The prominent Athenian statesman Alcibiades has been criticized by ancient comic writers and appears in several Socratic dialogues. He enjoys an important afterlife, in literature and art, having acquired symbolic status as the personification of ambition and sexual profligacy. He continues to fascinate the world and appears in several significant works of modern literature. For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation). ... Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (Greek: ; English /ælsɪbaɪədi:z/; 450 BC–404 BC), also transliterated as Alkibiades, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. ... Socratic dialogue (Greek Σωκρατικός λόγος or Σωκρατικός διάλογος), is a prose literary form developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BCE, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems. ...

Ancient Comedy

Jean-Baptiste Régnault (1754-1829): Socrates dragging Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure, 1785

The prominent Athenian statesman Alcibiades excited in his contemporaries a fear for the safety of the political order.^[1] Thereby, he has not been spared by Ancient Greek comedy and stories attest to an epic confrontation between Alcibiades and Eupolis resembling that between Aristophanes and Cleon.^[2] For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation). ... Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (Greek: ; English /ælsɪbaɪədi:z/; 450 BC–404 BC), also transliterated as Alkibiades, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. ... Greek comedy is the name given to a wide genre of theatrical plays written, and performed, in Ancient Greece. ... Eupolis (c. ... Cleon (d. ...

Aristophanes mentions Alcibiades several times in his satirical plays, for instance making fun of his manner of speech. According to Aristophanes the Athenian people "yearns for him, and hates him too, but wants him back".^[3] Aeschylus in Aristophanes' Frogs illustrates Alcibiades' ambivalent personality saying:^[4] Sketch of Aristophanes Aristophanes (Greek: , c. ... Bust of Aeschylus from the Capitoline Museums, Rome Aeschylus (525 BC—456 BC; Greek: Ασχύλος) was a playwright of Ancient Greece. ... Sketch of Aristophanes Aristophanes (Greek: , c. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Frogs in Greek The Frogs (Βάτραχοι (Bátrachoi)) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. ...

Aeschylus sees Alcibiades as a powerful creation arousing admiration, but also as a "savage figure" unacceptable and dangerous when released in the city.^[5]

Socratic Dialogues

Pietro Testa (1611-1650): The Drunken Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium (1648)

Alcibiades also appears in several Socratic dialogues: Pietro Testa (1611-1650) was an Italian High Baroque painter of Rome. ...

• Plato's Symposium where he appears to be in love with Socrates.
• There are two dialogues from antiquity titled "Alcibiades", ascribed to Plato, that feature Socrates in conversation with Alcibiades: First Alcibiades (or Alcibiades I) and Second Alcibiades (or Alcibiades II). Some scholars, however, consider them spurious.

For Plato, Alcibiades is an extraordinary soul. What is extraordinary for the philosopher, however, is not the deeds that result but the soul itself, especially that passion for what is best for himself, best for himself beyond the conventional offices and honors. For Plato, Alcibiades embodies the culmination of politics, but that culmination that seeks a grand and almost god-like superiority that transcends politics. Plato presents Alcibiades as Socrates' most brilliant student, who would, in time to come, be the ruin of Athens.^[6] According to Habinek, his appearance in Plato's Symposium conforms to the pattern of Alcibiades literature: Alcibiades is always just what is wanted.^[7] The Symposium is a philosophical dialogue of Plato, written sometime after 385 BCE. It is a gathering of intellectually diverse, and apparently wise men who are of one mind about love, that the best kind is between an older man, the erastes, and his beloved boy, the eromenos. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... The First Alcibiades or Alcibiades I is a dialogue featuring Alcibiades in conversation with Socrates, ascribed to Plato, but his authorship is doubtful, though probably written by someone within a century or two of Platos other works. ... The Second Alcibiades or Alcibiades II is a dialogue ascribed to Plato, featring Alcibiades conversing with Socrates, but there is a general consensus amongst scholars that this text is spurious, though again probably written by someone within a century or two of Platos other works. ...

In his trial, Socrates must rebut the attempt to hold him guilty for the crimes of his former students, including Alcibiades, Critias and Charmides.^[8] Hence, he declares in Apology: "I have never been anyone's teacher", responding to quite concrete circumstances and recent events (mutilation of the hermai, betrayal of Athens by Alcibiades in the middle of the Peloponnesian War, regime of the Thirty Tyrants).^[9] The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787) The trial of Socrates in 399 BC gave rise to a great deal of debate and to a whole genre of literature, known as the Socratic logoi. ... Critias (Greek , 460-403 BC), was born in Athens, son of Callaeschrus, was the uncle of Plato, leading member of the Thirty Tyrants, and one of the most violent. ... The Charmides is a dialogue of Plato, discussing the nature and utility of temperance. ... (The) Apology (of Socrates) is Platos version of the speech given by Socrates as he defends himself against the charges of being a man who corrupted the young, did not believe in the gods, and created new deities. Apology here has its earlier meaning (now usually expressed by the... In ancient Greece, before his role as protector of merchants and travelers, Hermes was a phallic god, associated with fertility, luck, roads and borders. ...

