Complete Works

by Plato, Cooper, John M. , Hutchinson, D. S.

  [c] ALCIBIADES: And what do you mean by that?

  SOCRATES: Let’s look at it together. Do you waver about what you realize you don’t understand? For example, you know, I think, that you don’t know how to prepare a fine meal, right?

  ALCIBIADES: Quite right.

  SOCRATES: So do you have your own opinions about how to prepare it, and waver about it; or do you leave it to someone who knows how?

  ALCIBIADES: The latter.

  SOCRATES: Well, if you were sailing in a ship, would you be out there [d] wondering whether to put the helm to port or starboard, and wavering because you didn’t know? Or would you leave it to the skipper and take it easy?

  ALCIBIADES: I’d leave it to the skipper.

  SOCRATES: So you don’t waver about what you don’t know, if in fact you know that you don’t know.

  ALCIBIADES: Apparently not.

  SOCRATES: Don’t you realize that the errors in our conduct are caused by this kind of ignorance, of thinking that we know when we don’t know?

  ALCIBIADES: What do you mean by that?

  SOCRATES: Well, we don’t set out to do something unless we think we know what we’re doing, right?

  ALCIBIADES: Right.

  SOCRATES: But when people don’t think they know how to do something, [e] they hand it over to somebody else, right?

  ALCIBIADES: Of course.

  SOCRATES: So the sort of people who don’t think they know how to do things make no mistakes in life, because they leave those things to other people.

  ALCIBIADES: You’re right.

  SOCRATES: Well, who are the ones making the mistakes? Surely not the ones who know?

  ALCIBIADES: Of course not.

  SOCRATES: Well, since it’s not those who know, and it’s not those who don’t know and know they don’t know, is there anyone left except those [118] who don’t know but think they do know?

  ALCIBIADES: No, they’re the only ones left.

  SOCRATES: So this is the ignorance that causes bad things; this is the most disgraceful sort of stupidity.

  ALCIBIADES: Yes.

  SOCRATES: And isn’t it most harmful and most contemptible when it is ignorance of the most important things?

  ALCIBIADES: Very much so.

  SOCRATES: Well, can you name anything more important than what’s just and admirable and good and advantageous?

  ALCIBIADES: No, I really can’t.

  SOCRATES: But aren’t those the things you say you’re wavering about?

  ALCIBIADES: Yes.

  SOCRATES: So, if you’re wavering, it’s obvious from what we’ve said that not only are you ignorant about the most important things, but you also [b] think you know what you don’t know.

  ALCIBIADES: I guess that’s right.

  SOCRATES: Good God, Alcibiades, what a sorry state you’re in! I hesitate to call it by its name, but still, since we’re alone, it must be said. You are wedded to stupidity, my good fellow, stupidity in the highest degree—our discussion and your own words convict you of it. This is why you’re rushing into politics before you’ve got an education. You’re not alone in this sad state—you’ve got most of our city’s politicians for company. There [c] are only a few exceptions, among them, perhaps, your guardian, Pericles.

  ALCIBIADES: Yes, Socrates, and people do say that he didn’t acquire his expertise all by himself; he kept company with many experts like Pythoclides and Anaxagoras. Even now, despite his advanced age, he consults with Damon14 for the same purpose.

  SOCRATES: Really? Have you ever seen any expert who is unable to make others expert in what he knows? The person who taught you how to read and write—he had expertise in his field, and he made you and anybody else he liked expert as well, didn’t he?

  ALCIBIADES: Yes. [d]

  SOCRATES: And will you, having learned from him, be able to teach somebody else?

  ALCIBIADES: Yes.

  SOCRATES: And isn’t it the same with the music teacher and the gymnastics teacher?

  ALCIBIADES: Certainly.

  SOCRATES: I think we can be pretty sure that someone understands something when he can show that he has made someone else understand it.

  ALCIBIADES: I agree.

  SOCRATES: Well then, can you tell me who Pericles has made into an expert? Shall we start with his sons?

  [e] ALCIBIADES: But Socrates, both of his sons turned out to be idiots!

  SOCRATES: What about Clinias, your brother?

  ALCIBIADES: There’s no point talking about him—he’s a madman!

