Alcibiades

Alcibiades,AL suh BY uh DEEZ (450?-404 B.C.), was an Athenian general. He became a

central figure in the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between Athens and Sparta from
431 to 404 B.C.

Alcibiades was the ward of the Athenian leader Pericles and a favorite pupil of Socrates, a
famous Greek philosopher. He entered politics in 420 B.C. and soon became popular for his
aggressive foreign policy.

Alcibiades' policy led Athens to a battle with Sparta in 418 B.C., which Athens lost. Later, he
convinced the Athenians to invade Sicily. In 415 B.C., just before the invasion began, citizens
accused Alcibiades of defacing statues of the god Hermes and of mocking the religious
rituals known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Athenians refused his request for an
immediate trial, so he sailed on to Sicily. Shortly after arriving in Sicily, Alcibiades was called
back to Athens for trial. But he escaped to Sparta. He advised the Spartans to aid the
Sicilians, and the Athenians were defeated in Sicily.

Later, the Spartans grew suspicious of Alcibiades. Alcibiades then became an adviser to the
Persian leader Tissaphernes. In 411 B.C., the Athenians asked Alcibiades to lead their fleet
at Samos. With this navy, he defeated the Spartans in several battles and became a hero. In
406 B.C., however, the Spartan general Lysander defeated Alcibiades' fleet. After Athens'
final defeat in the war, Alcibiades fled to Asia Minor (now part of Turkey). There, his enemies
set fire to his house, and he died trying to escape.

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