Riding and hunting

Use in the book

At 121e the Persian princes, on reaching seven, go to horses and their teachers and begin to hunt. These activities belong to Socrates' contrast between elaborate royal formation and Alcibiades' neglected upbringing. The claim is part of that rhetorical comparison, not an independent historical investigation of Persian curricula.

At 124e horsemanship returns when Socrates asks what sort of affairs good men manage. Alcibiades excludes it because otherwise they would seek horsemen. The point is the specificity of competence: familiarity with the general phrase “managing affairs” does not distinguish political work from the affairs of horses or the sea.

The examples link the competitive aspirations of the royal speech with the stricter demand for a named expertise. Prestige in a culturally admired activity does not eliminate the need to identify the different knowledge required for civic rule.

Places to read

1. 121eRiding and hunting are stages of the Persian prince’s upbringing in Socrates’ comparison
2. 124eHorsemanship is excluded while specifying the affairs in which Alcibiades wants to be good

Translation in this edition

The edition translates the plural ἱππικά idiomatically as “horsemanship.” It gives no standalone lesson or technical description of hunting, and none should be inferred from the brief curriculum notice.

θήρα

Attested: θήρας (thēras; 121e). At 121e: Hunting activities begun by Persian princes at the riding stage of their upbringing. Lexical identification: lemma: θήρα. See Riding and hunting.

ἱππικός

Attested: ἱππικά (hippika; 124e). At 124e: Affairs of horsemanship, a domain whose experts would be the horsemen. Lexical identification: lemma: ἱππικός. See Riding and hunting.