Protagoras
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Contents
Articles
Protagoras (dialogue)
1
Protagoras
6
Alcibiades
10
Callias III
31
Critias
32
Hippias
33
Prodicus
35
References
Article Sources and Contributors
38
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
39
Article Licenses
License
40
Protagoras (dialogue)
1
Protagoras (dialogue)
Part of the series on:
The dialogues of Plato
Early dialogues:
Apology – Charmides – Crito
Euthyphro – First Alcibiades
Hippias Major – Hippias Minor
Ion – Laches – Lysis
Transitional & middle dialogues:
Cratylus – Euthydemus – Gorgias
Menexenus – Meno – Phaedo
Protagoras – Symposium
Later middle dialogues:
Republic – Phaedrus
Parmenides – Theaetetus
Late dialogues:
Clitophon – Timaeus – Critias
Sophist – Statesman
Philebus – Laws
Of doubtful authenticity:
Axiochus – Demodocus
Epinomis – Epistles – Eryxias
Halcyon – Hipparchus – Minos
On Justice – On Virtue
Rival Lovers – Second Alcibiades
Sisyphus – Theages
Protagoras (Greek: Πρωταγόρας) is a dialogue by Plato. The traditional subtitle (which may or may not be Plato's)
is "or the Sophists, probative". The main argument is between the elderly Protagoras, a celebrated Sophist, and
Socrates. The discussion takes place at the home of Callias, who is host to Protagoras while he is in town, and
concerns the nature of Sophists, the unity and the teachability of virtue. A total of twenty-one people are named as
present.
Protagoras (dialogue)
The characters
Of the twenty-one people who are specifically said to be present, three are known Sophists. In addition to Protagoras
himself, there are Hippias of Elis and Prodicus of Ceos. Two of the sons of Pericles are said to be there, Paralus and
Xanthippus. With the exception of Aristophanes, all of Socrates' named friends from the Symposium are in
attendance: Eryximachus the doctor, and Phaedrus are there, and so are the lovers Pausanias and Agathon (who is
said to be a mere boy at this point), and Alcibiades. Additionally, there are several unnamed foreigners whom
Protagoras is said to have picked up in his travels and a servant (a eunuch) in the employ of Callias. Callias, Prodicus
and Hippias, also appear in another dialogue of Plato, the Apology.
Summary
Introduction
The dialogue begins with an unnamed friend of Socrates asking him how his pursuit of the young Alcibiades, just
now reputed to be growing his first beard, was proceeding. Socrates explains that while he has just been in the
company of Alcibiades, he has just come from meeting with someone who is "more beautiful . . . No doubt the
wisest of men nowadays-- if in your opinion the wisest is Protagoras"(309c-d). Socrates relates the story of how his
young friend, Hippocrates, son of Apollodorus, came knocking on his door before daybreak and roused him out of
bed. Hippocrates was in a big hurry to be present when Protagoras held court, as he was expected to do, at the home
of Callias.
Socrates warns the excitable Hippocrates that Sophists are dangerous. He tells him that the words of the Sophists go
straight into the soul (psuchē) and can corrupt a person straightaway. Socrates says that buying wisdom from a
Sophist is different from buying food and drink at the market. With food and drink, you never know what you are
getting, but you can consult experts for advice before consuming anything that might be dangerous (313a-314c).
Socrates says he regards Prodicus as a man of inspired genius (316a). He expresses the same admiration for Prodicus
in another dialogue, the Theaetetus. Socrates later notes that Prodicus was assigned to sleep in a storage room that
his host had cleaned out for the visit (315d).
Socrates accompanies Hippocrates to the home of Callias, and they stand in the doorway chatting about "some point
which had come up along the road" (314c). A eunuch opened the door, took one look at them, guessed they were
Sophists, and slammed the door in their faces (314d). They knocked again, and this time assured the porter they were
not Sophists, but only wanted to visit with Protagoras. The porter let them in, and it is at this point that Socrates
recites the list of guests.
Prodicus is wrestled out of bed
Protagoras does not deny being a Sophist, and claims that it is an ancient and honorable art, the same art practiced by
Homer and Hesiod. These poets, he says, used the arts as a screen, a front, to protect themselves from the charge. He
says that he is more straightforward than the ancient artists, trainers, and musicians in frankly admitting that he is an
educator. Protagoras says he is old enough now to be the father of any of the men present, and would like now to
address himself to the whole company of people in the house. Socrates assumes that Prodicus would not want to
miss the lecture, and so Callias and Alcibiades are sent to rouse him from his bed (317c-e). According to Francis
Bacon, Prodicus is led to produce a speech in the dialogue (337a), which seems to Bacon as humiliating for him.[1]
2
Protagoras (dialogue)
Protagoras' great speech
Socrates asks Protagoras "in respect to what" Hippocrates will improve by associating with him, in the manner that
by associating himself to a doctor he would improve in medicine (318d). Protagoras begins his discourse with the
statement that a good Sophist can make his students into good citizens. Socrates says that this is fine and good, but
that he personally believes that this is not feasible since virtue cannot be taught (319b). He adds that technical
thinking (techne) can be imparted to students by teachers, but that wisdom cannot be. By way of example, Socrates
points to the fact that while in matters concerning specialised labour one would only take advice from the
appropriate specialist, like for example builders (τέκτονες) about construction, in matters of state everyone's
opinions is considered, which proves that political virtue is within everyone, or that at least that is what Athenians in
their democratic ideals believe. Another example is that Pericles did not manage to impart his wisdom to his sons
(319e). Socrates' uses a similar example in the Meno. He then adds that Clinias, younger brother of Alcibiades, was
taken from the family for fear that Alcibiades would corrupt him, and he was given back as a hopeless case. Socrates
says he could give more examples, but thinks his point is sufficiently established.
Protagoras says his claim that virtue can be taught is better made by a story than by reasoned arguments, and he
recounts a myth about the origins of living things. He says that Epimetheus (whose name means "Afterthought") who
was assigned the task of passing out the assets for survival, forgot to give mankind anything so his twin brother
Prometheus (whose name means "Forethought") stole fire from Hephaestus and practical wisdom from Athena and
gave them to man. However, man was never granted civic wisdom which belonged to Zeus or the art of politics, so
the race was initially in danger of extinction. Zeus, however, sent Hermes to distribute shame and justice equally
among human beings. To Protagoras, this answers Socrates's question why people think that wisdom about
architecture or medicine is limited to the few while wisdom about justice and politics is thought to be more broadly
understood (322d).
Protagoras states that he has two good pieces of evidence that people agree with him. First, people do not rebuke the
ugly, dwarfish, and weak, but pity them, because they cannot help being as they are (323d). Second, they do instruct
people who are unjust and irreligious, hoping to impart goodness in them. He says that parents begin with their
children from earliest childhood, and teachers carry on the task. Protagoras notes that none of this is surprising, but
what would be surprising is if this were not the case (326e). He closes by addressing Socrates's question why, if
virtue is teachable, the sons of virtuous men often lack virtue. Protagoras lays out a thought experiment where a
hypothetical city state is resting its survival as such to the skill of flute playing. Being the most important thing for
that society, parents would be eager to teach the skill to their sons. Not everyone would be successful though, as we
can imagine, as some would have a greater natural inclination than others and often the son of a good flute player
would turn out bad and vica versa. Any of them however, even the bad ones, would be better than an average citizen
in the real world which might have never been taught how to play. Same goes for virtue, it is considered so important
that everyone is taught to a certain degree, to the point that it seems like a part of human nature while it is not.
(327b-d).
Socrates' complaint
Socrates admits that Protagoras has given an excellent answer and that there is only one small thing to clarify which
he is certain that the Sophist will do easily. He asks Protagoras as to whether the attributes that form virtue, such as
bravery, kindness and wisdom are one or many things, like for example the parts of a golden object which are fused
together or that of a face which form a whole while retaining their individual substance (329d). Protagoras answers
the second but avoids engaging in dialogue and digresses into a rhetoric which does not answer the question
sufficiently but still manages to arouse the excitement of their young public. Socrates complains that Protagoras is
long-winded, like a gong that booms when you strike it and won't stop until you lay a hand on it. It is a typical
moment of Socrates opposite a Sophist where the latter is using eloquent speech to hide arguments that might not
stand logical scrutiny while the former is trying to use his notorious question/answer format that will lead to a logical
3
Protagoras (dialogue)
conclusion in his favour. Protagoras begins to bristle at this and so Socrates supposes that their styles are opposite.
He personally doesn't like long-winded speeches like the one Protagoras just delivered, because he is forgetful and
cannot follow the train of thought (334d), and Protagoras does not like to be peppered with questions that seem to
lead them off track. Socrates gets up to leave, grousing that companionable talk is one thing and public speaking
another (336b). After the intervention of several of the listeners, the men agree to compromise their styles so the
discussion can continue.
Socrates praises the Spartans as the best people in the world not only because of their fierceness in battle but because
of their wisdom and philosophical skills. This is contrary to the common belief that the Spartans lacked in these
issues and devoted themselves exclusively to physical training but Socrates claims that they are masters at
concealing their skills. While they appear to be unimpressive speakers, at just the right moment, they can provide
pithy phrases of wisdom (342e). He adds that Laconic brevity was the earliest characteristic of philosophy (343b).
Then the debaters return to their previous analysis of Pittacus' and Simonides' poetry. On Socrates' interpretation,
Pittacus claims that it is difficult to be a good man, but presumably possible. Simonides, on the other hand, claims
that it is impossible to live without ever being a bad man, and even to be a good man on occasion is difficult
(344a–45d). Simonides praises those who at least do not do wrong willingly. Socrates' interpretation is that, since
Simonides was a wise man, he must know that no one does any wrong willingly; accordingly, he must mean that he
will willingly praise those who do no wrong, not that some do wrong willingly and others unwillingly, only the latter
garnering his praise (345d–46b). Socrates thus argues that the authority of Simonides does not stand against his
understanding of virtue and whether anyone willingly does wrong.
Conclusion
Socrates then broaches the initial question of whether virtue is one or many things, himself claiming that all virtue is
knowledge and therefore one. He argues that the reason people act harmfully, to others or themselves, is because
they only see the short term gains while ignoring the long term losses which might outweigh them, just like one
makes errors in judging the size of objects that are far away. He says that if men were taught the art of calculating
these things correctly, have a more exact knowledge that is, they would not act harmfully (357c-358d). Same goes
for bravery. A brave swimmer is one who knows how to swim better and therefore, in a way, all virtues are
essentially knowledge and can be considered one and the same, more like parts of golden objects (as discussed
above) rather than the parts of a face. While Socrates seems to have won the argument, he points to the fact that if all
virtue is knowledge, it can in fact be taught. He draws the conclusion that to an observer he and Protagoras would
seem as crazy, having argued at great lengths only to mutually exchanged positions with Socrates now believing that
virtue can be taught and Protagoras that all virtues are one instead of his initial position (361a). Protagoras
acknowledges Socrates a notable opponent in dispute while being much younger than he and predicts that he could
become one of the wisest men alive. Socrates departs for whatever business he claimed he had when he wanted to
end the dialogue earlier.
4
Protagoras (dialogue)
Notes
[1] Bacon, Francis. Essays. essay number 26, Of seeming wise. text on-line (http:/ / www. literaturepage. com/ read/ francis-bacon-essays. html)
Texts and Translations
• Burnet, J., Plato Opera Vol. III (Oxford University Press, 1922). ISBN 978-0-19-814542-4 (Greek with critical
apparatus)
• Denyer, N., Plato Protagoras (Cambridge University Press, 2008). ISBN 978-0-521-54969-1 (Greek with English
commentary)
• Lamb, W. R. M., Plato Vol. II (Harvard University Press, 1926). ISBN 978-0-674-99183-5 (Greek and English)
• Lombardo, S. & Bell, K., Plato Protagoras, (Hackett Publishing, 1992). ISBN 978-0-87220-094-4 (English with
notes)
• Taylor, C. C. W., Plato Protagoras, Revised Edition (Oxford University Press, 1990). ISBN 978-0-19-823934-5
(English with commentary)
External links
• Text of the Plato's Protagoras (http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_plato_protag_1.htm),
Jowett Public Domain Translation.
• Protagoras on the Perseus Project (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.
0178:text=Prot.:section=309a) translated by W.R.M. Lamb (1967) ISBN 0-674-99183-4, ISBN 0-674-99184-2
• Approaching Plato: A Guide to the Early and Middle Dialogues (http://campus.belmont.edu/philosophy/Book.
pdf)
5
Protagoras
6
Protagoras
Protagoras (Πρωταγόρας)
Democritus (center) and Protagoras (right) by Salvator Rosa
Born
c. 490 BC
Abdera
Died
420 BC
Era
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Region
Western Philosophy
School
Sophism
Main interests language, semantics, relativism, rhetoric, agnosticism, ethics
Notable ideas
'Sophist' as teacher for hire, 'Man is the measure of all things'
Protagoras (
/proʊˈtæɡərəs/; Greek: Πρωταγόρας, ca. 490 BC – 420 BC)[1] was a pre-Socratic Greek
philosopher and is numbered as one of the sophists by Plato. In his dialogue Protagoras, Plato credits him with
having invented the role of the professional sophist or teacher of virtue. He is also believed to have created a major
controversy during ancient times through his statement that "man is the measure of all things". This idea was
revolutionary for the time and contrasted with other philosophical doctrines that claimed the universe was based on
something objective, outside the human influence.
Background
Protagoras was born in Abdera, Thrace, in Ancient Greece. According to Aulus Gellius, he originally made his living
as a porter, but one day he was seen by the philosopher Democritus carrying a load of small pieces of wood tied with
a short cord. Democritus discovered that Protagoras had tied the load himself with such perfect geometric accuracy
that it revealed him to be a mathematic prodigy. He immediately took him into his own household and taught him
philosophy.[2]
In Plato's Protagoras, before the company of Socrates, Prodicus, and Hippias, he states that he is old enough to be
the father of any of them. This suggests a date of not later than 490 BC. In the Meno he is said to have died at about
the age of 70 after 40 years as a practicing Sophist.[3] His death, then, may be assumed to have occurred circa 420.
