimit the expanding audience of power and reputation; barbarizein means speaking like a barbarian in the insult directed at uncultured Athenian politicians.
In Alcibiades IThe opening sets Pericles’ influence across Greece and among powerful non-Greek nations.
In this editionThe translation preserves “barbarians” as the Greek contrast-category.
A place to readInfluence and ambition encompass Greek and non-Greek peoples.

Meaning

Greeks and non-Greek peoples delimit the expanding audience of power and reputation; barbarizein means speaking like a barbarian in the insult directed at uncultured Athenian politicians.

Use in the book

The opening sets Pericles’ influence across Greece and among powerful non-Greek nations. Alcibiades’ supposed ambition extends over both, and the royal comparison later demands that he take non-Greek rulers seriously as competitors with superior resources and elaborate education. Consequently “barbarian” is not simply a synonym for deficient virtue throughout the dialogue. At 120b, however, speaking like barbarians becomes an insult to supposedly Athenian politicians who flatter rather than govern. Its polemical use belongs to Socrates’ characterization of their lack of culture. The tension is deliberate: civic identity alone guarantees neither education nor political competence, while a foreign court may supply a devastating standard of comparison.

Places to read

104b–105c2 3Influence and ambition encompass Greek and non-Greek peoples.
120bBarbarizing speech marks the criticized local politicians.
122a–124b2 3 4Foreign education and resources challenge Greek complacency.

Translation in this edition

The translation preserves “barbarians” as the Greek contrast-category. It should be explained as the speakers’ cultural vocabulary, not endorsed as a neutral judgement about peoples.

βαρβαρίζω

Attested: βαρβαρίζοντες (barbarizontes; 120b). To speak like a barbarian, used disparagingly of uncultured Athenian politicians. Lexical identification: lemma: βαρβαρίζω. See Greeks and barbarians.

βάρβαρος

Attested: βαρβάροις (barbarois; 105b). Non-Greek person or people in the speakers’ cultural terminology. Lexical identification: lemma: βάρβαρος. See Greeks and barbarians.

Ἑλλάς

Attested: Ἑλλάδι (helladi; 104b). Greece, the field of Pericles’ influence in the initial portrait. Lexical identification: lemma: Ἑλλάς. See Greeks and barbarians.

Ἕλλην

Attested: Ἕλλησι (hellēsi; 105b). Greek, delimiting one part of the intended audience of power and fame. Lexical identification: lemma: Ἕλλην. See Greeks and barbarians.