From the book
Alcibiades I
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThe parents by whom Socrates identifies himself when declaring that he alone has genuinely loved Alcibiades.
- In Alcibiades IThe full parental identification balances the earlier address to Alcibiades as son of Cleinias and Deinomache.
- In this editionThe source note identifies Sophroniscus elsewhere and calls Phaenarete a midwife by reference to the Theaetetus.
- A place to readSocrates’ full parentage accompanies his claim to be the sole true lover.
Meaning
The parents by whom Socrates identifies himself when declaring that he alone has genuinely loved Alcibiades.
Use in the book
The full parental identification balances the earlier address to Alcibiades as son of Cleinias and Deinomache. Its position matters: Socrates has just separated loving the person from loving the body that belongs to the person, and then names the two parties to the durable relationship. Their mothers’ names occur as part of this deliberate symmetry. The passage gives neither parent an independent role, profession or speech. It should therefore not be treated as introducing a theory of midwifery or an occupational genealogy into this local argument, even though other dialogues make such connections available.
Places to read
- 131eSocrates’ full parentage accompanies his claim to be the sole true lover.
Translation in this edition
The source note identifies Sophroniscus elsewhere and calls Phaenarete a midwife by reference to the Theaetetus. That profession is not stated in Alcibiades I.
Σωφρονίσκος
Attested: Σωφρονίσκου (sōphroniskou; 131e). Sophroniscus, father named in Socrates’ full self-identification. Lexical identification: lemma: Σωφρονίσκος. See Sophroniscus and Phaenarete.
Φαιναρέτη
Attested: Φαιναρέτης (phainaretēs; 131e). Phaenarete, mother named in Socrates’ full self-identification. Lexical identification: lemma: Φαιναρέτη. See Sophroniscus and Phaenarete.
Source note
The supplied edition, note 63 on 131e, compares Laches 180d for Sophroniscus and Theaetetus 149a for Phaenarete’s midwifery. The present passage names both without occupations.