Protagoras
He was well known in Athens and became a friend of Pericles.[4]
Plutarch relates a story in which the two spend a whole day discussing an interesting point of legal responsibility,
that probably involved a more philosophical question of causation:[5] "In an athletic contest a man had been
accidentally hit and killed with a javelin. Was his death to be attributed to the javelin itself, to the man who threw it,
or to the authorities responsible for the conduct of the games?"[6]
Philosophy
Protagoras was also renowned as a teacher who addressed subjects connected to virtue and political life. He was
especially involved in the question of whether virtue could be taught, a commonplace issue of 5th century Greece
related to modern readers through Plato's dialogue. Rather than educators who offered specific, practical training in
rhetoric or public speaking, Protagoras attempted to formulate a reasoned understanding, on a very general level, of a
wide range of human phenomena, including language and education. In Plato's Protagoras, he claims to teach "The
proper management of one's own affairs, how best to run one's household, and the management of public affairs,
how to make the most effective contribution to the affairs of the city by word and action" [7]
He also seems to have had an interest in “orthoepeia” - the correct use of words, although this topic is more strongly
associated with his fellow sophist Prodicus. In his eponymous Platonic dialogue, Protagoras interprets a poem by
Simonides, focusing on his use of words, their literal meaning and the author's original intent. This type of education
would have been useful for the interpretation of laws and other written documents in the Athenian courts.[8]
Diogenes Laërtius reports that Protagoras devised a taxonomy of speech acts such as assertion, question, answer,
command etc. Aristotle also says that Protagoras worked on the classification and proper use of grammatical
gender.[9]
The titles of his books such as The Technique of Eristics (Technē Eristikōn, literally "On wrestling", with wrestling
here used as a metaphor for intellectual debate) prove that Protagoras was also a teacher of rhetoric and
argumentation. Diogenes Laërtius states that he was one of the first to take part in rhetorical contests in the Olympic
games.[9] Protagoras also said that on any matter there are two arguments (logoi) opposed to one another and
according to Aristotle he was criticized for having claimed to "make the weaker logos stronger (ton hēttō logon
kreittō poiein)".[9]
His most famous saying is: "Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which
are not, that they are not".[10][11] Like many fragments of the Presocratics, this phrase has been passed down to us
without any context, and its meaning is open to interpretation. However, the use of the word χρήματα (chrēmata)
instead of the general word ὄντα (onta, entities) signifies that Protagoras was referring to things that are used by or
in some way related to humans. This makes a great difference in the meaning of his aphorism. Properties, social
entities, ideas, feelings, judgements, etc. are certainly χρήματα and hence originate in the human mind. However,
Protagoras has never suggested that man must be the measure of the motion of the stars, the growing of plants or the
activity of volcanoes. Such views (together with his views about the gods) were considered subversive by the
contemporary political elites. Like many modern thinkers, Plato ascribes relativism to Protagoras and uses his
predecessor's teachings as a foil for his own commitment to objective and transcendent realities and values
particularly those that relate to his aristocratic background. His major effort, through the words of Socrates, is to
convince his contemporaries that ἀρετή (aretē, virtue) is a present from the gods, which one either has or has not and
that no sophist can teach virtue to people that do not already possess it. Plato ascribes to Protagoras an early form of
phenomenalism,[12] in which what is or appears for a single individual is true or real for that individual. However, as
it is clearly presented in the Theaetetus, Protagoras explains that some of such controversial views may result from
an ill body or mind. He stresses that although all views may appear equally true, and perhaps should be equally
respected, they are certainly not of equal gravity. One may be useful and advantageous to the person that has it while
another may prove harmful. Hence, the sophist is there to teach the student how to discriminate between them, i.e. to
teach virtue.
7
Protagoras
Protagoras was a proponent of agnosticism. In his lost work, On the Gods, he wrote: "Concerning the gods, I have no
means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be, because of the obscurity of the subject, and
the brevity of human life."(DK80b4)[13][14] According to Diogenes Laërtius, the outspoken agnostic position taken
by Protagoras aroused anger, causing the Athenians to expel him from the city, and all copies of the book were
collected and burned in the marketplace; this is also mentioned by Cicero.[15] However, the Classicist John Burnet
doubts this account, as both Diogenes Laërtius and Cicero wrote hundreds of years later and no such persecution of
Protagoras is mentioned by contemporaries who make extensive references to this philosopher.[16] Burnet notes that
even if some copies of Protagoras' book were burned, enough of them survived to be known and discussed in the
following century.
Very few fragments from Protagoras have survived, though he is known to have written several different works:
Antilogiae and Truth. The latter is cited by Plato, and was known alternatively as The Throws (a wrestling term
referring to the attempt to floor an opponent). It began with the "man the measure" pronouncement. According to
Diogenes Laërtius other books by Protagoras include: On the Gods, Art of Eristics, Imperative, On Ambition, On
Incorrect Human Actions, On those in Hades, On Sciences, On Virtues, On the Original State of Things and Trial
over a Fee.[9]
The crater Protagoras on the Moon is named in his honor.
Notes
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
Guthrie, p. 262–263.
Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, V.iii.
Plato, Meno, 91e
O'Sullivan, Neil. (1995) "Pericles and Protagoras". Greece & Rome, Vol. 42 (1): 15-23
Guthrie, p. 263.
Plutarch, Life of Pericles
Plato, Protagoras, (319a)
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Protagoras (c. 490 - c. 420 BCE) (http:/ / www. iep. utm. edu/ p/ protagor. htm)
"The Sophists (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)" (http:/ / plato. stanford. edu/ entries/ sophists/ #Pro). Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. . Retrieved 2012-05-01.
[10] (80B1 DK).
[11] This quotation is recapitulated in Plato's Theaetetus at 152a (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Plat. + Theaet. + 152a).
Sextus Empiricus gives a direct quotation in Adv. math. 7.60: πάντων χρημάτων μέτρον ἐστὶν ἄνθρωπος, τῶν μὲν ὄντων ὡς ἔστιν, τῶν δὲ
οὐκ ὄντων ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν. The translation "Man is the measure..." has been familiar in English since before the rise of gender-neutral language;
in Greek, Protagoras makes a general statement, not about men, but about human beings (his word is anthrōpos).
[12] See e.g. John Wild, " On the Nature and Aims of Phenomenology (http:/ / links. jstor. org/
sici?sici=0031-8205(194209)3:1<85:OTNAAO>2. 0. CO;2-6)," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 3 (1942), p. 88:
"Phenomenalism is as old as Protagoras."
[13] The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Protagoras (c. 490 - c. 420 BCE) (http:/ / www. iep. utm. edu/ p/ protagor. htm), Accessed:
October 6, 2008. "While the pious might wish to look to the gods to provide absolute moral guidance in the relativistic universe of the
Sophistic Enlightenment, that certainty also was cast into doubt by philosophic and sophistic thinkers, who pointed out the absurdity and
immorality of the conventional epic accounts of the gods. Protagoras' prose treatise about the gods began "Concerning the gods, I have no
means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be. Many things prevent knowledge including the obscurity of the
subject and the brevity of human life."
[14] (80B4 DK)
[15] Cicero, de Natura Deorum, 1.23.6
[16] John Burnet, "Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Plato", 1914
8
Protagoras
References
• Guthrie, W. K. C., The Sophists. New York: Cambridge University Press (May 27, 1977). ISBN 0-521-09666-9.
External links
• Protagoras (http://www.iep.utm.edu/protagor) entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Carol
Poster
•
Diogenes Laërtius, Life of Protagoras, translated by Robert Drew Hicks (1925).
9
Alcibiades
10
Alcibiades
Alcibiades
Ἀλκιβιάδης Alkibiádēs
Alcibiades
Born
c. 450 BC
Athens, Greece
Died
404 BC
Phrygia
Allegiance
Athens
(415–412 BC Sparta)
(412–411 BC Persia)
Rank
General (Strategos)
Battles/wars Battle of Abydos (410 BC)
Battle of Cyzicus (410 BC)
Siege of Byzantium (408 BC)
Alcibiades, son of Clinias, from the deme of Scambonidae ( /ˌælsɪˈbaɪ.ədiːz/;[1] Greek: Ἀλκιβιάδης Κλεινίου
Σκαμβωνίδης, transliterated Alkibiádēs Kleiníou Skambōnidēs; c. 450–404 BC), was a prominent Athenian
statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae,
which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in the second half of that conflict
as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.
During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his political allegiance on several occasions. In his
native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated an aggressive foreign policy, and was a prominent proponent of the
Sicilian Expedition, but fled to Sparta after his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In Sparta,
he served as a strategic adviser, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too,
however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies and was forced to defect to Persia. There he served as an adviser
to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Athenian political allies brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian
General (Strategos) for several years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time.
The Sicilian Expedition was Alcibiades' idea, and scholars have argued that, had that expedition been under
Alcibiades' command instead of Nicias', the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate.[2] In the years
that he served Sparta, Alcibiades played a significant role in Athens' undoing; the capture of Decelea and the revolts
Alcibiades
of several critical Athenian subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his supervision. Once restored to his
native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek
a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation
rather than by siege.[3] Alcibiades' military and political talents frequently proved valuable to whichever state
currently held his allegiance, but his propensity for making powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one
place for long; and, by the end of the war he had helped rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance
were a bygone memory.
Early years
Alcibiades was born in ancient Athens, the son of Cleinias and
Deinomache. His mother was the daughter of Megacles, and could
trace her family back to Eurysaces and the Telamonian Ajax.[4]
Alcibiades thereby, through his mother, belonged to the powerful and
controversial family of the Alcmaeonidae; the renowned Pericles and
his brother Ariphron were Deinomache's cousins, as her father and
their mother were siblings.[5] His maternal grandfather, also named
Alcibiades, was a friend of Cleisthenes, the famous constitutional
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904): Socrates
reformer of the late 6th century BC.[6] After the death of Cleinias at the
seeking Alcibiades in the House of Aspasia,
1861.
Battle of Coronea (447 BC), Pericles and Ariphron became his
[7]
guardians. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades had several famous
teachers, including Socrates, and was well trained in the art of Rhetoric.a[›] He was noted, however, for his unruly
behavior, which was mentioned by ancient Greek and Latin writers on several occasions.b[›]
Alcibiades took part in the Battle of Potidaea in 432 BC, where Socrates was said to have saved his life[8] and again
at the Battle of Delium in 424 BC.c[›] Alcibiades had a particularly close relationship with Socrates, whom he
admired and respected.[9][10] According to Plutarch, Alcibiades "feared and reverenced Socrates alone, and despised
the rest of his lovers".[11]
Alcibiades was married to Hipparete, the daughter of Hipponicus, a wealthy Athenian. According to Plutarch,
Hipparete loved her husband, but she attempted to divorce him because he consorted with courtesans. She lived with
him until her death and gave birth to two children, a daughter and a son, Alcibiades the Younger.[12]
Political career until 412 BC
Rise to prominence
Alcibiades first rose to prominence when he began advocating aggressive Athenian action after the signing of the
Peace of Nicias. That treaty, an uneasy truce between Sparta and Athens signed midway through the Peloponnesian
War, came at the end of seven years of fighting during which neither side had gained a decisive advantage.
Historians Arnold W. Gomme and Raphael Sealey believe, and Thucydides reports,[13] that Alcibiades was offended
that the Spartans had negotiated that treaty through Nicias and Laches, overlooking him on account of his
youth.[14][15]
Disputes over the interpretation of the treaty led the Spartans to dispatch ambassadors to Athens with full powers to
arrange all unsettled matters. The Athenians initially received these ambassadors well, but Alcibiades met with them
in secret before they were to speak to the ecclesia (the Athenian Assembly) and told them that the Assembly was
haughty and had great ambitions.[16] He urged them to renounce their diplomatic authority to represent Sparta, and
instead allow him to assist them through his influence in Athenian politics.[17] The representatives agreed and,
impressed with Alcibiades, they alienated themselves from Nicias, who genuinely wanted to reach an agreement
11
Alcibiades
with the Spartans.[16] The next day, during the Assembly, Alcibiades asked them what powers Sparta had granted
them to negotiate and they replied, as agreed, that they had not come with full and independent powers. This was in
direct contradiction to what they had said the day before, and Alcibiades seized on this opportunity to denounce their
character, cast suspicion on their aims, and destroy their credibility. This ploy increased Alcibiades' standing while
embarrassing Nicias, and Alcibiades was subsequently appointed General. He took advantage of his increasing
power to orchestrate the creation of an alliance between Argos, Mantinea, Elis, and other states in the Peloponnese,
threatening Sparta's dominance in the region. According to Gomme, "it was a grandiose scheme for an Athenian
general at the head of a mainly Peloponnesian army to march through the Peloponnese cocking a snook at Sparta
when her reputation was at its lowest".[18] This alliance, however, would ultimately be defeated at the Battle of
Mantinea.[19]
Somewhere in the years 416–415 BC, a complex struggle took place between Hyperbolos on one side and Nicias and
Alcibiades on the other. Hyperbolos tried to bring about the ostracism of one of this pair, but Nicias and Alcibiades
combined their influence to induce the people to expel Hyperbolos instead.[20] This incident reveals that Nicias and
Alcibiades each commanded a personal following, whose votes were determined by the wishes of the leaders.[15]
Alcibiades was not one of the Generals involved in the capture of Melos in 416–415 BC, but Plutarch describes him
as a supporter of the decree by which the grown men of Melos were killed and the women and children enslaved.[21]
The orator Andocides alleges that Alcibiades had a child by one of these enslaved women.[22]
Sicilian Expedition
In 415 BC, delegates from the Sicilian city of Segesta (Greek: Egesta) arrived at Athens to plead for the support of
the Athenians in their war against Selinus. During the debates on the undertaking, Nicias was vehemently opposed to
Athenian intervention, explaining that the campaign would be very costly and attacking the character and motives of
Alcibiades, who had emerged as the supporter of the expedition. On the other hand, Alcibiades argued that a
campaign in this new theatre would bring riches to the city and expand the empire, just as the Persian Wars had. In
his speech Alcibiades predicted (over-optimistically, in the opinion of most historians) that the Athenians would be
able to recruit allies in the region and impose their rule on Syracuse, the most powerful city of Sicily.[23] In spite of
Alcibiades' enthusiastic advocacy for the plan, it was Nicias, not he, who turned a modest undertaking into a massive
campaign and made the conquest of Sicily seem possible and safe.[24] It was at his suggestion that the size of the
fleet was significantly increased from 60 ships[25] to "140 galleys, 5,100 men at arms, and about 1300 archers,
slingers, and light armed men".[26] Philosopher Leo Strauss underscores that the Sicilian expedition surpassed
everything undertaken by Pericles. Almost certainly Nicias' intention was to shock the assembly with his high
estimate of the forces required, but, instead of dissuading his fellow citizens, his analysis made them all the more
eager.[27] Against his wishes Nicias was appointed General along with Alcibiades and Lamachus, all three of whom
were given full powers to do whatever was in the best interests of Athens while in Sicily.[28]
One night during preparations for the expedition, the hermai, heads of the god Hermes on a plinth with a phallus,
were mutilated throughout Athens. This was a religious scandal and was seen as a bad omen for the mission.
