Alcibiades: Alcibiades, Son of Cleinias

Alcibiades
Alcibiades, son of Cleinias[a] /ˌælsəˈbaɪədiz/ Ancient

Alcibiades
Greek: Ἀλκιβιάδης, romanized: Alkibiádēs, [alkibiádɛːs];
(c. 450–404 BC), from the deme of Scambonidae, was a
prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He
was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic
family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence
after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in the
second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military
commander, and politician.
During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades

changed his political allegiance several times. In his native
Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated an aggressive
foreign policy and was a prominent proponent of the
Sicilian Expedition, but he fled to Sparta after his political Alcibiades Being Taught by Socrates (1776) by
enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In François-André Vincent (Musée Fabre)
Sparta, he served as a strategic adviser, proposing or
Born c. 450 BC
supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In
Athens, Greece
Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful
enemies and felt forced to defect to Persia. There he Died 404 BC
served as an adviser to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Mount Elafos, Phrygia,
Athenian political allies brought about his recall. He then Achaemenid Empire
served as an Athenian general (Strategos) for several
Allegiance Athens
years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him
a second time. (415–412 BC Sparta)
(412–411 BC Persia)
Scholars have argued that had the Sicilian expedition been Rank General (Strategos)
under Alcibiades's command instead of that of Nicias, the
expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous Battles/wars Sicilian Expedition (415 BC)
fate.[1] In the years when he served Sparta, Alcibiades Battle of Abydos (410 BC)
played a significant role in Athens's undoing; the capture Battle of Cyzicus (410 BC)
of Decelea and the revolts of several critical Athenian Siege of Byzantium (408 BC)
subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his
supervision. Once restored to his native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories
that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently
winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege.[2] Alcibiades's military and political talents
frequently proved valuable to whichever state currently held his allegiance, but his propensity for making
powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one place for long; and by the end of the war that he had
helped to rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance were a bygone memory.
Contents
Early years
Political career until 412 BC
Rise to prominence
Sicilian Expedition
Defection to Sparta
Defection to Achaemenid Empire in Asia Minor
Recall to Athens
Negotiations with the Athenian oligarchs
Reinstatement as an Athenian General
Battles of Abydos and Cyzicus
Further military successes
Return to Athens, dismissal, and death
Return to Athens
Defeat at Notium
Death
Assessments
Political career
Military achievements
Skill in oratory
References in popular culture
Notes
Citations
References
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Further reading
External links
Early years
Alcibiades was born in Athens. His father was Cleinias,[3] who had
distinguished himself in the Persian War both as a fighter himself and
by personally subsidizing the cost of a trireme. The family of Cleinias
had old connections with the Spartan aristocracy through a
relationship of xenia, and the name "Alcibiades" was of Spartan
origin.[4][5] Alcibiades' mother was Deinomache, the daughter of
Megacles, head of the powerful Alcmaeonid family, and could trace
her family back to Eurysaces and the Telamonian Ajax.[6] Alcibiades
thereby, through his mother, belonged to the powerful and
controversial family of the Alcmaeonidae; the renowned Pericles and
Jean-Baptiste Regnault: Socrates
his brother Ariphron were Deinomache's cousins, as her father and dragging Alcibiades from the
their mother were siblings.[7] His maternal grandfather, also named Embrace of Sensual Pleasure (1791)
Alcibiades, was a friend of Cleisthenes, the famous constitutional (Louvre)
reformer of the late 6th century BC.[8] After the death of Cleinias at
the Battle of Coronea (447 BC), Pericles and Ariphron became his
guardians.[9]
According to Plutarch, Alcibiades had several famous teachers, including Socrates, and was well trained in the
art of rhetoric.[b] He was noted, however, for his unruly behavior, which was mentioned by ancient Greek and
Latin writers on several occasions.[c] It was believed that Socrates took Alcibiades as a student because he
believed he could change Alcibiades from his vain ways. Xenophon attempted to clear Socrates's name at trial
by relaying information that Alcibiades was always corrupt and that Socrates merely failed in attempting to
teach him morality.[17]
Alcibiades took part in the

Battle of Potidaea in 432 BC,
where Socrates was said to
have saved his life[18] and
again at the Battle of Delium
in 424 BC.[d] Alcibiades had
a particularly close
relationship with Socrates,
whom he admired and Jean-Léon Gérôme: Socrates
respected. [21][22] Plutarch seeking Alcibiades in the House of
Battle of Potidaea (432 BC):
Athenians against Corinthians and Plato[23] describe Aspasia (1861)
(detail). Scene of Socrates saving Alcibiades as Socrates's
