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Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119

Life of Alcibiades

Ἀλκιβιάδης
Ancient Sources / Plutarch / Life of Alcibiades

Plutarch's Life of Alcibiades tells the story of the Athenian general and statesman of the late fifth century BC, a ward of Pericles and a companion of Socrates, from his boyhood to his death in Phrygia. It covers his rivalry with Nicias, the Sicilian expedition, the mutilation of the Hermae and the parody of the Eleusinian mysteries, his exile at Sparta and with the satrap Tissaphernes, his recall to Athens and his final fall. It is paired with the Life of Coriolanus.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 15 passages, about 15400 words in English.
Translator
Bernadotte Perrin (1916)
Edition
Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 4, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1916 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus)
Cite as
Plutarch, Life of Alcibiades 1.1 (by chapter, section)

Contents · 15 passages

  1. 1.1–3.1Alcibiades' family, beauty and lisp; boyhood rivalry and the refusal of the flute920 words
  2. 4.1–6.4Socrates and Alcibiades; the insolence to his lovers1080 words
  3. 7.1–9.1Socrates at Potidaea and Delium; Hipponicus, Hipparete and the dog's tail782 words
  4. 10.1–12.3Alcibiades enters politics; the seven chariots at Olympia691 words
  5. 13.1–15.4Alcibiades, the ostracism of Hyperbolus, the Spartan envoys and the Argive alliance1519 words
  6. 16.1–17.5The luxury of Alcibiades; the plan to conquer Sicily913 words
  7. 18.1–20.5The Sicilian command, the omens, the mutilation of the Hermae and the charge of parodying the mysteries1202 words
  8. 21.1–22.4Andocides' confession, the Salaminian galley, and Alcibiades' escape and condemnation823 words
  9. 23.1–24.5Alcibiades at Sparta: Gylippus, Deceleia, Timaea and the revolt of Ionia1057 words
  10. 25.1–26.7Tissaphernes, Phrynichus and the Four Hundred at Samos1289 words
  11. 27.1–28.6The recall, Abydos, the arrest at Sardis and the victory at Cyzicus825 words
  12. 29.1–31.6Chalcedon, Selymbria and the capture of Byzantium1167 words
  13. 32.1–34.6The return of Alcibiades to Athens, the Plynteria and the Eleusinian procession1209 words
  14. 35.1–37.4Andros, the defeat of Antiochus by Lysander, and the warning before Aegospotami1247 words
  15. 38.1–39.5The death of Alcibiades in Phrygia705 words

More by Plutarch

English translation by Bernadotte Perrin (1916). Original text: Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 4, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1916 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.