Plutarch explains that Androcles, a political leader, used false witnesses who accused Alcibiades and his friends of
mutilating the statues, and of profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries. Later his opponents, chief among them being
Androcles and Thessalus, Cimon's son, enlisted orators to argue that Alcibiades should set sail as planned and stand
trial on his return from the campaign. Alcibiades was suspicious of their intentions, and asked to be allowed to stand
trial immediately, under penalty of death, in order to clear his name.[29] This request was denied, and the fleet set sail
soon after, with the charges unresolved.[30]
"Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made. And we
cannot fix the exact point at which our empire shall stop; we have reached a position in which we must not be content with retaining but
must scheme to extend it, for, if we cease to rule others, we are in danger of being ruled ourselves. Nor can you look at inaction from the
same point of view as others, unless you are prepared to change your habits and make them like theirs."
12
Alcibiades
13
'Alcibiades' Oration before the Sicilian expedition as recorded by Thucydides, (VI, 18)d[›]; Thucydides disclaims verbal accuracy
[31]
.
As Alcibiades had suspected, his absence emboldened his enemies, and they began to accuse him of other
sacrilegious actions and comments and even alleged that these actions were connected with a plot against the
democracy.[32] According to Thucydides, the Athenians were always in fear and took everything suspiciously.[33]
When the fleet arrived in Catana, it found the state trireme Salaminia waiting to bring Alcibiades and the others
indicted for mutilating the hermai or profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries back to Athens to stand trial.[33] Alcibiades
told the heralds that he would follow them back to Athens in his ship, but in Thurii he escaped with his crew; in
Athens he was convicted in absentia and condemned to death. His property was confiscated and a reward of one
talent was promised to whoever succeeded in killing any who had fled.[34] Meanwhile the Athenian force in Sicily,
after a few early victories, moved against Messina, where the Generals expected their secret allies within the city to
betray it to them. Alcibiades, however, foreseeing that he would be outlawed, gave information to the friends of the
Syracusans in Messina, who succeeded in preventing the admission of the Athenians.[35] With the death of
Lamachus in battle some time later, command of the Sicilian Expedition fell into the hands of Nicias, whom modern
scholars have judged to be an inadequate military leader.[2]
Defection to Sparta
After his disappearance at Thurii, Alcibiades quickly contacted the Spartans, "promising to render them aid and
service greater than all the harm he had previously done them as an enemy" if they would offer him sanctuary.[36]
The Spartans granted this request and received him among them. In the debate at Sparta over whether to send a force
to relieve Syracuse, Alcibiades spoke and instilled fear of Athenian ambition into the Spartan ephors by informing
them that the Athenians hoped to conquer Sicily, Italy, and even Carthage.[37] Yale historian Donald Kagan believes
that Alcibiades knowingly exaggerated the plans of the Athenians to convince the Spartans of the benefit they stood
to gain from his help. Kagan asserts that Alcibiades had not yet acquired his "legendary" reputation, and the Spartans
saw him as "a defeated and hunted man" whose policies "produced strategic failures" and brought "no decisive
result". If accurate, this assessment underscores one of Alcibiades' greatest talents, his highly persuasive oratory.[38]
After making the threat seem imminent, Alcibiades advised the Spartans to send troops and most importantly, a
Spartan commander to discipline and aid the Syracusans.[37]
"Our party was that of the whole people, our creed being to do our part in preserving the form of government under which the city enjoyed
the utmost greatness and freedom, and which we had found existing. As for democracy, the men of sense among us knew what it was, and I
perhaps as well as any, as I have the more cause to complain of it; but there is nothing new to be said of a patent absurdity — meanwhile
we did not think it safe to alter it under the pressure of your hostility."
Alcibiades' Speech to the Spartans as recorded by Thucydides, (VI, 89])d[›]; Thucydides disclaims verbal accuracy
[31]
.
Alcibiades served as a military adviser to Sparta and helped the Spartans secure several crucial successes. He advised
them to build a permanent fort at Decelea, just over ten miles (16 km) from Athens and within sight of the city.[39]
By doing this, the Spartans cut the Athenians off entirely from their homes and crops and the silver mines of
Sunium.[38] This was part of Alcibiades'plan to renew the war with Athens in Attica. The move was devastating to
Athens and forced the citizens to live within the long walls of the city year round, making them entirely dependent
on their seaborne trade for food. Seeing Athens thus beleaguered on a second front, members of the Delian League
began to contemplate revolt. In the wake of Athens' disastrous defeat in Sicily, Alcibiades sailed to Ionia with a
Spartan fleet and succeeded in persuading several critical cities to revolt.[40][41]
In spite of these valuable contributions to the Spartan cause, Alcibiades fell out of favor with the Spartan government
at around this time, ruled by Agis II.[42] Leotychides, the son born by Agis' wife Timaia shortly after this, was
believed by many to be Alcibiades' son.[43][44] Alcibiades' influence was further reduced after the retirement of
Endius, the ephor who was on good terms with him.[45] It is alleged that Astiochus, a Spartan Admiral, was sent
Alcibiades
orders to kill him, but Alcibiades received warning of this order and defected to the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, who
had been supporting the Peloponnesian forces financially in 412 BC.[46]
In Asia Minor
On his arrival in the local Persian court, Alcibiades won the trust of the
powerful satrap and made several policy suggestions which were well
received. According to Thucydides, Alcibiades immediately began to
do all he could with Tissaphernes to injure the Peloponnesian cause. At
his urging, the satrap reduced the payments he was making to the
Peloponnesian fleet and began delivering them irregularly.[46]
Alcibiades next advised Tissaphernes to bribe the Generals of the cities
to gain valuable intelligence on their activities. Lastly, and most
importantly, he told the satrap to be in no hurry to bring the Persian
fleet into the conflict, as the longer the war dragged out the more
Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1754–1829): Socrates
exhausted the combatants would become. This would allow the
dragging Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual
Pleasure, 1791.
Persians to more easily conquer the region in the aftermath of the
fighting. Alcibiades tried to convince the satrap that it was in Persia's
interest to wear both Athens and Sparta out at first, "and after docking the Athenian power as much as he could,
forthwith to rid the country of the Peloponnesians".[47] Although Alcibiades' advice benefited the Persians, it was
merely a means to an end; Thucydides tells us that his real motive was to use his alleged influence with the Persians
to effect his restoration to Athens.[48]
Recall to Athens
Negotiations with the Athenian oligarchs
Alcibiades seemed to assume that the "radical democracy" would never agree to his recall to Athens.[49] Therefore,
he exchanged messages with the Athenian leaders at Samos and suggested that if they could install an oligarchy
friendly to him he would return to Athens and bring with him Persian money and possibly the Persian fleet of 147
triremes.[50] Alcibiades set about winning over the most influential military officers, and achieved his goal by
offering them a threefold plan: the Athenian constitution was to be changed, the recall of Alcibiades was to be voted,
and Alcibiades was to win over Tissaphernes and the King of Persia to the Athenian side. Most of the officers in the
Athenian fleet accepted the plan and welcomed the prospect of a narrower constitution, which would allow them a
greater share in determining policy. According to Thucydides, only one of the Athenian Generals at Samos,
Phrynichus, opposed the plan and argued that Alcibiades cared no more for the proposed oligarchy than for the
traditional democracy.[51] The involvement in the plot of another General, Thrasybulus, remains unclear.e[›]
These officers of the Athenian fleet formed a group of conspirators, but were met with opposition from the majority
of the soldiers and sailors; these were eventually calmed down "by the advantageous prospect of the pay from the
king".[52] The members of the group assembled and prepared to send Pisander, one of their number, on an embassy
to Athens to treat for the restoration of Alcibiades and the abolition of the democracy in the city, and thus to make
Tissaphernes the friend of the Athenians.[53]
Phrynichus, fearing that Alcibiades if restored would avenge himself upon him for his opposition, sent a secret letter
to the Spartan Admiral, Astyochus, to tell him that Alcibiades was ruining their cause by making Tissaphernes the
friend of the Athenians, and containing an express revelation of the rest of the intrigue. Astyochus went up to
Alcibiades and Tissaphernes at Magnesia and communicated to them Phrynichus's letter. Alcibiades responded in
kind, sending to the authorities at Samos a letter against Phrynichus, stating what he had done, and requiring that he
should be put to death.[54] Phrynichus in desperation wrote again to Astyochus, offering him a chance to destroy the
14
Alcibiades
Athenian fleet at Samos. This also Astyochus revealed to Alcibiades who informed the officers at Samos that they
had been betrayed by Phrynichus. Alcibiades however gained no credit, because Phrynichus had anticipated
Alcibiades' letter and, before the accusations could arrive, told the army that he had received information of an
enemy plan to attack the camp and that they should fortify Samos as quickly as possible.[55]
Despite these events, Pisander and the other envoys of the conspirators arrived at Athens and made a speech before
the people. Pisander won the argument, putting Alcibiades and his promises at the center. The Ecclesia deposed
Phrynichus and elected Pisander and ten other envoys to negotiate with Tissaphernes and Alcibiades.[56]
At this point, Alcibiades' scheme encountered a great obstacle. Tissaphernes would not make an agreement on any
terms, wanting to follow his policy of neutrality.[57] As Kagan points out, Tissaphernes was a prudent leader and had
recognized the advantages of wearing each side out without direct Persian involvement.[58] Alcibiades realized this
and, by presenting the Athenians with stiffer and stiffer demands on Tissaphernes' behalf, attempted to convince
them that he had persuaded Tissaphernes to support them, but that they had not conceded enough to him. Although
the envoys were angered at the audacity of the Persian demands, they nevertheless departed with the impression that
Alcibiades could have brought about an agreement among the powers if he had chosen to do so.[59] This fiasco at the
court of Tissaphernes, however, put an end to the negotiations between the conspirators and Alcibiades.[57] The
group was convinced that Alcibiades could not deliver his side of the bargain without demanding exorbitantly high
concessions of them and they accordingly abandoned their plans to restore him to Athens.[59]
Reinstatement as an Athenian General
In spite of the failure of the negotiations, the conspirators succeeded in overthrowing the democracy and imposing
the oligarchic government of the Four Hundred, among the leaders of which were Phrynichus and Pisander. At
Samos, however, a similar coup instigated by the conspirators did not go forward so smoothly. Samian democrats
learned of the conspiracy and notified four prominent Athenians: the generals Leon and Diomedon, the trierarch
Thrasybulus, and Thrasyllus, at that time a hoplite in the ranks. With the support of these men and the Athenian
soldiers in general, the Samian democrats were able to defeat the 300 Samian oligarchs who attempted to seize
power there.[60] Further, the Athenian troops at Samos formed themselves into a political assembly, deposed their
generals, and elected new ones, including Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus. The army, stating that they had not revolted
from the city but that the city had revolted from them, resolved to stand by the democracy while continuing to
prosecute the war against Sparta.[61]
After a time, Thrasybulus persuaded the assembled troops to vote Alcibiades' recall, a policy that he had supported
since before the coup. Then he sailed to retrieve Alcibiades and returned with him to Samos. The aim of this policy
was to win away Persian support from the Spartans, as it was still believed that Alcibiades had great influence with
Tissaphernes.[62] Plutarch claims that the army sent for Alcibiades so as to use his help in putting down the tyrants in
Athens.[63] Kagan argues that this reinstatement was a disappointment to Alcibiades, who had hoped for a glorious
return to Athens itself but found himself only restored to the rebellious fleet, where the immunity from prosecution
he had been granted "protected him for the time being but not from a reckoning in the future"; furthermore, the
recall, which Alcibiades had hoped to bring about through his own prestige and perceived influence, was achieved
through the patronage of Thrasybulus.[64]
At his first speech to the assembled troops, Alcibiades complained bitterly about the circumstances of his exile, but
the greatest part of the speech consisted of boasting about his influence with Tissaphernes. The primary motives of
his speech were to make the oligarchs at Athens afraid of him and to increase his credit with the army at Samos.