Alcibiades. 18th-century engraving. beloved, the former stating
that Alcibiades "feared and reverenced Socrates alone, and despised
the rest of his lovers".[24]
Alcibiades was married to Hipparete, the daughter of Hipponicus, a wealthy Athenian. His bride brought with
her a large dowry, which significantly increased Alcibiades' already substantial family fortune.[4] According to
Plutarch, Hipparete loved her husband, but she attempted to divorce him because he consorted with courtesans
but prevented her from appearing at court. He seized her in court and carried her home again through the
crowded Agora.[25]:185 She lived with him until her death, which came soon after, and gave birth to two
children, a son named Alcibiades the Younger and a daughter.[14] Alcibiades was famed throughout his life for
his physical attractiveness, of which he was inordinately vain.[4]
Political career until 412 BC
Rise to prominence
Alcibiades first rose to prominence when he began advocating aggressive Athenian action after the signing of
the Peace of Nicias. That treaty, an uneasy truce between Sparta and Athens signed midway through the
Peloponnesian War, came at the end of seven years of fighting during which neither side had gained a decisive
advantage. Historians Arnold W. Gomme and Raphael Sealey believe, and Thucydides reports,[26] that
Alcibiades was offended that the Spartans had negotiated that treaty through Nicias and Laches, overlooking
him on account of his youth.[27][28]
Disputes over the interpretation of the treaty led the Spartans to dispatch ambassadors to Athens with full
powers to arrange all unsettled matters. The Athenians initially received these ambassadors well, but
Alcibiades met with them in secret before they were to speak to the ecclesia (the Athenian Assembly) and told
them that the Assembly was haughty and had great ambitions.[29] He urged them to renounce their diplomatic
authority to represent Sparta, and instead allow him to assist them through his influence in Athenian
politics.[30] The representatives agreed and, impressed with Alcibiades, they alienated themselves from Nicias,
who genuinely wanted to reach an agreement with the Spartans.[29] The next day, during the Assembly,
Alcibiades asked them what powers Sparta had granted them to negotiate and they replied, as agreed, that they
had not come with full and independent powers. This was in direct contradiction to what they had said the day
before, and Alcibiades seized on this opportunity to denounce their character, cast suspicion on their aims, and
destroy their credibility. This ploy increased Alcibiades's standing while embarrassing Nicias, and Alcibiades
was subsequently appointed General. He took advantage of his increasing power to orchestrate the creation of
an alliance between Argos, Mantinea, Elis, and other states in the Peloponnese, threatening Sparta's
dominance in the region. According to Gomme, "it was a grandiose scheme for an Athenian general at the
head of a mainly Peloponnesian army to march through the Peloponnese cocking a snook at Sparta when her
reputation was at its lowest".[31] This alliance, however, would ultimately be defeated at the Battle of
Mantinea.[32]
Somewhere in the years 416–415 BC, a complex struggle took place between Hyperbolos on one side and
Nicias and Alcibiades on the other. Hyperbolos tried to bring about the ostracism of one of this pair, but Nicias
and Alcibiades combined their influence to induce the people to expel Hyperbolos instead.[33] This incident
reveals that Nicias and Alcibiades each commanded a personal following, whose votes were determined by
the wishes of the leaders.[28]
Alcibiades was not one of the Generals involved in the capture of Melos in 416–415 BC, but Plutarch
describes him as a supporter of the decree by which the grown men of Melos were killed and the women and
children enslaved.[34] An oration urging Alcibiades' ostracism, "Against Alcibiades" (historically attributed to
the orator Andocides but not in fact by him), alleges that Alcibiades had a child by one of these enslaved
women.[35]
Sicilian Expedition
In 415 BC, delegates from the Sicilian city of Segesta (Greek: Egesta) arrived
at Athens to plead for the support of the Athenians in their war against
Selinus. During the debates on the undertaking, Nicias was vehemently
opposed to Athenian intervention, explaining that the campaign would be
very costly and attacking the character and motives of Alcibiades, who had
emerged as a major supporter of the expedition.[37] On the other hand,
Alcibiades argued that a campaign in this new theatre would bring riches to
the city and expand the empire, just as the Persian Wars had. In his speech
Alcibiades predicted (over-optimistically, in the opinion of most historians)
that the Athenians would be able to recruit allies in the region and impose
their rule on Syracuse, the most powerful city of Sicily.[38] In spite of
Alcibiades's enthusiastic advocacy for the plan, it was Nicias, not he, who
turned a modest undertaking into a massive campaign and made the conquest
of Sicily seem possible and safe.[39] It was at his suggestion that the size of
the fleet was significantly increased from 60 ships[40] to "140 galleys, 5,100
men at arms, and about 1300 archers, slingers, and light armed men".[41]
Philosopher Leo Strauss underscores that the Sicilian expedition surpassed
everything undertaken by Pericles. Almost certainly Nicias's intention was to Roman copy of a late fifth-
shock the assembly with his high estimate of the forces required, but, instead century BC Athenian herma.
