From the book
Alcibiades I
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe Athenian named as a contemptible local political comparator and marked with the epithet “quail-tapper.”
- In Alcibiades ISocrates has just argued that Alcibiades’ real contest is with Spartan and Persian rulers.
- In this editionThe epithet is textually contested: Burnet prints ὀρτυγοκόπον against BT’s ὀρτυγοτρόφον.
- A place to readMeidias heads the sarcastic alternative to preparation for serious rivals.
Meaning
The Athenian named as a contemptible local political comparator and marked with the epithet “quail-tapper.”
Use in the book
Socrates has just argued that Alcibiades’ real contest is with Spartan and Persian rulers. He then reverses into transparent mock advice: of course Alcibiades should look instead to Meidias and similar men, neglect himself and enter politics unprepared. The surrounding depiction of uncultured flatterers makes the irony unmistakable. Meidias is neither a teacher nor an interlocutor. His value as an example lies precisely in the discrepancy between the young aristocrat’s grand ambitions and his readiness to measure himself against a locally unimpressive standard.
Places to read
- 120a–120cMeidias heads the sarcastic alternative to preparation for serious rivals.
Translation in this edition
The epithet is textually contested: Burnet prints ὀρτυγοκόπον against BT’s ὀρτυγοτρόφον. The edition’s comedy and game references belong to its explanatory note; see Quail-tapping for the lexical difference.
Μειδίας
Attested: Μειδίαν (meidian; 120a). Meidias, the local politician used as a derisively small standard of rivalry. Lexical identification: lemma: Μειδίας. See Meidias.