Silence and following · Lexicon

From the book

Alcibiades I

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordSocrates’ silence means not addressing Alcibiades, despite persistent presence and following.
In Alcibiades IThe opening distinguishes Socrates from other lovers who talked so much that they became nuisances.
In this editionThe phrase “in all these years I have not even spoken” describes this relationship in the dialogue, not a claim that Socrates was generally mute or inactive.
A place to readUnbroken pursuit is distinguished from years of non-address.

Meaning

Socrates’ silence means not addressing Alcibiades, despite persistent presence and following. Following is initially the lover’s attendance; the final reversal promises that the beloved will take up that position.

Use in the book

The opening distinguishes Socrates from other lovers who talked so much that they became nuisances. He has not even spoken, yet he has not gone away. Alcibiades’ reply complicates that claim to unobtrusiveness: Socrates himself is a nuisance through being continually present wherever the young man is. The two descriptions make pursuit and attention conspicuous without narrating a particular journey or assigning the scene a location. Socrates’ knowledge of the youth’s lessons later depends on this watchfulness. At 106a Alcibiades explicitly contrasts the former silent following with the greater strangeness of the present speech. At the close, the young man promises to become the attendant. What changes is not simply who talks more, but who actively seeks the other’s company and commits to continued care. The divine opposition explains why the initial attention did not earlier become conversation; the stork image imagines how it may become reciprocal.

Places to read

103a–103bUnbroken pursuit is distinguished from years of non-address.
104c–104dAlcibiades calls continual presence a nuisance and admits his own intended approach.
106aSilent following is explicitly recalled.
135d–135eThe attendant role is reversed and reciprocal tending is imagined.

Translation in this edition

The phrase “in all these years I have not even spoken” describes this relationship in the dialogue, not a claim that Socrates was generally mute or inactive. The edition’s “followed me about” is the local social sense of the verb.

πάρειμι

Attested: παρών (parōn; 104d). To be present or in attendance; Socrates has kept close by even without speaking, making silence a form of sustained attention. Lexical identification: lemma: πάρειμι. See Silence and following.

προσεῖπον / προσαγορεύω

Attested: οὐδὲ προσεῖπον (oude proseipon; 103a). To address or speak to; Socrates says he has not even addressed Alcibiades during the past years. Lexical identification: family label: προσεῖπον / προσαγορεύω. See Silence and following.

σιγάω / ἕπομαι

Attested: σιγῶν εἵπου (sigōn heipou; 106a). To remain silent / to follow; the phrase recalls Socrates’ earlier pursuit without conversation. Lexical identification: family label: σιγάω / ἕπομαι. See Silence and following.