From the book
Alcibiades I
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordPerseus, son of Zeus, is the common heroic point to which Socrates traces the Spartan and Persian dynastic families.
- In Alcibiades IThe two royal lines are not merely called noble; their genealogies are taken to a divine source through a named hero.
- In this editionThe supplied note explains related traditions from Herodotus.
- A place to readRoyal descent reaches Perseus and Zeus, provoking the Athenian rejoinder.
Meaning
Perseus, son of Zeus, is the common heroic point to which Socrates traces the Spartan and Persian dynastic families.
Use in the book
The two royal lines are not merely called noble; their genealogies are taken to a divine source through a named hero. The move provokes Alcibiades’ matching claim for his own house. Socrates then distinguishes having a remote divine ancestor from an unbroken sequence of kings. Perseus therefore helps expose the inadequacy of pedigree taken alone: a common ultimate origin does not remove differences in inherited office, resources and upbringing. The genealogical assertions belong to the speakers’ competitive exchange; the dialogue does not demonstrate them by independent evidence.
Places to read
- 120e–121aRoyal descent reaches Perseus and Zeus, provoking the Athenian rejoinder.
Translation in this edition
The supplied note explains related traditions from Herodotus. The lexicon retains the dialogue’s particular wording rather than harmonizing it with a reconstructed mythology.
Περσεύς
Attested: Περσέα τὸν Διὸς (persea ton dios; 120e). Perseus, son of Zeus, to whom the two royal pedigrees are traced. Lexical identification: lemma: Περσεύς. See Perseus.