  SOCRATES: Well then, since Clinias is mad and Pericles’ sons were idiots, what shall we say is the reason that he allowed you to be in the state you’re in?

  ALCIBIADES: I suppose it’s because I didn’t really pay attention.

  [119] SOCRATES: But can you name any other Athenian or any foreigner—slave or free—who became any more of an expert by keeping company with Pericles? After all, I can name Pythodorus, son of Isolochus, and Callias, son of Calliades, who became wise through their association with Zeno;15 they paid him a hundred minas each and became famous experts.

  ALCIBIADES: I can’t think of anyone, by Zeus.

  SOCRATES: Very well. What do you propose for yourself? Do you intend to remain in your present condition, or practice some self-cultivation?

  [b] ALCIBIADES: Let’s discuss it together, Socrates. You know, I do see what you’re saying and actually I agree—it seems to me that none of our city’s politicians has been properly educated, except for a few.

  SOCRATES: And what does that mean?

  ALCIBIADES: Well, if they were educated, then anyone who wanted to compete with them would have to get some knowledge and go into training, like an athlete. But as it is, since they entered politics as amateurs, there’s no need for me to train and go to the trouble of learning. I’m sure [c] my natural abilities will be far superior to theirs.

  SOCRATES: Good God, my dear boy, what a thing to say—how unworthy of your good looks and your other advantages!

  ALCIBIADES: What in the world do you mean, Socrates? What are you getting at?

  SOCRATES: I’m furious with you and with my infatuation for you!

  ALCIBIADES: Why?

  SOCRATES: Because you stoop to compete with these people.

  ALCIBIADES: Who else have I got to compete with?

  SOCRATES: That’s a fine sort of question, from a man who thinks he holds [d] himself in high esteem!

  ALCIBIADES: What do you mean? Aren’t they my competitors?

  SOCRATES: Look here, if you were intending to steer a ship into battle, would you be content to be the best sailor at steering? Granted that’s necessary, but wouldn’t you keep your eye on your real opponents and not on your comrades, as you’re doing now? Surely you ought to be so far superior to them that they’re happy to be your humble comrades in the struggle, and wouldn’t dream of competing with you. I’m assuming [e] that you do really intend to distinguish yourself with some splendid deed worthy of you and your city.

  ALCIBIADES: Yes, that’s certainly what I intend to do.

  SOCRATES: Dear me, how very proper it is for you to be satisfied with being better than the soldiers—how proper not to keep an eye on the leaders of the opposing camp, so that you can some day become better than them by training and scheming against them!

  ALCIBIADES: Who are you talking about, Socrates? [120]

  SOCRATES: Don’t you know that our city is at war from time to time with the Spartans and with the Great King of Persia?

  ALCIBIADES: You’re right.

  SOCRATES: So since you plan to be leader of this city, wouldn’t it be right to think that your struggle is with the kings of Sparta and Persia?

  ALCIBIADES: That may well be true.

  SOCRATES: But no sir, you’ve got to keep an eye on Midias the cockfighter and such people—people who try to run the city’s affairs with their ‘slave boy [b] hair styles’ (as the women say) still showing on their boorish minds. They set out to flatter the city wit
h their outlandish talk, not to rule it. These are the people, I’m telling you, you’ve got to keep your eyes on. So relax, don’t bother to learn what needs to be learned for the great struggle to come, don’t train yourself for what needs training—go ahead and go [c] into politics with your complete and thorough preparation.

  ALCIBIADES: No, Socrates, I think you’re right. But still I don’t think the Spartan generals or the Persian king are any different from anybody else.

  SOCRATES: But what sort of a notion is that? Think about it.

  ALCIBIADES: About what?

  SOCRATES: In the first place, when do you think you’d cultivate yourself: if you feared them and thought they were formidable, or if you didn’t? [d]

  ALCIBIADES: Obviously if I thought they were formidable.

  SOCRATES: Surely you don’t think that cultivating yourself will do you any harm, do you?

  ALCIBIADES: Not at all. In fact, it would be a big help.

  SOCRATES: So that’s one flaw in this notion of yours, a big flaw, isn’t it?