Upon hearing his speech the troops immediately elected him General alongside Thrasybulus and the others. In fact,
he roused them so much that they proposed to sail at once for Piraeus and attack the oligarchs in Athens.[65] It was
primarily Alcibiades, along with Thrasybulus, who calmed the people and showed them the folly of this proposal,
which would have sparked civil war and led to the immediate defeat of Athens.[63] Shortly after Alcibiades'
reinstatement as an Athenian general, the government of the Four Hundred was overthrown and replaced by a
15
Alcibiades
16
broader oligarchy, which would eventually give way to democracy.[66]
Presently Alcibiades sailed to Tissaphernes with a detachment of ships. According to Plutarch, the supposed purpose
of this mission was to stop the Persian fleet from coming to the aid of the Peloponnesians.[63] Thucydides is in
agreement with Plutarch that the Persian fleet was at Aspendus and that Alcibiades told the troops he would bring the
fleet to their side or prevent it from coming at all, but Thucydides further speculates that the real reason was to flaunt
his new position to Tissaphernes and try to gain some real influence over him.[65] According to the historian,
Alcibiades had long known that Tissaphernes never meant to bring the fleet at all.[67]
Battles of Abydos and Cyzicus
For more details on this topic, see Battle of Abydos and Battle of Cyzicus
The Athenian strategy at Cyzicus. Left:
Alcibiades' decoy force (blue) lures the Spartan
fleet (black) out to sea. Right: Thrasybulus and
Theramenes bring their squadrons in behind the
Spartans to cut off their retreat towards Cyzicus,
while Alcibiades turns to face the pursuing force.
Alcibiades was recalled by the "intermediate regime" of The Five
Thousand, the government which succeeded the Four Hundred in 411,
but it is most likely that he waited until 407 BC to actually return to the
city.[68] Plutarch tells us that, although his recall had already been
passed on motion of Critias, a political ally of his, Alcibiades was
resolved to come back with glory.[69] While this was certainly his goal,
it was again a means to an end, that end being avoiding prosecution
upon his return to Athens.
The next significant part he would play in the war would occur at the
Battle of Abydos. Alcibiades had remained behind at Samos with a
small force while Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus led the greater part of the
fleet to the Hellespont. During this period, Alcibiades succeeded in raising money from Caria and the neighboring
area, with which he was able to pay the rowers and gain their favor.[70] After the Athenian victory at Cynossema,
both fleets summoned all their ships from around the Aegean to join them for what might be a decisive next
engagement. While Alcibiades was still en route, the two fleets clashed at Abydos, where the Peloponnesians had set
up their main naval base. The battle was evenly matched, and raged for a long time, but the balance tipped towards
the Athenians when Alcibiades sailed into the Hellespont with eighteen triremes.[69][71] The Persian satrap
Pharnabazus, who had replaced Tissaphernes as the sponsor of the Peloponnesian fleet, moved his land army to the
shore to defend the ships and sailors who had beached their ships. Only the support of the Persian land army and the
coming of night saved the Peloponnesian fleet from complete destruction.[72]
Shortly after the battle, Tissaphernes had arrived in the Hellespont and Alcibiades left the fleet at Sestos to meet him,
bringing gifts and hoping to once again try to win over the Persian governor. Evidently Alcibiades had gravely
misjudged his standing with the satrap, and he was arrested on arrival.[69] Within a month he would escape and
resume command.[73] It was now obvious, however, that he had no influence with the Persians; from now on his
authority would depend on what he actually could accomplish rather than on what he promised to do.[74]
After an interlude of several months in which the Peloponnesians constructed new ships and the Athenians besieged
cities and raised money throughout the Aegean, the next major sea battle took place the spring of 410 BC at Cyzicus.
Alcibiades had been forced to flee from Sestos to Cardia to protect his small fleet from the rebuilt Peloponnesian
navy, but as soon as the Athenian fleet was reunited there its commanders led it to Cyzicus, where the Athenians had
intelligence indicating that Pharnabazus and Mindarus, the Peloponnesian fleet commander, were together plotting
their next move. Concealed by storm and darkness, the combined Athenian force reached the vicinity without being
spotted by the Peloponnesians.[73] Here the Athenians devised a plot to draw the enemy into battle. According to
Diodorus Siculus, Alcibiades advanced with a small squadron in order to draw the Spartans out to battle, and, after
he successfully deceived Mindarus with this ploy, the squadrons of Thrasybulus and Theramenes came to join him,
cutting off the Spartans' retreat.f[›][75]
Alcibiades
17
The Spartan fleet suffered losses in the flight and reached the shore with the Athenians in close pursuit. Alcibiades'
troops, leading the Athenian pursuit, landed and attempted to pull the Spartan ships back out to sea. The
Peloponnesians fought to prevent their ships from being towed away, and Pharnabazus's troops came up to support
them.[76] Thrasybulus landed his own force to temporarily relieve pressure on Alcibiades, and meanwhile ordered
Theramenes to join up with Athenian land forces nearby and bring them to reinforce the sailors and marines on the
beach. The Spartans and Persians, overwhelmed by the arrival of multiple forces from several directions, were
defeated and driven off, and the Athenians captured all the Spartan ships which were not destroyed.[75][77] A letter
dispatched to Sparta by Hippocrates, vice-admiral under Mindarus, was intercepted and taken to Athens; it ran as
follows: "The ships are lost. Mindarus is dead. The men are starving. We know not what to do".[76] A short time later
Sparta petitioned for peace, but their appeals were ultimately rejected by the Athenians.[78]
Further military successes
Satellite image of the Thracian Chersonese (now
known as the Gallipoli Peninsula) and
surrounding area. Alcibiades traveled to the
Chersonese in 408 BC and attacked the city of
Selymbria on the north shore of the Propontis.
After their victory, Alcibiades and Thrasybulus began the siege of
Chalcedon in 409 BC with about 190 ships.[79] Although unable to
attain a decisive victory or induce the city to surrender, Alcibiades was
able to win a small tactical land battle outside of the city gates and
Theramenes concluded an agreement with the Chalcedonians.[80]
Afterwards they concluded a temporary alliance with Pharnabazus
which secured some much needed immediate cash for the army, but
despite this Alcibiades was still forced to depart in search for more
booty to pay the soldiers and oarsmen of the fleet.
In pursuit of these funds he traveled to the Thracian Chersonese and
attacked Selymbria. He plotted with a pro-Athenian party within the
city and offered the Selymbrians reasonable terms and imposed strict
discipline to see that they were observed. He did their city no injury
whatsoever, but merely took a sum of money from it, set a garrison in it and left.[81] Epigraphical evidence indicates
the Selymbrians surrendered hostages until the treaty was ratified in Athens.[3] His performance is judged as skillful
by historians, since it saved time, resources, and lives and still fully achieved his goal.[3][82]
From here Alcibiades joined in the siege of Byzantium along with Theramenes and Thrasyllus. A portion of the
citizens of the city, demoralized and hungry, decided to surrender the city to Alcibiades for similar terms as the
Selymbrians had received. On the designated night the defenders left their posts, and the Athenians attacked the
Peloponnesian garrison in the city and their boats in the harbor. The portion of the citizenry that remained loyal to
the Peloponnesians fought so savagely that Alcibiades issued a statement in the midst of the fighting which
guaranteed their safety and this persuaded the remaining citizens to turn against the Peloponnesian garrison, which
was nearly totally destroyed.[80]
Return to Athens, Dismissal and Death
Return to Athens
It was in the aftermath of these successes that Alcibiades resolved to finally return to Athens in the spring of 407 BC.
Even in the wake of his recent victories, Alcibiades was exceedingly careful in his return, mindful of the changes in
government, the charges still technically hanging over him, and the great injury he had done to Athens. Thus
Alcibiades, instead of going straight home, first went to Samos to pick up 20 ships and proceeded with them to the
Ceramic Gulf where he collected 100 talents. He finally sailed to Gytheion to make inquiries, partly about the
reported preparations of the Spartans there, and partly about the feelings in Athens about his return.[83] His inquiries
assured him that the city was kindly disposed towards him and that his closest friends urged him to return.[84]
Alcibiades
Therefore he finally sailed into Piraeus where the crowd had gathered, desiring to see the famous Alcibiades.[85] He
entered the harbor full of fear till he saw his cousin and others of his friends and acquaintance, who invited him to
land. Upon arriving on shore he was greeted with a hero's welcome.[86] Nevertheless, some saw an evil omen in the
fact that he had returned to Athens on the very day when the ceremony of the Plynteria (the feast where the old
statue of Athena would get cleansed) was being celebrated.[87] This was regarded as the unluckiest day of the year to
undertake anything of importance. His enemies took note of this and kept it in mind for a future occasion.[88]
All the criminal proceedings against him were canceled and the charges of blasphemy were officially withdrawn.
Alcibiades was able to assert his piety and to raise Athenian morale by leading the solemn procession to Eleusis (for
the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries) by land for the first time since the Spartans had occupied Decelea.[89]
The procession had been replaced by a journey by sea, but this year Alcibiades used a detachment of soldiers to
escort the traditional procession.[90] His property was restored and the ecclesia elected him supreme commander of
land and sea (strategos autokrator).[91]
Defeat at Notium
In 406 BC Alcibiades set out from Athens with 1,500 hoplites and a hundred ships. He failed to take Andros and
then he went on to Samos. Later he moved to Notium, closer to the enemy at Ephesus.[92] In the meanwhile
Tissaphernes had been replaced by Cyrus the Younger (son of Darius II of Persia) who decided to financially support
the Peloponnesians. This new revenue started to attract Athenian deserters to the Spartan navy. Additionally the
Spartans had replaced Mindarus with Lysander, a very capable Admiral. These factors caused the rapid growth of the
Peloponnesian fleet at the expense of the Athenian. In search of funds and needing to force another decisive battle,
Alcibiades left Notium and sailed to help Thrasybulus in the siege of Phocaea.[93] Alcibiades was aware the Spartan
fleet was nearby, so he left nearly eighty ships to watch them under the command of his personal helmsman
Antiochus, who was given express orders not to attack. Antiochus disobeyed this single order and endeavored to
draw Lysander into a fight by imitating the tactics used at Cyzicus. The situation at Notium, however, was radically
different than that at Cyzicus; the Athenians possessed no element of surprise, and Lysander had been well informed
about their fleet by deserters.[94] Antiochus's ship was sunk, and he was killed by a sudden Spartan attack; the
remaining ships of the decoy force were then chased headlong back toward Notium, where the main Athenian force
was caught unprepared by the sudden arrival of the whole Spartan fleet. In the ensuing fighting, Lysander gained an
entire victory. Alcibiades soon returned and desperately tried to undo the defeat at Notium by scoring another
victory, but Lysander could not be compelled to attack the fleet again.[95]
Responsibility for the defeat ultimately fell on Alcibiades, and his enemies used the opportunity to attack him and
have him removed from command, although some modern scholars believe that Alcibiades was unfairly blamed for
Antiochus's mistake.[96] Diodorus reports that, in addition to his mistake at Notium, Alcibiades was discharged on
account of false accusations brought against him by his enemies.[75] According to Anthony Andrewes, professor of
ancient history, the extravagant hopes that his successes of the previous summer had created were a decisive element
in his downfall.[92] Consequently Alcibiades condemned himself to exile.[75] Never again returning to Athens, he
sailed north to the castles in the Thracian Chersonese, which he had secured during his time in the Hellespont. The
implications of the defeat were severe for Athens. Although the defeat had been minor, it occasioned the removal of
not only Alcibiades but also his allies like Thrasybulus, Theramenes and Critias.[91] These were likely the most
capable commanders Athens had at the time and their removal would help lead to the Athenian surrender only two
years later after their complete defeat at Aegospotami.[97]
18
Alcibiades
19
Death
With one exception, Alcibiades' role in the war ended with his
command. Prior to the Battle of Aegospotami, in the last attested fact
of his career,[98] Alcibiades recognized that the Athenians were
anchored in a tactically disadvantageous spot and advised them to
move to Sestus where they could benefit from a harbor and a city.[99]
Diodorus, however, does not mention this advice, arguing instead that
Alcibiades offered the Generals Thracian aid in exchange for a share in
the command.g[›] In any case, the Generals of the Athenians,
"considering that in case of defeat the blame would attach to them and
that in case of success all men would attribute it to Alcibiades", asked
him to leave and not come near the camp ever again.[99][100] Days later
the fleet would be annihilated by Lysander.
After the Battle of Aegospotami, Alcibiades crossed the Hellespont
and took refuge in Phrygia, with the object of securing the aid of
Artaxerxes against Sparta.
Michele de Napoli (1808–1892): Morte di
Much about Alcibiades' death is now uncertain, as there are conflicting
Alcibiade (Death of Alcibiades) (1839 circa),
Naples National Archaeological Museum.
accounts. According to the oldest of these, the Spartans and
[101]
specifically Lysander were responsible.
Though many of his
details cannot be independently corroborated, Plutarch's version is this: Lysander sent an envoy to Pharnabazus who
then dispatched his brother to Phrygia where Alcibiades was living with his mistress, Timandra.h[›] In 404 BC, as he
was about to set out for the Persian court, his residence was surrounded and set on fire. Seeing no chance of escape
he rushed out on his assassins, dagger in hand, and was killed by a shower of arrows.[102] According to Aristotle, the
site of Alcibiades’ death was Elaphus, a mountain in Phrygia.[103]
Assessments
Political career
In ancient Greece, Alcibiades was a polarizing figure. According
to Thucydides, Alcibiades, being "exceedingly ambitious",
proposed the expedition in Sicily in order "to gain in wealth and
reputation by means of his successes". Alcibiades is not held
responsible by Thucydides for the destruction of Athens, since "his
habits gave offence to every one, and caused the Athenians to
commit affairs to other hands, and thus before long to ruin the
Epitaph for Ipparetea, daughter of Alcibiades.
city".[104] Plutarch regards him as "the least scrupulous and most
[105]
Kerameikos Cemetery (Athens).
entirely careless of human beings".