Literature

In medieval and Renaissance works such as the Canterbury Tales, Erasmus's adage The Sileni of Alcibiades, Castiglione's Book of the Courtier, Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel, Montaigne's Essays, Shakespeare's Timon of Athens, and Thomas Otway's tragedy Alcibiades, Alcibiades is presented as a a military commander and student of Socratic teaching.^[10] Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ... Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ... The Book of the Courtier (Italian Il Cortegiano) was written by Baldassare Castiglione in 1528. ... François Rabelais (ca. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 - September 13, 1592) was an influential French Renaissance writer, generally considered to be the inventor of the personal essay. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare written around 1607. ... Thomas Otway (March 3, 1652 - April, 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period. ...

Alcibiades constituted also a source of inspiration for certain modern novelists, especially those writing historical novels. In On the Knees of the Gods (1908), Anna Bowman Dodd covers Alcibiades' expedition against Sicily.^[11] The Jealous Gods (1928) of Gertrude Atherton is another novel about Alcibiades and ancient Athens. In Steven Pressfield's Tides of War, it was the character of Alcibiades who loomed most large over the narrative, just as he had the greatest impact on the Peloponnesian War. Undefeated during his career as a general and admiral, Alcibiades’ life played itself out like an epic tragedy with the tensions between his genius and the hubris that was his ultimate downfall. In Daniel Chavarria's novel, The Eye Of Cybele, a novel that fictionally recreates the behind-the-scenes scandals and political intrigues that occupied the Athenian home front at the height of the Peloponessian War, Alcibiades is the central character and he is depicted as one of the Athens' most powerful generals and as a leading competitor for the favor of both Pericles and the masses. A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian, Latin, Sicilian and Spanish, Σικελία in Greek) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 km² and 5 million inhabitants. ... Gertrude Atherton, American writer Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (1857–1948) was an American writer. ... Steven Pressfield is an American author, predominatedly of military historical fiction set in classical antiquity. ... Hubris or hybris (Greek ), according to its modern usage, is exaggerated self pride or self-confidence, often resulting in fatal retribution. ... ...

Other modern works featuring Alcibiades as a main character include:

• Peter Green's Achilles His Armour (1955),^[12]
• Rosemary Sutcliff's Flowers of Adonis (1969)
• Joel Richards' Nebula award-nominated short story "The Gods Abandon Alcibiades" (Asimov's Science Fiction, February 2001) full text
• Paul Levinson's time travel novel, The Plot To Save Socrates (2006)
• Erik Satie's Socrate, a work for voice and small orchestra (or piano) (The text is composed of excerpts of Victor Cousin's translation of works by Plato, all of the chosen texts referring to Socrates).

Peter Green (born 1924) is a British classical scholar noted for his Alexander to Actium, a general account of the Hellenistic Age, and other works. ... Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-1992) was a British novelist, best known as a writer of childrens historical fiction. ... The Nebula is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years. ... Cover for an issue of Asimovs Science Fiction. ... Paul Levinson, 2002 Paul Levinson (b. ... Time travel is a concept that has long fascinated humanity—whether it is Merlin experiencing time backwards, or religious traditions like Mohammeds trip to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, returning before a glass knocked over had spilt its contents. ... Basic Information The Plot To Save Socrates was published and copyrighted in 2006. ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Selfportrait of Erik Satie. ... Socrate is a work for voice and small orchestra (or piano) by Erik Satie. ... Victor Cousin. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... This article is about the philosopher Socrates, not to be confused with the playwright Sophocles Socrates (Greek: , invariably anglicized as , SÇ’cratÄ“s; circa 470–399 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher who is widely credited for laying the foundation for Western philosophy. ...

External links

• Project Gutenberg:
  • 11 comedies by Aristophanes et al.: Part I and Part II
  • Socratic dialogues, translated by Benjamin Jowett: Alcibiades I and Alcibiades II
• Alcibiades. Endres, Nikolai. Retrieved on September 22, 2006.
• Alcibiades in the Socratic Tradition and in Plato. Michelini, Ann. Retrieved on August 5, 2006.

Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ... Benjamin Jowett (April 15, 1817 – October 1, 1893) was an English scholar and theologian, Master of Balliol College, Oxford. ... September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notes

1. ^ D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 41
2. ^ D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 32-33
3. ^ Aristophanes, Frogs, 1425
4. ^ Aristophanes, Frogs, 1432-1433
5. ^ D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 1
6. ^ E. Corrigan, Plato's Dialectic at Play, 169
7. ^ T. Habinek, Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory, 23-24
8. ^ G.A. Scott, Plato's Socrates as Educator, 19
9. ^ Plato, Apology, 33a
10. ^ N. Endres, Alcibiades
11. ^ J. Nield, A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales, 4
12. ^ T.T.B. Ryder, Alcibiades, 32