  ALCIBIADES: You’re right.

  SOCRATES: Now the second flaw is that it’s also false, judging by the probabilities.

  ALCIBIADES: What do you mean?

  SOCRATES: Is it likely that natural talents will be greatest among noble families, or in other families?

  [e] ALCIBIADES: In noble families, obviously.

  SOCRATES: Those who are well born will turn out to be perfectly virtuous, if they’re well brought up, won’t they?

  ALCIBIADES: They certainly will.

  SOCRATES: So let’s compare our situation with theirs, and consider, first of all, whether the Spartan and Persian kings are of humbler descent. We know, of course, that the Spartan kings are descended from Heracles, and the Persian kings are descended from Achaemenes, and that the families of Heracles and Achaemenes go right back to Perseus, son of Zeus.

  [121] ALCIBIADES: Mine too, Socrates—my family goes back to Eurysaces and Eurysaces’ goes back to Zeus.

  SOCRATES: So does mine too, noble Alcibiades, mine goes back to Daedalus and Daedalus’ goes back to Hephaestus,16 son of Zeus. Starting with those kings, though, and tracing backwards, every one of them is a king all the way back to Zeus—kings of Argos and Sparta, and kings of Persia in eternity, and sometimes of Asia, too, as they are now. But you and I [b] are private citizens, as were our fathers. And if you had to show off your ancestors and Salamis, the native land of Eurysaces, to Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes—or Aegina, the native land of Aeacus the ancestor of Eurysaces—don’t you realize how much you’d be laughed at? But you think we’re the equal of those men in the dignity of our descent, as well as in our upbringing.

  Haven’t you noticed what a commanding position the Spartan kings enjoy? Their wives are guarded at public expense by the ephors, so as to ensure, as far as possible, that their kings are descended from the family [c] of the Heraclidae alone. And as for the Persian king, his position is so supreme that nobody so much as suspects his heir of being fathered by anybody but him; that’s why his queen is left unguarded except by fear.

  When the eldest son and heir to the throne is born, all the king’s subjects have a feast day. Then, in the years that follow, the whole of Asia celebrates that day, the king’s birthday, with further sacrifice and feasting. But when [d] we are born, Alcibiades, “even the neighbors hardly notice it,” as the comic poet17 says.

  Then the boy is brought up—not by some nanny of no account, but by the most highly respected eunuchs in the royal household. They attend to all the needs of the infant child, and are especially concerned to make him as handsome as possible, shaping and straightening his infant limbs; and for this they are held in great esteem. When the boys reach seven years [e] of age they take up horseback riding with their instructors, and begin to hunt wild game.

  When he is twice seven years, the boy is entrusted to people called the “royal tutors.” These are four Persians of mature age who have been selected as the best: the wisest, the justest, and most self-controlled, and the bravest. The first of them instructs him in the worship of their gods, [122] the Magian lore of Zoroaster, son of Horomazes, and also in what a king should know. The justest man teaches him to be truthful his whole life long. The most self-controlled man teaches him not to be mastered by even a single pleasure, so that he can get accustomed to being a free man and a real king, whose first duty is to rule himself, not be a slave to himself. The bravest man trains him to be fearless and undaunted, because fear is slavery.

  But for you, Alcibiades, Pericles chose from among his household Zopyrus [b] the Thracian, a tutor so old he was perfectly useless. I could tell you about all the rest of the upbringing and education of your competitors, but it would be a long story and, besides, you can probably imagine the later stages from what I’ve told you so far. But, Alcibiades, your birth, your upbringing, and your education—or that of any other Athenian—is of no concern to anybody, to tell the truth—nobody, that is, except perhaps some man who may happen to be in love with you.

  Again, if you care to consider the wealth of the Persians, the splendor, [c] the clothes and trailing robes, the anointings with myrrh, the throng of servants-in-waiting, and all their other luxuries, you’d be ashamed of your circumstances, because you’d see how inferior they are to theirs.

  Again, if you care to consider the self-control and the decorum of the Spartans, their confidence and their composure, their self-esteem and their discipline, their courage and their fortitude, and their love of hardship, victory, and honor, you’d consider yourself a mere child in all these respects.

