Silence and postponement

Use in the book

Socrates does not advise Alcibiades to repeat the Spartan formula immediately and suppose himself cured. He predicts that the young man’s greatness of soul will make him resist its modesty, and warns that his sacrifice may be rejected or accompanied by another unwelcome result. Quiet is preferable while his petition remains vulnerable to ignorance.

The waiting has an intelligible condition: learning how one must be disposed toward gods and people. Alcibiades asks who the teacher is and when that time will arrive, expressing readiness rather than indifference. The image of mist removed from the soul gives a positive shape to the expected change. It is an educational delay, not a claim that silence alone has made him intelligent.

Alcibiades then explicitly puts off the sacrifice. The wreath passes to Socrates, and gifts to the gods are promised when the anticipated day comes. Thus the action begun at 138a is interrupted and redirected. Future worship remains in view, and the book ends before the fulfilment of the promise.

The conclusion is sometimes attractive as a general endorsement of withholding action under uncertainty. Its local limits should remain visible: it addresses a particular petitioner and a form of knowledge he has not acquired. The dialogue has not proved that all hesitation is wise or that every ordinary action must await exhaustive certainty.

Places to read

1. 150cQuiet is preferable to the risky sacrifice and ill-omened petition.
2. 150d–eWaiting is connected with teaching and a changed disposition.
3. 151a–bAlcibiades postpones the sacrifice and promises future observances.

Translation in this edition

The source’s “put off” is temporal and practical. Rendering the ending as an abandonment of religion would contradict the promised wreaths and customary gifts to the gods. The teacher remains unnamed even though crowning Socrates makes the association inviting.