From the book
Alcibiades I
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThe ancestral homelands associated respectively with Eurysaces and the earlier Aeacus.
- In Alcibiades ISocrates imagines Alcibiades presenting these places along with his ancestors to Artaxerxes and asks how much laughter the display would earn.
- In this editionThe English names are conventional forms of the Greek accusatives.
- A place to readThe ancestral homelands become exhibits in an imagined presentation to Artaxerxes.
Meaning
The ancestral homelands associated respectively with Eurysaces and the earlier Aeacus.
Use in the book
Socrates imagines Alcibiades presenting these places along with his ancestors to Artaxerxes and asks how much laughter the display would earn. The islands are therefore viewed through a deliberately altered perspective: what supports an impressive Athenian pedigree looks small before a Persian king. The point is not that the places have no civic or ancestral value, but that such value cannot by itself satisfy Alcibiades’ ambition to contend at an imperial scale. The dialogue gives no description of their settlements or current political status.
Places to read
- 121bThe ancestral homelands become exhibits in an imagined presentation to Artaxerxes.
Translation in this edition
The English names are conventional forms of the Greek accusatives. This passage does not say the conversation occurs on either island, or that Alcibiades currently owns them.
Αἴγινα
Attested: Αἴγιναν (aiginan; 121b). Aegina, Aeacus’ ancestral homeland. Lexical identification: lemma: Αἴγινα. See Salamis and Aegina.
Σαλαμίς
Attested: Σαλαμῖνα (salamina; 121b). Salamis, Eurysaces’ ancestral homeland. Lexical identification: lemma: Σαλαμίς. See Salamis and Aegina.