On the other hand,
Diodorus argues that he was "in spirit brilliant and intent upon
great enterprises".[106] Sharon Press of Brown University points out that Xenophon emphasizes Alcibiades' service to
the state, rather than the harm he was charged with causing it.[107][108] Demosthenes defends Alcibiades's
achievements, saying that he had taken arms in the cause of democracy, displaying his patriotism, not by gifts of
money or by speeches, but by personal service.[109] For Demosthenes and other orators, Alcibiades epitomized the
figure of the great man during the glorious days of the Athenian democracy and became a rhetorical symbol.[110]
Alcibiades
One of Isocrates' speeches, delivered by Alcibiades the Younger, argues that the statesman deserved the Athenians'
gratitude for the service he had given them.[111] Lysias, on the other hand, argued in one of his orations that the
Athenians should regard Alcibiades as an enemy because of the general tenor of his life, as "he repays with injury the
open assistance of any of his friends".[112][113] In the Constitution of the Athenians, Aristotle does not include
Alcibiades in the list of the best Athenian politicians, but in Posterior Analytics he argues that traits of a proud man
like Alcibiades are "equanimity amid the vicissitudes of life and impatience of dishonor".[114][115] Alcibiades excited
in his contemporaries a fear for the safety of the political order.[116] Therefore, Andocides said of him that "instead
of holding that he ought himself to conform with the laws of the state, he expects you to conform with his own way
of life".[117] Central to the depiction of the Athenian statesman is Cornelius Nepos' famous phrase that Alcibiades
"surpassed all the Athenians in grandeur and magnificence of living".[118]
Even today, Alcibiades divides scholars. For Malcolm F. McGregor, former head of the Department of Classics in
the University of British Columbia, Alcibiades was rather a shrewd gambler than a mere opportunist.[119] Evangelos
P. Fotiadis, a prominent Greek philologist, asserts that Alcibiades was "a first class diplomat" and had "huge skills".
Nevertheless his spiritual powers were not counterbalanced with his magnificent mind and he had the hard luck to
lead a people susceptible to demagoguery.[6] K. Paparrigopoulos, a major modern Greek historian, underlines his
"spiritual virtues" and compares him with Themistocles, but he then asserts that all these gifts created a "traitor, an
audacious and impious man".[120] Walter Ellis believes that his actions were outrageous, but they were performed
with panache.[121] For his part, David Gribble argues that Alcibiades' actions against his city were misunderstood
and believes that "the tension which led to Alcibiades' split with the city was between purely personal and civic
values".[122] Russell Meiggs, a British ancient historian, asserts that the Athenian statesman was absolutely
unscrupulous despite his great charm and brilliant abilities. According to Meiggs his actions were dictated by selfish
motives and his feud with Cleon and his successors undermined Athens. The same scholar underscores the fact that
"his example of restless and undisciplined ambition strengthened the charge brought against Socrates".[42] Even
more critically, Athanasios G. Platias and Constantinos Koliopoulos, professors of strategic studies and international
politics, state that Alcibiades' own arguments "should be sufficient to do away with the notion that Alcibiades was a
great statesman, as some people still believe".[123] Writing from a different perspective, psychologist Anna C. Salter
cites Alcibiades as exhibiting "all the classic features of psychopathy."[124] A similar assessment is made by Hervey
Cleckley at the end of chapter 5 in his The Mask of Sanity.
Military achievements
Despite his critical comments, Thucydides admits in a short digression
that "publicly his conduct of the war was as good as could be
desired".[104] Diodorus and Demosthenes regard him as a great
general.[106][109] According to Fotiadis, Alcibiades was an invincible
general and, wherever he went, victory followed him; had he led the
army in Sicily, the Athenians would have avoided disaster and, had his
countrymen followed his advice at Aegospotami, Lysander would have
lost and Athens would have ruled Greece.[6] On the other hand,
Paparrigopoulos believes that the Sicilian Expedition, prompted by
Pietro Testa (1611–1650): The Drunken
Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium (1648).
Alcibiades, was a strategic mistake.[125] In agreement with
Paparrigopoulos, Platias and Koliopoulos underscore the fact that the
Sicilian expedition was a strategic blunder of the first magnitude, resulting from a "frivolous attitude and an
unbelievable underestimation of the enemy".[23] For his part, Angelos Vlachos, a Greek Academician, underlines the
constant
interest
of
Athens
for
20
Alcibiades
Sicily from the beginning of the war.i[›] According to Vlachos the
expedition had nothing of the extravagant or adventurous and
constituted a rational strategic decision based on traditional Athenian
aspirations.[126] Vlachos asserts that Alcibiades had already conceived
a broader plan: the conquest of the whole West.[127] He intended to
conquer Carthage and Libya, then to attack Italy and, after winning
these, to seize Italy and Peloponnesus.[128] The initial decision of the
ecclesia provided however for a reasonable military force, which later
became unreasonably large and costly because of Nicias' demands.[127]
Kagan criticizes Alcibiades for failing to recognize that the large size
of the Athenian expedition undermined the diplomatic scheme on
which his strategy rested.[129]
21
Félix Auvray (1830–1833): Alcibiade with the
Courtesans (1833), Museum of Fine Arts of
Valenciennes
Kagan believes that while Alcibiades was a commander of considerable ability, he was no military genius, and his
confidence and ambitions went far beyond his skills. He thus was capable of important errors and serious
miscalculations. Kagan argues that at Notium, Alcibiades committed a serious error in leaving the fleet in the hands
of an inexperienced officer, and that most of the credit for the brilliant victory at Cyzicus must be assigned to
Thrasybulus.[129] In this judgement, Kagan agrees with Cornelius Nepos, who said that the Athenians' extravagant
opinion of Alcibiades' abilities and valor was his chief misfortune.[130]
Press argues that "though Alcibiades can be considered a good General on the basis of his performance in the
Hellespont, he would not be considered so on the basis of his performance in Sicily", but "the strengths of
Alcibiades' performance as a General outweigh his faults".[107] Professors David McCann and Barry Strauss attempt
a comparison between Alcibiades and Douglas MacArthur, pointing out that "both men stood out as military leaders
to whom a mystique attached itself".[131]
Skill in oratory
Plutarch asserts that "Alcibiades was a most able speaker in addition to his other gifts", while Theophrastus argues
that Alcibiades was the most capable of discovering and understanding what was required in a given case.
Nevertheless, he would often stumble in the midst of his speech, but then he would resume and proceed with all the
caution in the world.[132] Even the lisp he had, which was noticed by Aristophanes, made his talk persuasive and full
of charm.[133][134] Eupolis says that he was "prince of talkers, but in speaking most incapable";[20] which is to say,
more eloquent in his private discourses than when orating before the ecclesia. For his part, Demosthenes underscores
the fact that Alcibiades was regarded as "the ablest speaker of the day".[109] Paparrigopoulos does not accept
Demosthenes's opinion, but acknowledges that the Athenian statesman could sufficiently support his case.[120]
Kagan acknowledges his rhetorical power, whilst Thomas Habinek, professor of Classics at the University of
Southern California, believes that the orator Alcibiades seemed to be whatever his audience needed on any given
occasion.[135][136] According to Habinek, in the field of oratory, the people responded to Alcibiades' affection with
affection of their own. Therefore, the orator was "the institution of the city talking to — and loving — itself".[136]
According to Aristophanes, Athens "yearns for him, and hates him too, but wants him back".[137]
References in Comedy, Philosophy, Art and Literature
Alcibiades has not been spared by ancient comedy and stories attest to an epic confrontation between Alcibiades and
Eupolis resembling that between Aristophanes and Cleon.[110] He also appears as a character in several Socratic
dialogues (Symposium, Protagoras, Alcibiades I and II, as well as the eponymous dialogues by Aeschines Socraticus
and Antisthenes). Purportedly based on his own personal experience, Antisthenes described Alcibiades'
extraordinary physical strength, courage, and beauty, saying, "If Achilles did not look like this, he was not really
Alcibiades
handsome."[138] In his trial, Socrates must rebut the attempt to hold him guilty for the crimes of his former students,
including Alcibiades.[139] Hence, he declares in Apology: "I have never been anyone's teacher".[140] Aristophanes
mocked his heavy lisp in the satirical play, The Wasps, "Look, Thothiath, Theowuth ith twanthformed. He'th a
waven!" He is portrayed as one of Cleon's close friends.
Long after his death, Alcibiades continues to appear in art, both in Medieval and Renaissance works, and in several
significant works of modern literature as well.[141] He still fascinates the modern world, doing so most notably as the
main character in historical novels of authors like Anna Bowman Dodd, Gertrude Atherton, Rosemary Sutcliff,
Daniel Chavarria, Steven Pressfield and Peter Green.[142] He is also a central character in Paul Levinson's time travel
novel The Plot To Save Socrates, in Kurt R. A. Giambastiani's time travel novel Unraveling Time, in Erik Satie's
Socrate, a work for voice and small orchestra (the text is composed of excerpts of Victor Cousin's translation of
works by Plato), and in Joel Richards' Nebula award-nominated short story The Gods Abandon Alcibiades.[143]
Alcibiades also figures in the satirical Picture This by Joseph Heller and in William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.
Alcibiades is mentioned in observance II of law 44 " Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect " in Robert Greene's
book The 48 Laws of Power. In it the author writes about Alcibiades ability to mimic the people he is in the presence
of such as the Spartans and then the people of Persia.
In Harry Turtledove's 2002 alternate history story, The Daimon, the point of the departure is that Alcibiades
commands the Sicilian Expedition to a decisive victory before returning to Athens. Uniting the Greek city-states, the
conquest of the Persian Empire proceeds under the Athenian, Alcibiades, rather than under the Macedonian,
Alexander the Great, roughly 80 years later.
Notes
^ a: Isocrates asserts that Alcibiades was never a pupil of Socrates.[144] Thus he does not agree with Plutarch's
narration.[145] According to Isocrates, the purpose of this tradition was to accuse Socrates. The rhetorician makes
Alcibiades wholly the pupil of Pericles.[146]
^ b: According to Plutarch, who is however criticized for using "implausible or unreliable stories" in order to
construct Alcibiades' portrait,[147] Alcibiades once wished to see Pericles, but he was told that Pericles could not see
him, because he was studying how to render his accounts to the Athenians. "Were it not better for him," said
Alcibiades, "to study how not to render his accounts to the Athenians?".[145] Plutarch describes how Alcibiades
"gave a box on the ear to Hipponicus, whose birth and wealth made him a person of great influence." This action
received much disapproval, since it was "unprovoked by any passion of quarrel between them". To smooth the
incident over, Alcibiades went to Hipponicus's house and, after stripping naked, "desired him to scourge and chastise
him as he pleased". Hipponicus not only pardoned him but also bestowed upon him the hand of his daughter.[12]
Another example of his flamboyant nature occurred during the Olympic games of 416 where "he entered seven
teams in the chariot race, more than any private citizen had ever put forward, and three of them came in first, second,
and fourth".[148] According to Andocides, once Alcibiades competed against a man named Taureas as choregos of a
chorus of boys and "Alcibiades drove off Taureas with his fists. The spectators showed their sympathy with Taureas
and their hatred of Alcibiades by applauding the one chorus and refusing to listen to the other at all."[117]
^ c: Plutarch and Plato agree that Alcibiades "served as a soldier in the campaign of Potidaea and had Socrates for
his tentmate and comrade in action" and "when Alcibiades fell wounded, it was Socrates who stood over him and
defended him".[145][149] Nonetheless, Antisthenes insists that Socrates saved Alcibiades at the Battle of Delium.[150]
^ d: Thucydides records several speeches which he attributes to Pericles; but Thucydides acknowledges that: "it was
in all cases difficult to carry them word for word in one's memory, so my habit has been to make the speakers say
what was in my opinion demanded of them by the various occasions, of course adhering as closely as possible to the
general sense of what they really said."[151]
^ e: Kagan has suggested that Thrasybulus was one of the founding members of the scheme and was willing to
support moderate oligarchy, but was alienated by the extreme actions taken by the plotters.[152] Robert J. Buck, on
22
Alcibiades
the other hand, maintains that Thrasybulus was probably never involved in the plot, possibly because he was absent
from Samos at the time of its inception.[153]
^ f: In the case of the battle of Cyzicus, Robert J. Littman, professor at Brandeis University, points out the different
accounts given by Xenophon and Diodorus. According to Xenophon, Alcibiades' victory was due to the luck of a
rainstorm, while, according to Diodorus, it was due to a carefully conceived plan. Although most historians prefer
the accounts of Xenophon,[154] Jean Hatzfeld remarks that Diodorus' accounts contain many interesting and unique
details.[155]
^ g: Plutarch mentions Alcibiades' advice, writing that "he rode up on horseback and read the generals a lesson. He
said their anchorage was a bad one; the place had no harbor and no city, but they had to get their supplies from
Sestos".[156][157] B. Perrin regards Xenophon's testimony as impeachable[98] and prefers Diodorus' account.[100]
According to A. Wolpert, "it would not have required a cynical reader to infer even from Xenophon's account that he
(Alcibiades) was seeking to promote his own interests when he came forward to warn the generals about their
tactical mistakes".[158]
^ h: According to Plutarch, some say that Alcibiades himself provoked his death, because he had seduced a girl
belonging to a well-known family.[102] Thus there are two versions of the story: The assassins were probably either
employed by the Spartans or by the brothers of the lady whom Alcibiades had seduced.[159] According to Isocrates,
when the Thirty Tyrants established their rule, all Greece became unsafe for Alcibiades.[160]
^ i: Since the beginning of the war, the Athenians had already initiated two expeditions and sent a delegation to
Sicily.[161] Plutarch underscores that "on Sicily the Athenians had cast longing eyes even while Pericles was
living".[128]
Citations
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
(listen) (http:/ / cougar. eb. com/ soundc11/ bix/ bixalc02. wav)
A. Vlachos, Thucydides' Bias, 59 &c.
P.B. Kern, Ancient Siege Warfare, 151.