  Again, we’d better discuss your wealth, Alcibiades, if you’re to see where [d] you stand. You may devote yourself to it and think it makes you something, but if you care to look at the wealth of the Spartans you’d realize that it greatly exceeds ours in Athens. They have land of their own and in Messene that not a single one of our estates could compete with—not in size, nor in quality, nor in slaves—especially Helots—nor even in horses, nor in the other livestock grazing in Messene. But I’ll pass over all that. [e]

  There is more gold and silver in Sparta in private hands than in the rest of Greece put together. It’s been coming in to them for many generations, pouring in from all of Greece’s cities, and often from foreign cities, too, and it never goes out again. It’s just like what the fox says to the lion in [123] Aesop’s fable18—you can clearly see the tracks of the money going in toward Sparta, but the tracks coming out are nowhere to be seen. So you can be sure that the Spartans are the richest of the Greeks in gold and silver, and that the king is the richest of all the Spartans, because the greatest share of these revenues goes to him. Furthermore, he receives a considerable sum from the Spartans by way of royal tribute.

  [b] But great as they are when compared with other Greek cities, the Spartan fortunes are nothing compared with the fortunes of the Persians and their king. I once spoke with a reliable man who travelled over to the Persian court, and he told me that he crossed a very large and rich tract of land, nearly a day’s journey across, which the locals called “the Queen’s girdle.” [c] There’s another one called “the Queen’s veil,” as well as many others, all fine and rich properties, each one named for a part of the Queen’s wardrobe, because each one is set aside to pay for the Queen’s finery.

  Now suppose someone were to say to Amestris, the king’s mother and the widow of Xerxes, “The son of Dinomache intends to challenge your son; her wardrobe is worth only fifty minas at best, and her son has less than three hundred acres19 of land at Erchia.” I think she’d be wondering [d] what this Alcibiades had up his sleeve to think of competing against Artaxerxes. I think she’d say, “I don’t see what this fellow could be relying on, except diligence and wisdom—the Greeks don’t have anything else worth mentioning.”

  But if she heard that this Alcibiades who is making this attempt is, in the first place, hardly twenty years old yet, and, secondly, entirely uneducated, and furthermore, when his lo
ver tells him to study and cultivate [e] himself and discipline himself so that he can compete with the king, he says he doesn’t want to and that he’s happy with the way he is—if she heard all that, I think she’d ask in amazement, “What in the world could this youngster be relying on?” Suppose we were to reply, “Good looks, height, birth, wealth, and native intelligence.” Then, Alcibiades, considering all that they have of these things as well, she’d conclude that we were stark raving mad. Again, I think that Lampido, the daughter of Leotychides, [124] wife of Archidamus and mother of Agis, who were all Spartan kings, would be similarly amazed if you, with your bad upbringing, proposed to compete with her son, considering all his advantages.

  And yet, don’t you think it’s disgraceful that even our enemies’ wives have a better appreciation than we do of what it would take to challenge them? No, my excellent friend, trust in me and in the Delphic inscription [b] and ‘know thyself’. These are the people we must defeat, not the ones you think, and we have no hope of defeating them unless we act with both diligence and skill. If you fall short in these, then you will fall short of achieving fame in Greece as well as abroad; and that is what I think you’re longing for, more than anyone else ever longed for anything.

  ALCIBIADES: Well, Socrates, what kind of self-cultivation do I need to practice? Can you show me the way? What you said really sounded true.

  SOCRATES: Yes—but let’s discuss together how we can become as good as possible. You know, what I’ve said about the need for education applies [c] to me as well as to you—we’re in the same condition, except in one respect.

  ALCIBIADES: What?

  SOCRATES: My guardian is better and wiser than Pericles, your guardian.

  ALCIBIADES: Who’s that, Socrates?

  SOCRATES: God, Alcibiades; it was a god who prevented me from talking with you before today. I put my faith in him, and I say that your glory will be entirely my doing.

  ALCIBIADES: You’re teasing me, Socrates. [d]

  SOCRATES: Maybe; but I’m right in saying that we stand in need of self-cultivation. Actually, every human being needs self-cultivation, but especially the two of us.