Ἀλκιβιάδης
Alcibiades, Alkibiades
Translated by Debra Hamel12 Aug 1999Vetting: high16 revisions
Translation
The son of Kleinias and of Perikles' sister.1 An Athenian, a philosopher2 and a politician. A pupil first of Sophilos, then of Sokrates, whose lover he was too, as some say. Some also record that he was born of slaves.3
This man served as a general of the Athenians;4 and pained because of being expelled from his generalship on account of the mutilation of the herms5 he went over to the Persian Tis(s)aphernes6 and became responsible for a war against the Athenians -- [but] he came to be on good terms with them again. When Lysander,7 with whom he was spending time, was about to capture him, while he was in the country of Phrygia with a mistress he saw a dream of this sort: he seemed, wearing the clothes of his mistress, to burn separately from his head.8 The spearmen standing nearby set the tent on fire, and Alkibiades went out and, having been hunted down, was attacked and wounded. They cut off his head and brought it to Pharnabazos.9
This man, having been victorious at the Olympic games, gave a banquet for the entire festival.10
This man served as a general of the Athenians;4 and pained because of being expelled from his generalship on account of the mutilation of the herms5 he went over to the Persian Tis(s)aphernes6 and became responsible for a war against the Athenians -- [but] he came to be on good terms with them again. When Lysander,7 with whom he was spending time, was about to capture him, while he was in the country of Phrygia with a mistress he saw a dream of this sort: he seemed, wearing the clothes of his mistress, to burn separately from his head.8 The spearmen standing nearby set the tent on fire, and Alkibiades went out and, having been hunted down, was attacked and wounded. They cut off his head and brought it to Pharnabazos.9
This man, having been victorious at the Olympic games, gave a banquet for the entire festival.10
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἀλκιβιάδης· υἱὸς Κλεινίου καὶ τῆς ἀδελφῆς Περικλέους, Ἀθηναῖος, φιλόσοφος καὶ ῥήτωρ. μαθητὴς πρῶτον Σοφίλου, εἶτα Σωκράτους, οὗ καὶ ἐρώμενος, ὥς τινες. καὶ ἐκ δούλων δὲ τεχθέντα τινες ἱστορήκασιν. οὗτος ἐστρατήγησεν Ἀθηναίων, καὶ λυπηθεὶς διὰ τὸ ἐκπεσεῖν αὐτὸν τῆς στρατηγίας τῆς τῶν Ἑρμῶν ἀποκοπῆς ἕνεκα καὶ ἀποστὰς πρὸς Τισαφέρνην τὸν Πέρσην καὶ πολέμου αἴτιος γενόμενος Ἀθηναίοις πάλιν αὐτοῖς εὔνους ἐγένετο. μέλλοντος δὲ Λυσάνδρου αὐτὸν ἀναιρεῖν, παρ' ᾧ διέτριβεν, εἰς κώμην τῆς Φρυγίας ἑταίρᾳ συνὼν ὄναρ ἦν τεθεαμένος τοιόνδε· ἐδόκει τὴν ἐσθῆτα τῆς ἑταίρας ἔχων καίεσθαι δίχα τῆς κεφαλῆς. οἱ δορυφόροι δὲ ἐπιστάντες ὑφῆψαν τὴν σκηνήν, ὁ δὲ ἐξελθὼν βίᾳ τιτρώσκεται διωχθείς. οἱ δὲ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀφελόντες αὐτοῦ Φαρναβάζῳ κομίζουσιν. οὗτος Ὀλύμπια νικήσας τὴν πανήγυριν ἅπασαν εἱστίασεν.
Betacode
*)alkibia/dhs: ui(o\s *kleini/ou kai\ th=s a)delfh=s *perikle/ous, *)aqhnai=os, filo/sofos kai\ r(h/twr. maqhth\s prw=ton *sofi/lou, ei)=ta *swkra/tous, ou(= kai\ e)rw/menos, w(/s tines. kai\ e)k dou/lwn de\ texqe/nta tines i(storh/kasin. ou(=tos e)strath/ghsen *)aqhnai/wn, kai\ luphqei\s dia\ to\ e)kpesei=n au)to\n th=s strathgi/as th=s tw=n *(ermw=n a)pokoph=s e(/neka kai\ a)posta\s pro\s *tisafe/rnhn to\n *pe/rshn kai\ pole/mou ai)/tios geno/menos *)aqhnai/ois pa/lin au)toi=s eu)/nous e)ge/neto. me/llontos de\ *lusa/ndrou au)to\n a)nairei=n, par' w(=| die/triben, ei)s kw/mhn th=s *frugi/as e(tai/ra| sunw\n o)/nar h)=n teqeame/nos toio/nde: e)do/kei th\n e)sqh=ta th=s e(tai/ras e)/xwn kai/esqai di/xa th=s kefalh=s. oi( dorufo/roi de\ e)pista/ntes u(fh=yan th\n skhnh/n, o( de\ e)celqw\n bi/a| titrw/sketai diwxqei/s. oi( de\ th\n kefalh\n a)felo/ntes au)tou= *farnaba/zw| komi/zousin. ou(=tos *)olu/mpia nikh/sas th\n panh/gurin a(/pasan ei(sti/asen.