Plato, Alcibiades 1, 121a (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?layout=& doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0176& query=section=#88&
loc=Alc. 1. 120e).
[5] C.A. Cox, Household Interests, 144.
[6] "Alcibiades". Encyclopaedic Dictionary The Helios. 1952.
[7] N. Denyer, Commentary of Plato's Alcibiades, 88–89.
[8] Plato, Symposium, 220e (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0174& query=section=#726& layout=&
loc=Sym. 220d).
[9] I. Sykoutris, Introduction to Symposium, 159–180.
[10] Plato, Symposium, 215a–222b (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0174;layout=;query=section=#697;loc=Sym. 215b).
[11] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 6 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#6;layout=;loc=Alc. 7. 1).
[12] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 8 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& query=chapter=#8& layout=&
loc=Alc. 7. 1).
[13] Thucydides, "The History of the Peloponnesian Wars", 5.43.
[14] A.W. Gomme, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, 339.
[15] R. Sealey, A History of the Greek City States, 353.
[16] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 14 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#14;layout=;loc=Alc. 13. 1).
[17] Thucydides, V, 45 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Thuc. + 5. 45. 1).
[18] A.W. Gomme, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, 70.
[19] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 15 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#15;layout=;loc=Alc. 14. 1).
[20] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 13 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#13;layout=;loc=Alc. 12. 1).
[21] Plutarch, Alcibiades, XVI (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#16;layout=;loc=Alc. 15. 1layout=;loc=Alc. 12. 1).
[22] Andocides, Against Alcibiades, 22 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0018& layout=& loc=4. 22).
23
Alcibiades
[23] Platias-Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 237–46.
[24] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 322
[25] Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War VII 8 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text. jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 04.
0106:book=6:chapter=8)
[26] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 20 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#20;layout=;loc=Alc. 19. 1).
[27] L. Strauss, The City and Man, 104.
[28] Thucydides, 6.26.
[29] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 19 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#19;layout=;loc=Alc. 18. 1).
[30] Thucydides, 6.29.
[31] http:/ / perseus. mpiwg-berlin. mpg. de/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999. 01. 0200;query=chapter%3D%2322;layout=;loc=1.
21. 1
[32] Thucydides, 6.61.
[33] Thucydides, 6.53.
[34] D. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 273
[35] Thucydides, 6.74
[36] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 23 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#23;layout=;loc=Alc. 22. 1).
[37] Thucydides, 6.89–90.
[38] D. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 282–3.
[39] Thucydides, 7.18.
[40] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 24 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#24;layout=;loc=Alc. 23. 1).
[41] Thucydides, 8.26.
[42] "Alcibiades". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002.
[43] Plutarch, Lysander, 22 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#24;layout=;loc=Alc. 23. 1).
[44] Plutarch, Agesilaus, III.
[45] P.J. Rhodes, A History of the Classical Greek World, 144.
[46] Thucydides, 8.45
[47] Thucydides, 8.46
[48] Thucydides, 8.47
[49] T. Buckley, Aspects of Greek History, 411.
[50] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 25 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#25;layout=;loc=Alc. 24. 1).
[51] R. Sealey, A History of the Greek City States, 359.
[52] Thucydides, 8.48.
[53] Thucydides, 8.49.
[54] Thucydides, 8.50.
[55] Thucydides, 8.51.
[56] Thucydides, 8.53.
[57] D. Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, 136–8.
[58] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 366.
[59] Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, 8.56.
[60] Thucydides, 8.73.
[61] Thucydides, 8.76.
[62] Thucydides, 8.81.
[63] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 26 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& layout=& loc=Alc. + 26. 1).
[64] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 389.
[65] Thucydides, 8.82.
[66] Thucydides, 8.97.
[67] Thucydides, 8.88.
[68] Cartwright-Warner, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, 301.
[69] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 27 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;layout=;query=chapter=#27;loc=Alc. 26. 1).
[70] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 406.
[71] Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1. 5 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0206).
[72] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 408
24
Alcibiades
[73] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 28 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#28;layout=;loc=Alc. 27. 1).
[74] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 410.
[75] Diodorus, XIII, 50–1 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0084& query=chapter=#302& layout=&
loc=13. 49. 1).
[76] Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1. 17–23 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0206).
[77] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 410–3.
[78] Diodorus, Library, 52–3 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0084& query=chapter=#304&
layout=& loc=13. 51. 1).
[79] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 429
[80] Diodorus, Library, xiii, 66. 3 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0084& query=section=#1488)
[81] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 30 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& query=chapter=#30& layout=&
loc=Alc. 29. 1)
[82] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 410
[83] Xenophon, Hellenica, 1, 4, 8–12 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0206& layout=& loc=1. 4. 1).
[84] B. Due, The Return of Alcibiades, 39
[85] Xenophon, Hellenica, 1, 4, 13 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0206& layout=& loc=1. 4. 1).
[86] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 32 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#32;layout=;loc=Alc. 31. 1).
[87] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 34 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& layout=& loc=Alc. + 34. 1).
[88] D Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, 290.
[89] S. Price, Religions of the Ancient Greeks, 54
[90] Xenophon, Hellenica, 1, 4, 18 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0206& layout=& loc=1. 4. 1)
[91] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 33 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:2008. 01. 0006:chapter=33:section=2)
[92] A. Andrewes, The Spartan Resurgence, 490
[93] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 443
[94] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 444
[95] For the accepted account of the battle see Plutarch, Alcibiades, 35 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.
01. 0182& layout=& loc=Alc. + 35. 1) or the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia, 4.
[96] G. Cawkwell, Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War, 143
[97] Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 447
[98] B. Perrin, The Death of Alcibiades , 25–37.
[99] Xenophon, Hellenica, 2.1. 25 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0206& query=section=#217).
[100] Diodorus, Library, xiii, 105 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0084& query=chapter=#357&
layout=& loc=13. 104. 1).
[101] Isocrates, Concerning the Team of Horses, 16.40 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0144&
layout=& loc=16. 40)
[102] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 39 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& query=chapter=#39&
layout=& loc=Alc. 38. 1).
[103] Aristotle, History of Animals, 578b27 (http:/ / www. tcnj. edu/ ~chai2/ literature/ piece/ 151_History-of-Animals--Book-6,-Part-3. htm); cf.
John & William Langhorne, Plutarch's Lives (1819), vol. 2, p. 172, n. 99 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=90FZb4WVFMUC&
pg=RA1-PA172& dq=elaphus+ Phrygia).
[104] Thucydides, VI, 15 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0200;query=chapter=#631;layout=;loc=6.
14. 1).
[105] Plutarch, The Comparison of Alcibiades with Coriolanus, 6
[106] Diodorus, Library, xiii, 68. 5 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0084;query=chapter=#320;layout=;loc=13. 67. 1).
[107] S. Press, Was Alcibiades a Good General? (http:/ / www. brown. edu/ Departments/ Classics/ bcj/ 07-03. html)
[108] Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.4. 18 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0206& query=chapter=#4&
layout=& loc=1. 3. 1).
[109] Demosthenes, Against Meidias, 144–5 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?layout=;doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0074;query=section=#144;loc=21. 145).
[110] D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 32–3.
[111] Isocrates, Concerning the Team of Horses, 15 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0144;query=section=#1750;layout=;loc=16. 12).
[112] Lysias, Against Alcibiades 1, 1 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0154:speech=14).
[113] Lysias, Against Alcibiades 2, 10 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0154;query=section=#647;layout=;loc=15. 9).
[114] Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, 28.
25
Alcibiades
[115] Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, ii, 13.
[116] D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 41.
[117] Andocides, Against Alcibiades, 19 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0018&
query=section=#238).
[118] Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades, XI (http:/ / www. thelatinlibrary. com/ nepos/ nepos. alc. shtml).
[119] M.F. McGregor, The Genius of Alkibiades, 27–50.
[120] Κ. Paparrigopoulos, History of the Greek Nation, Αβ, 264–8.
[121] W. Ellis, Alcibiades, 18.
[122] D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 55 &c.
[123] A.G. Platias and C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 240.
[124] Anna C. Salter, Predators, 128.
[125] Κ. Paparrigopoulos, History of the Greek Nation, Αβ, 272.
[126] A. Vlachos, Thucydides' Bias, 206.
[127] A. Vlachos, Thucydides' Bias, 202–3.
[128] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 17 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& query=chapter=#17&
layout=& loc=Alc. 16. 1).
[129] D. Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, 419–20.
[130] Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades, VII (http:/ / www. thelatinlibrary. com/ nepos/ nepos. alc. shtml).
[131] D. McCann, B. Strauss, War and Democracy, xxv.
[132] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 10 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#10;layout=;loc=Alc. 9. 1).
[133] Aristophanes, Wasps, 44 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182:text=Alc. #anch1).
[134] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 1 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182:text=Alc. #anch1).
[135] D. Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, 178.
[136] T. Habinek, Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory, 23–4.
[137] Aristophanes, Frogs, 1425 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0032& query=sp=#724).
[138] E. Corrigan, Plato's Dialectic at Play, 169; C. Kahn, "Aeschines on Socratic Eros", 90
[139] G.A. Scott, Plato's Socrates as Educator, 19
[140] Plato, Apology, 33a (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0170& layout=& loc=Apol. + 33a)
[141] N. Endres, Alcibiades (http:/ / www. glbtq. com/ social-sciences/ alcibiades,3. html)
[142] T.T.B. Ryder, Alcibiades, 32
[143] J. Richards, The Gods Abandon Alcibiades (http:/ / www. asimovs. com/ Nebulas03/ gods. shtml)
[144] Isocrates, Busiris, 5 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0144& layout=& loc=11. 5).
[145] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 7 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& query=chapter=#7& layout=&
loc=Alc. 8. 1).
[146] Y. Lee Too, The Rhetoric of Identity in Isocrates, 216.
[147] D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 30.
[148] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 12 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0182;query=chapter=#12;layout=;loc=Alc. 11. 1).
[149] Plato, Symposium, 221a (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0174& query=section=#727&
layout=& loc=Sym. 220e).
[150] I. Sykoutris, Symposium of Plato (Comments), 225.
[151] Thucydides, 1.22.
[152] Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 385.
[153] R.J. Buck, Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy, 27–8.
[154] R.J. Littman, The Strategy of the Battle of Cyzicus, 271.
[155] J. Hatzfeld, Alcibiade, 271
[156] Plutarch, Alcibiades, 36 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0182& query=chapter=#36&
layout=& loc=Alc. 37. 1).
[157] Plutarch, Comparison with Coriolanus, 2
[158] A. Wolpert, Remembering Defeat, 5.
[159] H.T. Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 04.
0062:id=alcibiades) and W. Smith, New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, 39.
[160] Isocrates, Concerning the Team of Horses, 40 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01.
0144;query=section=#1774;layout=;loc=16. 42).
[161] A. Vlachos, Thucydides' Bias, 204.
26
Alcibiades
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Boardman, J. K. Davies, M. Ostwald (Volume V). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23347-X.
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Steiner Verlag. ISBN 3-515-07221-7.
Buckley, Terry (1996). Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0-415-09957-9.
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Philological Association 99: 265–72. doi:10.2307/2935846. JSTOR 2935846.
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Peloponnesian War. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0-7656-0695-X.
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• Paparrigopoulos, Konstantinos (-Pavlos Karolidis) (1925), History of the Hellenic Nation (Volume Ab).
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Philological Association 37: 25–37. doi:10.2307/282699. JSTOR 282699.
28
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• Platias Athanasios G., Koliopoulos Constantinos (2006). Thucydides on Strategy. Eurasia Publications.
ISBN 960-8187-16-8.
• Press, Sharon (1991). "Was Alcibiades a Good General?" (http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Classics/bcj/
07-Contents.html). Brown Classical Journal 7.
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• Sykoutris, Ioannis (1934). Symposium (Introduction and Comments). Estia. In Greek.
• Vlachos, Angelos (1974). Thucydides' Bias. Estia (in Greek).
• Wolpert, Andrew (2002). Remembering Defeat: Civil War and Civic Memory in Ancient Athens. Johns Hopkins
University Press. ISBN 0-8018-6790-8.
Further reading
• Atherton, Gertrude (2004). The Jealous Gods. Kessinger Publishing Co. ISBN 1-4179-2807-7.
• Benson, E.F. (1929). The Life of Alcibiades: The Idol of Athens. New York: D. Appleton Co.
ISBN 1-4563-0333-3.
• Bury, J.B.; Meiggs, Russell (1975). A History of Greece (4th ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Bury, J.B.; Cook, S.A.; Adcock, F.E., eds. (1927). The Cambridge Ancient History. 5. New York: Macmillan.
• Chavarria, Daniel (2005). The Eye Of Cybele. Akashic Books. ISBN 1-888451-67-X.
• Forde, Steven (1989). The Ambition to Rule Alcibiades and the Politics of Imperialism in Thucydides. Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press.
• Green, Peter (1967). Achilles his Armour. Doubleday.
• Henderson, Bernard W. (1927). The Great War Between Athens and Sparta: A Companion to the Military History
of Thucydides. London: Macmillan.
• Hughes-Hallett, Lucy. Heroes: A History of Hero Worship. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, New York, 2004. ISBN
1-4000-4399-9.
• Meiggs, Russell (1972). The Athenian Empire. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Pressfield, Steven. Tides of War: A Novel of Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War. Doubleday, New York, New
York, 2000. ISBN 0-385-49252-9.
• Robinson, Cyril Edward (1916). The Days of Alkibiades. E. Arnold.