of dissuading his fellow citizens, his analysis made them all the more Vandalizing hermai was one
eager.[42] Against his wishes Nicias was appointed General along with of the crimes of which
Alcibiades and Lamachus, all three of whom were given full powers to do Alcibiades was accused.[36]
whatever was in the best interests of Athens while in Sicily.[43]
One night during preparations for the expedition, the hermai, heads of the god Hermes on a plinth with a
phallus, were mutilated throughout Athens. This was a religious scandal, resulted in a charge of asebeia
(impiety) against Alcibiades, and was seen as a bad omen for the mission. Plutarch explains that Androcles, a
political leader, used false witnesses who accused Alcibiades and his friends of mutilating the statues, and of
profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries. Later his opponents, chief among them being Androcles and Thessalus,
Cimon's son, enlisted orators to argue that Alcibiades should set sail as planned and stand trial on his return
from the campaign. Alcibiades was suspicious of their intentions, and asked to be allowed to stand trial
immediately, under penalty of death, in order to clear his name.[36] This request was denied, and the fleet set
sail soon after, with the charges unresolved.[44]
As Alcibiades had suspected, his "Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a
absence emboldened his enemies, superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack
and they began to accuse him of being made. And we cannot fix the exact point at which our
empire shall stop; we have reached a position in which we
other sacrilegious actions and must not be content with retaining but must scheme to extend
comments and even alleged that it, for, if we cease to rule others, we are in danger of being
these actions were connected with a ruled ourselves. Nor can you look at inaction from the same
[46] point of view as others, unless you are prepared to change
plot against the democracy.
your habits and make them like theirs."
According to Thucydides, the
Alcibiades' Oration before the Sicilian expedition, as recorded
Athenians were always in fear and by Thucydides (VI, 18); Thucydides disclaims verbal accuracy
took everything suspiciously.[47] (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.+1.22&fr
When the fleet arrived in Catania, it omdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0105) [e]
found the state trireme Salaminia
waiting to bring Alcibiades and the others indicted for mutilating the hermai or profaning the Eleusinian
Mysteries back to Athens to stand trial.[47] Alcibiades told the heralds that he would follow them back to
Athens in his ship, but in Thurii he escaped with his crew; in Athens he was convicted in absentia and
condemned to death. His property was confiscated and a reward of one talent was promised to whoever
succeeded in killing any who had fled.[48] Meanwhile, the Athenian force in Sicily, after a few early victories,
moved against Messina, where the Generals expected their secret allies within the city to betray it to them.
Alcibiades, however, foreseeing that he would be outlawed, gave information to the friends of the Syracusans
in Messina, who succeeded in preventing the admission of the Athenians.[49] With the death of Lamachus in
battle some time later, command of the Sicilian Expedition fell into the hands of Nicias, admired by
Thucydides (however a modern scholar has judged him to be an inadequate military leader[1]).
