From the book
Alcibiades I
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordZopyrus is the Thracian household slave whom Pericles appointed as Alcibiades’ tutor or attendant.
- In Alcibiades IZopyrus appears at the sharpest turn in the description of Persian princely education.
- In this editionThe note explains that an Athenian paidagōgos escorted and supervised a boy rather than necessarily teaching school subjects.
- A place to readPersian royal tutors are contrasted with Pericles’ appointment of Zopyrus.
Meaning
Zopyrus is the Thracian household slave whom Pericles appointed as Alcibiades’ tutor or attendant. “The Thracian” is his ethnic designation.
Use in the book
Zopyrus appears at the sharpest turn in the description of Persian princely education. Four selected men in their prime, each outstanding in a virtue, are juxtaposed with an old household slave described as the least useful because of age. The derogatory comparison is Socrates’ rhetoric; it does not establish that Zopyrus had no care for his charge or that the dialogue has measured his pedagogical abilities. The term for his role also returns through its verb at the ending, when Alcibiades promises to attend Socrates. This connection turns a supposedly lowly office into a chosen expression of attachment.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The note explains that an Athenian paidagōgos escorted and supervised a boy rather than necessarily teaching school subjects. Thrace itself is not described as a place visited or ruled by either speaker.
Ζώπυρος
Attested: Ζώπυρον τὸν Θρᾷκα (zōpyron ton thraika; 122b). Zopyrus, the Thracian household slave appointed to attend Alcibiades. Lexical identification: lemma: Ζώπυρος. See Zopyrus and Thrace.
Θρᾷξ
Attested: Θρᾷκα (thraika; 122b). Thracian, the ethnic designation of Zopyrus. Lexical identification: lemma: Θρᾷξ. See Zopyrus and Thrace.