• Romilly de, Jacqueline (1997). Alcibiade, ou, Les Dangers de l'Ambition (in French). LGF. ISBN 2-253-14196-8.
• Sutcliff, Rosemary (1971). Flowers of Adonis. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-15090-4.
29
Alcibiades
External links
Biographical
• "Alcibiades was an Athenian general in the Peloponnesian War" (http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/people/a/
alcibiades.htm). Bingley.
• "Alcibiades" (http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/alcibiades.html). Endres, Nikolai. Archived (http://web.
archive.org/web/20060905000755/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/alcibiades.html) from the original
on 5 September 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
• "Alcibiades: Aristocratic Ideal or Antisocial Personality Disorder" (http://h06.cgpublisher.com/proposals/41/
index_html). Evans, Kathleen. Archived (http://web.archive.org/web/20060828185600/http://h06.
cgpublisher.com/proposals/41/index_html) from the original on 28 August 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
• "Alcibiades" (http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9005499/Alcibiades). Meiggs, Russell. Retrieved 5
August 2006.
• "Alcibiades" (http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alcibiades/alcibiades.html). Prins, Marco-Lendering, Jona.
Archived (http://web.archive.org/web/20060831114947/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alcibiades/alcibiades.
html) from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
• "Alcibiades" (http://www.bartleby.com/65/al/Alcibiad.html). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.
2001–05.. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
Texts and analyses
• "Good Man, Bad Man, Traitor: Aspects of Alcibiades" (http://faculty.ccc.edu/colleges/wright/greatbooks/
Program/Symposm/Issue1/Arcan.htm). Arcan, Gabriela. Archived (http://web.archive.org/web/
20060911133925/http://faculty.ccc.edu/colleges/wright/greatbooks/Program/Symposm/Issue1/Arcan.htm)
from the original on 11 September 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
• "Thucydides and Civil War: the Case of Alcibiades" (http://66.102.9.104/
search?q=cache:Xj7eK3ojC6AJ:www.prio.no/files/file46395_robert_faulkner_7final-thuccivil_war.doc+
Alcibiades,+Thucydides&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7). Faulkner, Robert. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
• "Survie d’un lion : Alcibiade" (http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/FE/10/Lion/Lion2.html). Loicq-Berger,
Marie-Paule. Archived (http://web.archive.org/web/20060827081434/http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/FE/10/
Lion/Lion2.html) from the original on 27 August 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
• "Alcibiades and the Sicilian Expedition" (http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/3686/42/). Rubio,
Alexander G. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
• "Plato, Thucydides, and Alcibiades" (http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:o22heq1uEUgJ:www.prio.no/
files/file46404_thucydides_draft_henrik_syse.doc+Alcibiades,+Thucydides&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=27). Syse,
Henrik. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
• "Alcibiades, Athens, and the Human Condition in Thucydides’ History" (http://www.apaclassics.org/
AnnualMeeting/03mtg/abstracts/warren.html). Warren, Brian. Archived (http://web.archive.org/web/
20060819192700/http://www.apaclassics.org/AnnualMeeting/03mtg/abstracts/warren.html) from the
original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
30
Callias III
Callias III
Callias (Greek: Kαλλίας, pronounced "Kahl-LEE-as") was an ancient Athenian aristocrat and political figure. He
was the son of Hipponicus by the former wife of Pericles,[1] an Alcmaeonid and the third member of one of the most
distinguished Athenian families to bear the name of Callias. He was regarded as infamous for his extravagance and
profligacy.
Historians sometimes designate him "Callias III" to distinguish him from his grandfather Callias II and from his
grandfather's grandfather Callias ("Callias I").
Life
Callias' family was unusually wealthy: the major part of their fortune came from the leasing of large numbers of
slaves to the state-owned silver mines of Laurium. In return, the Calliai were paid a share of the mine proceeds, in
silver. Accordingly they were considered the richest family in Athens and quite possibly in all of Greece, and the
head of the family was often simply referred to as "ho plousios" (Greek: "ο πλούσιος", "the wealthy"). The only
other family that could rival their wealth were the tyrants of Syracuse.
Callias must have inherited the family's fortune in 424 BC, which can be reconciled with the mention of him in the
comedy the Flatterers of Eupolis, 421 BC, as having recently entered into his inheritance.[2] In 400 BC, he was
involved in an attempt to destroy the career of the Attic orator, Andocides, by charging him with profanity in having
placed a supplicatory bough on the altar of the temple at Eleusis during the celebration of the Mysteries[3]. However,
according to Andocides, the bough was actually placed there by Callias himself.
In 392 BC, he was placed in command of the Athenian heavy-armed troops at Corinth on the occasion of their defeat
of a Spartan regiment, or Mora, by Iphicrates.[] Callias was hereditary proxenus (roughly the equivalent of the
modern consul) to Sparta, and, as such, was chosen as one of the envoys empowered to negotiate a peace with Sparta
in 371 BC. On this occasion Xenophon reports that Callias gave an absurd and self-glorifying speech.[]
It is said that Callias dissipated all his inherited wealth on sophists, flatterers, and women. These behaviours became
quite evident early in his life so that he was commonly spoken of, before his father's death, being the "evil genius" of
his family.[]
The scene of Xenophon's Symposium, and also that of Plato's Protagoras, is set at Callias' house. In the latter
especially Callias' character is drawn with some vivid sketches as a dilettante highly amused with the intellectual
fencing of Protagoras and Socrates.[4]
Callias is said to have ultimately reduced himself to absolute beggary, to which the sarcasm of Iphicrates[] in calling
him metragyrtes instead of daduchos refers. Callias died so poor that he could not afford the common necessities of
life.[5] He left a legitimate son named Hipponicus.[3]
31
Callias III
References
• Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Callias III" [6], Boston,
(1867)
Notes
[1] Plutarch, Parallel Lives, "Pericles", 24 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Plut. + Per. + 24. 1)
[2] Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, v. 59 (http:/ / digicoll. library. wisc. edu/ cgi-bin/ Literature/ Literature-idx?type=turn&
entity=Literature000801870352& isize=M& q1=callias& pview=hide)
[3] Andocides, Speeches, "On the Mysteries", 110 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Andoc. + 1+ 110)
[4] Plato, Protagoras, pp. 335-38 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Plat. + Prot. + 335c)
[5] Athenaeus, xii. 52 (http:/ / digicoll. library. wisc. edu/ cgi-bin/ Literature/ Literature-idx?type=turn& entity=Literature000801890047&
q1=callias& pview=hide); Lysias, Speeches, "On the Property of Aristophanes", 48 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/
ptext?lookup=Lys. + 19+ 48)
[6] http:/ / www. ancientlibrary. com/ smith-bio/ 0576. html
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1867). "article name
". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
needed
Critias
Critias (Greek Κριτίας Kritias, 460 BC – 403 BC) was an ancient Athenian political figure and author. Born in
Athens, Critias was the son of Callaeschrus and an uncle of Plato, and became a leading and violent member of the
Thirty Tyrants. He was an associate of Socrates, a fact that did not endear Socrates to the Athenian public.
He was noted in his day for his tragedies, elegies and prose works. Some, like Sextus Empiricus, believe that Critias
wrote the Sisyphus fragment; others, however, attribute it to Euripides.
Life
After the fall of Athens to the Spartans, Critias, as one of the Thirty Tyrants, blacklisted many of its citizens. Most of
his prisoners were executed and their wealth was confiscated.
Critias was killed in a battle near Piraeus, the port of Athens, between a band of pro-democracy Athenian exiles led
by Thrasybulus and members and supporters of the Thirty, aided by the Spartan garrison. In the battle, the exiles put
the oligarchic forces to flight, ending the rule of the Thirty.[1][2]
According to Polybius, he asserted that "religion was a deliberate imposture devised by some cunning man for
political ends."[3]
32
Critias
Plato's description
Critias appears as a character in Plato's dialogues Charmides and Protagoras, and, according to Diogenes Laërtius,
was Plato's great-uncle.[4]
The Critias character in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias is often identified as the son of Callaeschrus – but not
by Plato. Given the old age of the Critias in these two dialogues, he may be the grandfather of the son of
Callaeschrus.
References
• Davies, J. K. (1971). Athenian propertied families 600-300 BC. London: Oxford University Press.
• Rosenmeyer, Thomas G. (1949). "The family of Critias". American Journal of Philology (The Johns Hopkins
University Press) 70 (4): 404–410. doi:10.2307/291107. JSTOR 291107.
Citations
[1] Buck, Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy, 71–79
[2] Xenophon, Hellenica 2.4
[3] Polybius: The Rise Of The Roman Empire, Page 25, Penguin, 1979.
[4] Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, III:1
External links
• Critias (http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/critias.htm) entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Hippias
Hippias of Elis ( /ˈhɪpiəs/; Greek: Ἱππίας; late 5th century BCE) was a Greek Sophist, and a contemporary of
Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all
subjects, and lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, mathematics, and much else. Most of our knowledge of
him is derived from Plato, who characterizes him as vain and arrogant.
Life
Hippias was born at Elis in the mid 5th-century BCE (c. 460 BCE) and was thus a younger contemporary of
Protagoras and Socrates. He lived at least as late as Socrates (399 BCE). He was a disciple of Hegesidamus.[1]
Owing to his talent and skill, his fellow-citizens availed themselves of his services in political matters, and in a
diplomatic mission to Sparta.[2] But he was in every respect like the other sophists of the time: he travelled about in
various towns and districts of Greece for the purpose of teaching and public speaking. The two dialogues of Plato,
the Hippias major and the Hippias minor characterize him as vain and arrogant. The Hippias major (the authorship
of this work by Plato is sometimes doubted) concerns the question about the beautiful, and purposely puts the
knowledge and presumption of Hippias in a ludicrous light. The Hippias minor discusses the deficiency of our
knowledge, and characterizes Hippias as ridiculously vain.
33
Hippias
34
Work
Hippias was a man of very extensive knowledge, and he occupied himself not only with rhetorical, philosophical,
and political studies, but was also well versed in poetry, music, mathematics, painting and sculpture, and he claimed
some practical skill in the ordinary arts of life, for he used to boast of wearing on his body nothing that he had not
made himself with his own hands, such as his seal-ring, his cloak, and shoes.[3] On the other hand, his knowledge
always appears superficial, he does not enter into the details of any particular art or science, and is satisfied with
certain generalities, which enabled him to speak on everything without a thorough knowledge of any. This
arrogance, combined with ignorance, is the main cause which provoked Plato to his severe criticism of Hippias, as
the sophist enjoyed a very extensive reputation, and thus had a large influence upon the education of the youths of
the higher classes. A mathematical discovery ascribed to Hippias is sometimes called the quadratrix of Hippias.
His great skill seems to have consisted in delivering grand show speeches; and Plato has him arrogantly declaring
that he would travel to Olympia, and there deliver before the assembled Greeks an oration on any subject that might
be proposed to him;[4] and Philostratus in fact speaks of several such orations delivered at Olympia, and which
created great sensation. If such speeches were published by Hippias, then no specimen has come down to us. Plato
claims he wrote epic poetry, tragedies, dithyrambs, and various orations,[5] as well works on as grammar, music,
rhythm, harmony, and a variety of other subjects.[6] He seems to have been especially fond of choosing antiquarian
and mythical subjects for his show speeches. Athenaeus mentions a work of Hippias under the title Synagoge which
is otherwise unknown.[7] An epigram of his is preserved in Pausanias.[8]
Notes
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
Suda, Hippias
Plato, Hippias major, 281a, 286a; Philostratus, Vit. Soph. i. 11.
Plato, Hippias major, 285c, Hippias minor, 368b, Protagoras, 315c; Philostratus, Vit. Soph. i. 11.; Themistius, Orat. xxix. p. 345. d.
Plat. Hippias minor, 363
Plato Hippias minor, 368
Plato, Hippias major, 285ff; comp. Philostratus, Vit. Soph. i. 11.; Plutarch, Num. 1, 23; Dio Chrysostom, Orat. lxxi.
Athenaeus, xiii. 609
Pausanias, v. 25
External links
• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Hippias" (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/
Hippias.html), MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.
• Hippias' Attempt to Trisect an Angle (http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&
sa=viewDocument&nodeId=1207&bodyId=1352) at Convergence (http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1867). "article name
". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
needed
Prodicus
35
Prodicus
Prodicus of Ceos (Greek: Πρόδικος, Pródikos; c. 465 BC – c. 395
BC) was a Greek philosopher, and part of the first generation of
Sophists. He came to Athens as ambassador from Ceos, and became
known as a speaker and a teacher. Plato treats him with greater respect
than the other sophists, and in several of the Platonic dialogues
Socrates appears as the friend of Prodicus. Prodicus made linguistics
and ethics prominent in his curriculum. The content of one of his
speeches is still known, and concerns a fable in which Heracles has to
make a choice between Virtue and Vice. He also interpreted religion
through the framework of naturalism.
The Judgement of Hercules, by Annibale
Carracci, depicting the fable recounted by
Prodicus
Life
Prodicus was a native of Ioulis on the island of Ceos, the birthplace of Simonides,[1] whom he is described as having
imitated.[2] Prodicus came frequently to Athens for the purpose of transacting business on behalf of his native city,
and attracted admiration as an orator,[3] although his voice was deep and apt to fall.[4] Plutarch describes him as
slender and weak;[5] and Plato also alludes to his weakness, and a degree of effeminacy which thus resulted.[6]
Philostratus accuses him of luxury and avarice,[7] but no earlier source mentions this.
In the Protagoras of Plato, (dramatic date c. 430 BC), Prodicus is mentioned as having previously arrived in Athens.
