Plutarch, Alcibiades, chapter 1

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1. τὸ Ἀλκιβιάδου γένος ἄνωθεν Εὐρυσάκην τὸν Αἴαντος ἀρχηγὸν ἔχειν δοκεῖ, πρὸς δὲ μητρὸς Ἀλκμαιωνίδης ἦν, ἐκ Δεινομάχης γεγονὼς τῆς Μεγακλέους. ὁ δὲ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ Κλεινίας ἰδιοστόλῳ τριήρει περὶ Ἀρτεμίσιον ἐνδόξως ἐναυμάχησεν, ὕστερον δὲ Βοιωτοῖς μαχόμενος περὶ Κορώνειαν ἀπέθανε. τοῦ δὲ Ἀλκιβιάδου Περικλῆς καὶ Ἀρίφρων οἱ Ξανθίππου, προσήκοντες κατὰ γένος, ἐπετρόπευον. [2]

λέγεται δ᾽ οὐ κακῶς ὅτι τῆς Σωκράτους πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοίας καὶ φιλανθρωπίας οὐ μικρὰ πρὸς δόξαν ἀπέλαυσεν, εἴγε Νικίου μὲν καὶ Δημοσθένους καὶ Λαμάχου καὶ Φορμίωνος Θρασυβούλου τε καὶ Θηραμένους, ἐπιφανῶν ἀνδρῶν γενομένων κατ᾽ αὐτόν, οὐδενὸς οὐδ᾽ ἡ μήτηρ ὀνόματος τετύχηκεν, Ἀλκιβιάδου δὲ καὶ τίτθην, γένος Λάκαιναν, Ἀμύκλαν ὄνομα, καὶ Ζώπυρον παιδαγωγὸν ἴσμεν, ὧν τὸ μὲν Ἀντισθένης, τὸ δὲ Πλάτων ἱστόρηκε. [3]

περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ κάλλους Ἀλκιβιάδου οὐδὲν ἴσως δεῖ λέγειν, πλὴν ὅτι καὶ παῖδα καὶ μειράκιον καὶ ἄνδρα πάσῃ συνανθῆσαν τῇ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ ὥρᾳ τοῦ σώματος ἐράσμιον καὶ ἡδὺν παρέσχεν. οὐ γάρ, ὡς Εὐριπίδης ἔλεγε, πάντων τῶν καλῶν καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον καλόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο Ἀλκιβιάδῃ μετ᾽ ὀλίγων ἄλλων δι᾽ εὐφυΐαν καὶ ἀρετὴν σώματος ὑπῆρξε. [4] τῇ δὲ φωνῇ καὶ τὴν τραυλότητα ἐμπρέψαι λέγουσι καὶ τῷ λάλῳ πιθανότητα παρασχεῖν χάριν ἐπιτελοῦσαν. μέμνηται δὲ καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης αὐτοῦ τῆς τραυλότητος ἐν οἷς ἐπισκώπτει Θέωρον:

εἶτ᾽ Ἀλκιβιάδης εἶπε πρός με τραυλίσας:
‘ ὁλᾷς Θέωλον; τὴν κεφαλὴν κόλακος ἔχει.’
ὀρθῶς γε τοῦτ᾽ Ἀλκιβιάδης ἐτραύλισεν.

Aristoph. Wasps 44 ff.

καὶ Ἄρχιππος τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Ἀλκιβιάδου σκώπτων: ‘ βαδίζει,’ φησί, ‘ διακεχλιδώς, θοἰμάτιον ἕλκων, ὅπως ἐμφερὴς μάλιστα τῷ πατρὶ δόξειεν εἶναι,

κλασαυχενεύεταί τε καὶ τραυλίζεται.

Kock, Com. Att. Frag., i. p. 688

’

Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives. with an English Translation by. Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1916. 4.

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Commentary references to this page (1):
- W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus, 8.17
Cross-references to this page (4):
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), EPI´TROPUS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), PA´LLIUM
- Smith's Bio, Ajax
- Smith's Bio, Clei'nias
Cross-references in notes to this page (4):
- Isocrates, To Philip, Isoc. 5 58
- Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander, The Peloponnesian War and Athenian Life
- Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander, The Aftermath of the Peloponnesian War
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Ajax, 11
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (5):
- LSJ, ἔνδοξ-ος
- LSJ, ἐμπρέπω
- LSJ, ἐπίτερπ-νος
- LSJ, ἰδι^ό-στολος
- LSJ, τραυλ-ότης

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Plutarch, Alcibiades
Bernadotte Perrin, Ed.

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Plutarch, Alcibiades Bernadotte Perrin, Ed.

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Plutarch, Alcibiades
Bernadotte Perrin, Ed.