From the book
Alcibiades II
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordAnathēmata are dedicated offerings, gifts set up in a sanctuary.
- In Alcibiades IIThe Athenians present the visible enrichment of sanctuaries as evidence that the gods owe them greater favour than Sparta.
- In this editionThe Key Words distinguish anathēmata from sacrifices, processions and gifts in general.
- A place to readDedicated offerings adorn temples in the Athenians’ claim of religious superiority.
Meaning
Anathēmata are dedicated offerings, gifts set up in a sanctuary. Their dative plural appears in the Athenian boast about adorning the gods’ temples and again among the offerings of Greeks who pray indiscriminately. They are distinct items within the larger account of gifts and expenditure.
Use in the book
The Athenians present the visible enrichment of sanctuaries as evidence that the gods owe them greater favour than Sparta. Their complaint assumes that the amount and splendour of what worshippers supply should predict the help they receive. The dialogue lets that assumption become explicit before the oracle rejects it.
At 149c votive gifts stand beside cattle with gilded horns. The different material forms do not change the defect: those presenting them still ask for anything at all, good or bad. The list thus broadens the argument beyond one kind of sacrifice. Costly objects and conspicuous presentation share the same limitation when a giver cannot judge what to ask.
The critique is relational rather than a prohibition of dedication. The gods’ regard should turn toward the soul, and the concluding promise of customary offerings leaves an appropriate future for religious gifts. What fails is the use of dedicated property as a substitute for holiness, justice and intelligence, or as leverage that can outweigh their absence.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The Key Words distinguish anathēmata from sacrifices, processions and gifts in general. Hiera is rendered temples at 148e because the objects are adorned, but rites at 149b in Ammon’s comparison. That contextual distinction should be preserved rather than treating the noun as one unvarying kind of object.