He appears in a play of Eupolis, and in The Clouds (423 BC) and The Birds (414 BC) of Aristophanes.[8] He came
frequently to Athens on public business.[9] His pupils included the orators Theramenes[10] and Isocrates,[11] and in
the year of the death of Socrates (399 BC), Prodicus was still living.[12] According to the statement of Philostratus,
on which little reliance can be placed, he delivered his lecture on virtue and vice in Thebes and Sparta also. The
Apology of Plato unites him with Gorgias and Hippias as among those who were considered competent to instruct
the youth in any city. Lucian mentions him among those who held lectures at Olympia.[13]
In the dialogues of Plato he is mentioned or introduced with a certain degree of esteem, compared with the other
sophists.[14] Aristophanes, in The Clouds,[15] deals more indulgently with him than with Socrates; and Xenophon's
Socrates, for the purpose of combating the voluptuousness of Aristippus, borrows from the book of "the wise
Prodicus" the story of the choice of Hercules.[16] Like Protagoras and others, Prodicus delivered lectures in return for
payment[17] of from half a drachma to 50 drachmae, probably according to whether the hearers limited themselves to
a single lecture or a more complete course.[18] Prodicus is said to have amassed a great amount of money.[19] The
assertion that he hunted after rich young men, is only found in Philostratus.
Teachings
Prodicus was part of the first generation of Sophists. "He was a Sophist in the full sense of a professional freelance
educator."[20] As he taught both philosophy and politics,[21] so Plato represents his instructions as chiefly ethical,[22]
and gives preference to his distinction of ideas, such as courage, rashness, boldness, over similar attempts of other
sophists.[23] He sometimes gave individual show-orations, and though known to Callimachus, they do not appear to
have been long preserved. In contrast with Gorgias and others, who boasted of possessing the art of making the small
appear great, the great small, and of expatiating in long or short speeches, Prodicus required that the speech should
be neither long nor short, but of the proper measure,[24] and it is only as associated with other sophists that he is
charged with endeavouring to make the weaker cause appear strong by means of his rhetoric.[25]
Prodicus
Linguistics
Several of Plato's dialogues focus upon Prodicus' linguistic theory, and his insistence upon the correct use of names.
He paid special attention to the correct use of words,[26] and the distinction of expressions related in sense.[27]
Thucydides is said to have gained from him his accuracy in the use of words.[28] In the Cratylus,[29] Socrates jokes
that if he could have afforded the fifty drachma lectures he would now be an expert on "the correctness of names." In
several of the Platonic dialogues Socrates appears as the friend and companion of Prodicus, which reveals at least
that the two did have close personal relations, and that Socrates did attend at least a few of his lectures. "For
Socrates, correct language was the prerequisite for correct living (including an efficient government). But Prodicus,
though his linguistic teaching undoubtedly included semantic distinctions between ethical terms, had stopped at the
threshold. The complete art of logoi embraced nothing less than the whole of philosophy." [30]
Ethics
The speech on the choice of Hercules[31] was entitled Horai (Ancient Greek: Ὧραι).[32] Hercules, as he was entering
manhood, had to choose one of the two paths of life, that of virtue and that of vice. There appeared two women, the
one of dignified beauty, adorned with purity, modesty, and discretion, the other of a voluptuous form, and
meretricious look and dress. The latter promises to lead him by the shortest road, without any toil, to the enjoyment
of every pleasure. The other, while she reminds him of his progenitors and his noble nature, does not conceal from
him that the gods have not granted what is really beautiful and good apart from trouble and careful striving. While
one seeks to deter him from the path of virtue by urging the difficulty of it; the other calls attention to the unnatural
character of enjoyment which anticipates the need of it, its want of the highest joy, that arising from noble deeds, and
the consequences of a life of voluptuousness, and how she herself, honoured by gods and men, leads to all noble
works, and to true well-being in all circumstances of life. Hercules decides for virtue. This outline in Xenophon
probably represents, in a very abbreviated form, the leading ideas of the original, of which no fragments remain.
Another speech, apparently by Prodicus, is mentioned in the spurious Platonic dialogue Eryxias. Prodicus undertakes
to show that the value of external goods depends simply upon the use which is made of them, and that virtue must be
learnt. Similar sentiments were expressed in Prodicus's Praise of Agriculture.[33] The spurious dialogue Axiochus
attributes to him views respecting the worthlessness of earthly life in different ages and callings, and how we must
long after freedom from connection with the body in the heavenly and cognate aether. Also found here is a doctrine
that death is not to be feared, as it affects neither the living nor the departed.[34]
Naturalism
Prodicus, like some of his fellow Sophists, interpreted religion through the framework of naturalism. The gods he
regarded as personifications of the sun, moon, rivers, fountains, and whatever else contributes to the comfort of our
life,[35] and he was sometimes charged with atheism.[36] "His theory was that primitive man was so impressed with
the gifts nature provided him for the furtherance of his life that he believed them to be the discovery of gods or
themselves to embody the godhead. This theory was not only remarkable for its rationalism but for its discernment of
a close connection between religion and agriculture." [37]
36
Prodicus
37
References
[1] Plato, Protagoras, 316d; Suda, Prodicus
[2] Plato, Protagoras, 339c, 340e, 341b
[3] Plato, Hippias Major 282, comp. Philostratus Vit. Soph. i. 12
[4] Plato, Protag. 316a; Philostratus, Vit. Soph. i. 12
[5] Plutarch, an seni ger. sit Resp. c. 15
[6] Plato, Protag. 315d
[7] Philost. Vit. Soph. i. 12
[8] Aristophanes, 1. 360
[9] Plato, Hipp. Maj. 282.
[10] Aeschines in Athenenaeus, v. 220b.; Scholium ad Aristophanes, Nub. 360
[11] Dionys. Hal. Isocr. 1; Photius, cod. 260
[12] Plato, Apology, 19. c.
[13] Lucian, Vit. Herod, c. 3
[14] Plato, Hipp. Maj. 282, Theaet. 151b, Phaedo, 60, Protag. 341a, Charmid. 163d, Meno, 96, Cratyl. 384b., Symp. 177, Euthyd. 305
[15] Aristophanes, 1. 360
[16] Xenophon, Memor. ii. 1. § 21
[17] Xenophon, Mem. ii. 1. § 21, comp. Philostratus; Diogenes Laertius, ix. 50; Plato, Prot. 314b
[18] Pseudo-Plato, Axioch. 6; Plato, Cratyl. 384b.; Aristotle, Rhet. iii. 14. § 9; Suda, Prodicus
[19] Plato, Hipp. Maj. 282d; Xenophon, Symp. iv. 62, i. 5
[20] Guthrie, William. The Sophists. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-521-09666-9. p. 275.
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
[37]
•
Plato, Euthyd. 305c
Plato, Meno, 96d; comp. de Rep. x. 600e
Plato, Lach. 197c
Plato, Phaed. 267a; comp. Gorg. 449c, Prot. 334e, 335b, 338d; Aristotle, Rhet. iii. 17
Cicero, Brut. c. 8.
Plato, Euthyd. 187e, Cratyl. 384b, comp. Galen, in Hippocr. de Articul. iv. p. 461. 1
Plato, Lach. 197d, Prot. 340a, 341a, Charmid. 163d, Meno, 75c, comp. Themistius, Orat. iv. p. 113
Marcell. Vit. Thuc.; comp. Scholium ap. Hemsterhus. Annot. in Lucian., App. 3; Maxim. Tyr. Dissert. vii.
Plato, Cratylus, 384b
Guthrie, William. The Sophists. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-521-09666-9. p. 276.
Philostratus, p. 496; Xenophon, Mem. ii. 1. § 21
Suda, Horai, Prodicus; Scholium ad Aristoph. Nub. 1. 360. The meaning of the title is obscure.
Themistius, Orat. 30
comp. Stobaeus, Serm. xx. 35
Sextus Empiricus, adv. Math. i. 52; Cicero, de Nat. Deor. i. 42
Cicero, de Nat. Deor. i. 55
Guthrie, William. The Sophists. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-521-09666-9. p. 179.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1867). "article
name needed
". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Article Sources and Contributors
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Callias III Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=481957845 Contributors: Aldux, Bibi Saint-Pol, CCS81, Catalographer, Chaleyer61, Delirium, Dimadick, Dorieo21,
Fordmadoxfraud, Gadget850, Grafen, Haiduc, Hans Dunkelberg, Isokrates, Kimon, RafaAzevedo, Rjwilmsi, Stevenmitchell, Transity, Wrenen, 6 anonymous edits
Critias Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=516269657 Contributors: AlbertSM, Aldux, Aphaia, Axeman89, Babur, Bender235, BrettAllen, CCS81, Catalographer, Chillowack,
Chronicler, Cntras, Davidiad, Davidzuccaro, Dinopup, Dureo, EamonnPKeane, Erud, FeanorStar7, Francis Schonken, GK1973, Haiduc, Hectorian, Igorwindsor, Imansola, Isokrates, Jaraalbe,
Jimfbleak, John K, Kbdank71, Kostisl, Luckyluke, Mimihitam, OldakQuill, Pmanderson, Res2216firestar, RogDel, Rsg, Rubicon, Singinglemon, Srnec, Tomisti, Tr606, TutterMouse, Wareh,
WikiPedant, WolfmanSF, Woohookitty, Yannismarou, Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, 37 anonymous edits
Hippias Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=520094501 Contributors: Access Denied, Acegikmo1, Adam Bishop, Aeusoes1, Aldux, Berasategui, BirgitteSB, Bobo192,
Catalographer, Caton, Centrx, DC, DIEGO RICARDO PEREIRA, Delirium, FreplySpang, Girolamo Savonarola, GoingBatty, GregorB, HeartofaDog, Hmains, Igorwindsor, Jagdfeld, Jaraalbe,
Kelson, Kitkatballet101, Kostisl, Lucidish, Margacst, Mariule, Neelix, Nic bor, Pasicles, PatGallacher, Pearle, Peruvianllama, RJFJR, RexNL, Rjwilmsi, Sburke, Selfworm, Singinglemon, Squids
and Chips, Sshadow, Subitosera, The Man in Question, Wayne Slam, Xgoni, Yknok29, 26 anonymous edits
Prodicus Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=515416540 Contributors: Across.The.Synapse, Adam Conover, Adeliine, Aldux, Alfreddo, Badseed, Cantrix, Catalographer,
Curtisdozier, Delirium, Emilio Juanatey, Erud, FeanorStar7, FocalPoint, Igorwindsor, Isokrates, Jaraalbe, Jjalexand, Karl-Henner, Lestrade, Llywrch, Lykos, M.e, Margacst, Master shepherd,
Nixdorf, Pmanderson, Poeloq, Radgeek, RogDel, SD6-Agent, Singinglemon, Squids and Chips, Sshadow, TJLaw, Template namespace initialisation script, Tevildo, VivaEmilyDavies, 22
anonymous edits
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
Image:Plato-raphael.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plato-raphael.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Aavindraa, Bibi Saint-Pol, Chris 73, Infrogmation,
Maarten van Vliet, Mattes, Morio, Sailko, Tomisti, 3 anonymous edits
File:Salvator_Rosa_-_Démocrite_et_Protagoras.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Salvator_Rosa_-_Démocrite_et_Protagoras.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: Oxxo, Pasicles, Sailko, Shakko
File:Loudspeaker.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Loudspeaker.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bayo, Gmaxwell, Gnosygnu, Husky, Iamunknown,
Mirithing, Myself488, Nethac DIU, Omegatron, Rocket000, Shanmugamp7, The Evil IP address, Wouterhagens, 23 anonymous edits
Image:wikisource-logo.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikisource-logo.svg License: logo Contributors: Guillom, Jarekt, MichaelMaggs, NielsF, Rei-artur,
Rocket000
File:Bust Alcibiades Musei Capitolini MC1160.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bust_Alcibiades_Musei_Capitolini_MC1160.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: User:Jastrow
File:AspasiaAlcibiades.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AspasiaAlcibiades.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bibi Saint-Pol, Daigaz, Juanpdp, Kimse,
Mattes, Shakko, Yannismarou
File:Socrates-Alcibiades.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Socrates-Alcibiades.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bibi Saint-Pol, Juanpdp, Kilom691, Pe-Jo,
Roberto Cruz, Shakko, Sj, Yannismarou, Zanaq, 1 anonymous edits
File:Battle of Cyzicus.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Battle_of_Cyzicus.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Artem Karimov, Avron,
Bender235, Dorieo, Jake Wasdin, Ma-Lik
File:Gallipoli peninsula from space.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gallipoli_peninsula_from_space.png License: Public Domain Contributors: ArjanH,
Denisutku, Roke
File:Alcibiades7220.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alcibiades7220.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: DenghiùComm, G.dallorto, Juanpdp, Yannismarou, 1
anonymous edits
File:1475 - Keramikos cemetery, Athens - Gravestone for Ipparetea - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 12 2009.jpg Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1475_-_Keramikos_cemetery,_Athens_-_Gravestone_for_Ipparetea_-_Photo_by_Giovanni_Dall'Orto,_Nov_12_2009.jpg License: Attribution
Contributors: Giovanni Dall'Orto
File:TestaAlcibiades.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:TestaAlcibiades.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Pietro Testa (1611–1650)
File:AuvrayAlcibiades.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AuvrayAlcibiades.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Daigaz, Finnrind, Léna, Mattes, Nioger,
Yannismarou, Zolo
File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikisource-logo.svg License: logo Contributors: Guillom, Jarekt, MichaelMaggs, NielsF, Rei-artur,
Rocket000
File:PD-icon.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PD-icon.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Alex.muller, Anomie, Anonymous Dissident, CBM, MBisanz, PBS,
Quadell, Rocket000, Strangerer, Timotheus Canens, 1 anonymous edits
File:CarracciHercules.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CarracciHercules.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Auntof6, Chick Bowen,
DenghiùComm, FA2010, G.dallorto, Mattes, Pierpao, Shakko, Warburg, Wikielwikingo, Wst, 1 anonymous edits
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License
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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