Defection to Sparta
After his disappearance at Thurii, Alcibiades quickly contacted the Spartans, "promising to render them aid
and service greater than all the harm he had previously done them as an enemy" if they would offer him
sanctuary.[50] The Spartans granted this request and received him among them. Because of this defection, the
Athenians condemned him to death in absentia and confiscated his property.[51][52] In the debate at Sparta
over whether to send a force to relieve Syracuse, Alcibiades spoke and instilled fear of Athenian ambition into
the Spartan ephors by informing them that the Athenians hoped to conquer Sicily, Italy, and even Carthage.[53]
Yale historian Donald Kagan believes that Alcibiades knowingly exaggerated the plans of the Athenians to
convince the Spartans of the benefit they stood to gain from his help. Kagan asserts that Alcibiades had not yet
acquired his "legendary" reputation, and the Spartans saw him as "a defeated and hunted man" whose policies
"produced strategic failures" and brought "no decisive result". If accurate, this assessment underscores one of
Alcibiades's greatest talents, his highly persuasive oratory.[54] After making the threat seem imminent,
Alcibiades advised the Spartans to send troops and most importantly, a Spartan commander to discipline and
aid the Syracusans.[53]
Alcibiades served as a military "Our party was that of the whole people, our creed being to do
adviser to Sparta and helped the our part in preserving the form of government under which the
Spartans secure several crucial city enjoyed the utmost greatness and freedom, and which we
had found existing. As for democracy, the men of sense
successes. He advised them to build among us knew what it was, and I perhaps as well as any, as I
a permanent fort at Decelea, just have the more cause to complain of it; but there is nothing
over ten miles (16 km) from Athens new to be said of a patent absurdity—meanwhile we did not
[55] think it safe to alter it under the pressure of your hostility."
and within sight of the city. By
doing this, the Spartans cut the Alcibiades' Speech to the Spartans, as recorded by
Thucydides (VI, 89); Thucydides disclaims verbal accuracy (htt
Athenians off entirely from their ps://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.+1.22&from
homes and crops and the silver doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0105)
mines of Sunium. [54] This was part
of Alcibiades's plan to renew the war with Athens in Attica. The move was devastating to Athens and forced
the citizens to live within the long walls of the city year round, making them entirely dependent on their
seaborne trade for food. Seeing Athens thus beleaguered on a second front, members of the Delian League
began to contemplate revolt. In the wake of Athens's disastrous defeat in Sicily, Alcibiades sailed to Ionia with
a Spartan fleet and succeeded in persuading several critical cities to revolt.[56][57]
In spite of these valuable contributions to the Spartan cause, Alcibiades fell out of favor with the Spartan
government at around this time, ruled by Agis II.[58] Leotychides, the son born by Agis's wife Timaea, Queen
of Sparta, shortly after this, was believed by many to be Alcibiades's son.[59][60] An alternate account asserts
that Alcibiades took advantage of King Agis' absence with the Spartan Army in Attica and seduced his wife,
Timonassa.[25]:207
Alcibiades's influence was further reduced after the retirement of Endius, the ephor who was on good terms
with him.[61] It is alleged that Astyochus, a Spartan Admiral, was sent orders to kill him, but Alcibiades
received warning of this order and defected to the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, who had been supporting the
Peloponnesian forces financially in 412 BC.[62]
Defection to Achaemenid Empire in Asia Minor
On his arrival in the local Persian court, Alcibiades won the

trust of the powerful satrap and made several policy
suggestions which were well received. According to
Thucydides, Alcibiades immediately began to do all he
could with Tissaphernes to injure the Peloponnesian cause.
