Orestes · Lexicon

From the book

Alcibiades II

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordOrestes is the matricide whose case connects ignorance of the best with knowledge of a particular person.
In Alcibiades IIThe first question at 143c denies that Alcibiades would be willing to do to his own mother what Orestes and Alcmaeon did.
In this editionThe dialogue does not here tell the surrounding tragic story, cite an oracle commanding the murder, or debate Apollo’s responsibility.
A place to readOrestes and Alcmaeon make matricide the limit-case provoking Alcibiades’ protest.

Meaning

Orestes is the matricide whose case connects ignorance of the best with knowledge of a particular person. Socrates invokes the familiar deed, while the edition’s note supplies the names Clytemnestra and Agamemnon and the motive of vengeance.

Use in the book

The first question at 143c denies that Alcibiades would be willing to do to his own mother what Orestes and Alcmaeon did. Alcibiades’ protest against ill-omened speech shows how shocking the association is. Socrates insists that his denial, rather than the hypothetical act itself, is what was actually asserted.

Orestes is then considered under two different counterfactuals. If he had been intelligent and known what was best for him to do, he would not have dared the deed. This supports the badness of ignorance of the best. Later, if he had failed to recognize his mother, he would not have attacked her, since his intention was directed at his own mother rather than any woman whatsoever.

The two arguments must remain distinct. The first alters the governing judgement; the second leaves the harmful intention in place but removes information necessary to carry it out. The practical prevention is similar, but the cognitive condition is not. Their conjunction is what establishes that some particular ignorance can be beneficial without making ignorance of the best good.

Places to read

143c–143dOrestes and Alcmaeon make matricide the limit-case provoking Alcibiades’ protest.
143d–143eKnowledge of the best would prevent the act.
144b–144cFailure to recognize the mother would also block it, for a different reason.

Translation in this edition

The dialogue does not here tell the surrounding tragic story, cite an oracle commanding the murder, or debate Apollo’s responsibility. Adding those complications as the stated premises would replace the example the speakers actually use. Note 16 supplies only the essential family background.