Notes (10)
- 451/0-404/3. See generally P.J. Rhodes in OCD(4) s.v. (pp.52-3). The present entry is attributed by Adler to the biographies of notable individuals by Hesychius of Miletus (C6 CE); and specifically, the section beginning 'This man served as general ...' is regarded as perhaps coming from the same source as alpha 453, etc.↩
- 1Deinomache. For Perikles see generally pi 1179 etc. (For Kleinias see kappa 1751.) ↩
- 2An odd characterisation, despite his association with Sokrates (sigma 829), about to be mentioned. ↩
- 3Factually nonsense, of course. Political abuse, if correctly located here; but Adler (addenda) notes Bernhardy's suggestion that it belongs with alpha 1289 (q.v.). ↩
- 4For his career in office see Develin (1989), Index I no. 84. ↩
- 5cf. generally epsilon 3047. ↩
- 6A Persian satrap (provincial governor): see tau 661. ↩
- 7lambda 852. ↩
- 8For Alkibiades' end cf. Plutarch, Alcibiades 38-39. The Suda's version of this dream is an abbreviated version of what we are told in Plut. Alc. 39:
e)do/kei perikei=sqai me\n au)to\s th\n e)sqh=ta th=s e(tai/ras, e)kei/nhn de\ th\n kefalh\n e)n tai=s a)gka/lais e)/xousan au)tou= kosmei=n to\ pro/swpon w(/sper gunaiko\s u(pogra/fousan kai\ yimuqiou=san. e(/teroi de/ fasin i)dei=n th\n kefalh\n a)pote/mnontas au)tou= tou\s peri\ to\n *magai=on e)n toi=s u(/pnois kai\ to\ sw=ma kaio/menon. "It seemed that he was wearing the clothes of his mistress, but she held his head in her arms and adorned his face like a woman's, outlining [his eyes] and making up [his face] with white lead. Others say that in his sleep he saw Magaeus' followers cutting off his head and his body burning." ↩- 9Another Persian satrap. ↩
- 10In the four-horse chariot-race of the 416 games, as Thucydides and others describe.
References
J.K. Davies, Athenian Propertied Families 600-300 BC (Oxford 1971) s.v.
Robert Develin, Athenian Officials 684-321 BC (Cambridge 1989) s.v.
Robert Develin, Athenian Officials 684-321 BC (Cambridge 1989) s.v.
Linked from4 entries
- α453ἈδείμαντοςAdeimantos, AdimantusA general of the Corinthians, who called Themistocles a city-less man. But he said "Who [is] city-less, when he has 200 triremes?". Plato, too, mentions this man in the Protagoras. For he was one of those serving as…
- α731ἈθήναιοςAthenaios, AthenaeusOf Naucratis. Grammarian. Lived in the time of Marcus. He wrote a book with the title Deipnosophists, in which he records how many of the ancients had a reputation for munificence in giving banquets. Alexander the…
- α3523Ἀποσκευαζόμενοςdiscarding, discounting, disowning, jettisoning[Meaning he] throwing away, hurling away, stripping away. "He writes in every manner to dispose of Alcibiades." Also [sc. attested is the plural] a)poskeuazo/menoi, [meaning they] detaching and throwing away a weight.…
- δ339ΔεινομάχηDeinomacheA [feminine] proper name. Also [sc. attested is] Deinomachos, a [masculine] proper name.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history16 revisions · last 30 Jul 2014
- updated a ref — David Whitehead
- more expansion — Catharine Roth
- further expansion — Catharine Roth
- expanded note — Catharine Roth
- expanded n.3 — David Whitehead
- another x-ref — David Whitehead
- augmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- x-ref; more keywords — David Whitehead
- — Catharine Roth
- cosmetics — Catharine Roth
- modified translation; added further notes and bibliography — David Whitehead
- — Ross Scaife ✝
- —
- —
- Translated — Debra Hamel