From the book
Alcibiades II
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe prospective educator is described as the man who cares about Alcibiades; paideusōn names the one who will educate.
- In Alcibiades IIThe recommendation follows a precise practical difficulty.
- In this editionNote 39 explicitly says Socrates does not identify the man.
- A place to readSilence and waiting are recommended until Alcibiades learns the proper disposition.
Meaning
The prospective educator is described as the man who cares about Alcibiades; paideusōn names the one who will educate. Waiting is perimenein, and the man’s eagerness is prothymia. Care and willingness frame instruction as a continuing personal relation rather than the delivery of a prayer formula.
Use in the book
The recommendation follows a precise practical difficulty. Alcibiades cannot safely specify what to pray for, and Socrates thinks he would reject the Spartan formula because of his greatness of soul. Keeping quiet and waiting are therefore tailored to the learner’s present condition. They are not instructions that all people must stop every prayer until they possess complete philosophical knowledge.
What he must learn is how to be disposed toward gods and humans. The teacher’s work begins by removing mist from the soul and only then applying what enables the distinction between bad and good. The ordered sequence suggests that an impediment to understanding must be addressed before further contents can help; it does not narrate an actual complete curriculum.
Alcibiades responds with readiness to undergo what the man orders, whoever he is, if this will make him better. Socrates says the care is reciprocal in eagerness. The exchange prepares an educational commitment, but the day of its fulfilment remains future. Alcibiades postpones sacrifice until then and expects it to come soon if the gods are willing.
The identity of the man is deliberately unspoken. Socrates’ conduct, the wreath and the closing rivalry make him a persuasive candidate. The edition offers parallels from Alcibiades I supporting that reading. The indirection should remain visible: the text says neither I am your teacher nor that a named divine emissary will appear.
Places to read
- 150c–150dSilence and waiting are recommended until Alcibiades learns the proper disposition.
- 150d–150eThe man who cares will first remove mist, then enable discrimination of bad and good.
- 150e–151a2Alcibiades accepts the prospective direction, and the man’s eagerness is affirmed.
- 151a–151bSacrifice is deferred to the hoped-for day of readiness.
Translation in this edition
Note 39 explicitly says Socrates does not identify the man. Its supporting comparisons are Alcibiades I 124c and 131d–131e; crowning at 151a–151b supplies evidence internal to this scene. The account should preserve the difference between plausible Socratic identification and explicit naming, and avoid later monotheistic readings not made by the source.
Source note
The man who cares about Alcibiades at 150d is not named. Supplied note 39 suggests Socrates as a reading, drawing on the First Alcibiades and the forthcoming crown. The present dialogue does not say ‘I am the teacher’, and the image should not be replaced by an otherwise unidentified later religious saviour.