From the book
Alcibiades I
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThe epithet printed for Meidias means quail-tapper or quail-striker, a person associated with striking the bird in a game.
- In Alcibiades ISocrates names Meidias immediately after establishing foreign kings as the serious rivals.
- In this editionBurnet prints ὀρτυγοκόπον from Olympiodorus, Athenaeus and a scholiast; B and T have ὀρτυγοτρόφον, quail-breeder.
- A place to readMeidias receives the epithet in Socrates’ sarcastic instruction about whom to emulate.
Meaning
The epithet printed for Meidias means quail-tapper or quail-striker, a person associated with striking the bird in a game. The manuscript alternative means quail-breeder.
Use in the book
Socrates names Meidias immediately after establishing foreign kings as the serious rivals. The sudden drop from royal competition to a comic local figure exposes the smallness of Alcibiades’ proposed standard. The compound supplies a ridiculous image without requiring a detailed description of the game. The source note reports a version in which a quail is flicked on the head to test whether it will remain in place and connects Meidias with comic mockery. The dialogue itself does not narrate a bout or say that Alcibiades participates. Its target is comparison with a man framed as unworthy of the young politician’s grand aspiration.
Places to read
- 120a–120bMeidias receives the epithet in Socrates’ sarcastic instruction about whom to emulate.
Translation in this edition
Burnet prints ὀρτυγοκόπον from Olympiodorus, Athenaeus and a scholiast; B and T have ὀρτυγοτρόφον, quail-breeder. The distinctive joke in this edition depends on the adopted reading. This is a direct textual choice, not a licence to replace either form by a loosely related bird-game.
ὀρτυγοκόπος
Attested: ὀρτυγοκόπον (ortygokopon; 120a). Quail-tapper or quail-striker, the epithet Burnet adopts for Meidias. Lexical identification: lemma: ὀρτυγοκόπος. See Quail-tapping.
ὀρτυγοτρόφος
Attested: ὀρτυγοτρόφον (ortygotrophon; 120a9; apparatus). Quail-breeder, the reading of B and T reported in the apparatus but not printed as the dialogue reading. Lexical identification: lemma: ὀρτυγοτρόφος. See Quail-tapping.
Source note
The supplied edition, note 34 on 120a–c, cites Aristophanes, Birds 1297–99 for comic Meidias and Pollux 9.107–9 for the game. Burnet’s apparatus at 120a9 is the direct source for the competing epithet readings.