At his urging, the satrap reduced the payments he was
making to the Peloponnesian fleet and began delivering
them irregularly.[62] Alcibiades next advised Tissaphernes to Coinage of Achaemenid Satrap Tissaphernes,
bribe the Generals of the cities to gain valuable intelligence who received Alcibiades as an advisor. Astyra,
on their activities. Lastly, and most importantly, he told the Mysia. Circa 400–395 BC
satrap to be in no hurry to bring the Persian fleet into the
conflict, as the longer the war dragged out the more
exhausted the combatants would become. This would allow the Persians to more easily conquer the region in
the aftermath of the fighting. Alcibiades tried to convince the satrap that it was in Persia's interest to wear both
Athens and Sparta out at first, "and after docking the Athenian power as much as he could, forthwith to rid the
country of the Peloponnesians".[63]
Although Alcibiades's advice benefited the Persians, it was merely a means to an end; Thucydides tells us that
his real motive was to use his alleged influence with the Persians to effect his restoration to Athens.[64]
Alcibiades was one of several Greek aristocrats who took refuge in the Achaemenid Empire following
reversals at home, other famous ones being Themistocles, Demaratos or Gongylos.[65] According to
Thucydides (Thuc.8.47), Alcibiades also advised the Achaemenid king (Darius II), and therefore he may also
have traveled to Susa or Babylonia to encounter him.[65][64]
Recall to Athens
Negotiations with the Athenian oligarchs
Alcibiades seemed to assume that the "radical democracy" would never agree to his recall to Athens.[66]
Therefore, he exchanged messages with the Athenian leaders at Samos and suggested that if they could install
an oligarchy friendly to him he would return to Athens and bring with him Persian money and possibly the
Persian fleet of 147 triremes.[67] Alcibiades set about winning over the most influential military officers, and
achieved his goal by offering them a threefold plan: the Athenian constitution was to be changed, the recall of
Alcibiades was to be voted, and Alcibiades was to win over Tissaphernes and the King of Persia to the
Athenian side. Most of the officers in the Athenian fleet accepted the plan and welcomed the prospect of a
narrower constitution, which would allow them a greater share in determining policy. According to
Thucydides, only one of the Athenian Generals at Samos, Phrynichus, opposed the plan and argued that
Alcibiades cared no more for the proposed oligarchy than for the traditional democracy.[68] The involvement
in the plot of another General, Thrasybulus, remains unclear.[f]
These officers of the Athenian fleet formed a group of conspirators, but were met with opposition from the
majority of the soldiers and sailors; these were eventually calmed down "by the advantageous prospect of the
pay from the king".[71] The members of the group assembled and prepared to send Pisander, one of their
number, on an embassy to Athens to treat for the restoration of Alcibiades and the abolition of democracy in
the city, and thus to make Tissaphernes the friend of the Athenians.[72]
Phrynichus, fearing that Alcibiades if restored would avenge himself upon him for his opposition, sent a secret
letter to the Spartan Admiral, Astyochus, to tell him that Alcibiades was ruining their cause by making
Tissaphernes the friend of the Athenians, and containing an express revelation of the rest of the intrigue.
Astyochus went up to Alcibiades and Tissaphernes at Magnesia and communicated to them Phrynichus's letter.
Alcibiades responded in kind, sending to the authorities at Samos a letter against Phrynichus, stating what he
had done, and requiring that he should be put to death.[73] Phrynichus in desperation wrote again to
Astyochus, offering him a chance to destroy the Athenian fleet at Samos. This also Astyochus revealed to
Alcibiades who informed the officers at Samos that they had been betrayed by Phrynichus. Alcibiades
however gained no credit, because Phrynichus had anticipated Alcibiades's letter and, before the accusations
could arrive, told the army that he had received information of an enemy plan to attack the camp and that they
should fortify Samos as quickly as possible.[74]
Despite these events, Pisander and the other envoys of the conspirators arrived at Athens and made a speech
before the people. Pisander won the argument, putting Alcibiades and his promises at the center. The Ecclesia
deposed Phrynichus and elected Pisander and ten other envoys to negotiate with Tissaphernes and
Alcibiades.[75]
At this point, Alcibiades's scheme encountered a great obstacle. Tissaphernes would not make an agreement
on any terms, wanting to follow his policy of neutrality.[76] As Kagan points out, Tissaphernes was a prudent
leader and had recognized the advantages of wearing each side out without direct Persian involvement.[77]
Alcibiades realized this and, by presenting the Athenians with stiffer and stiffer demands on Tissaphernes's
behalf, attempted to convince them that he had persuaded Tissaphernes to support them, but that they had not
conceded enough to him. Although the envoys were angered at the audacity of the Persian demands, they
nevertheless departed with the impression that Alcibiades could have brought about an agreement among the
powers if he had chosen to do so.[78] This fiasco at the court of Tissaphernes, however, put an end to the
negotiations between the conspirators and Alcibiades.[76] The group was convinced that Alcibiades could not
deliver his side of the bargain without demanding exorbitantly high concessions of them and they accordingly
abandoned their plans to restore him to Athens.[78]
Reinstatement as an Athenian General

In spite of the failure of the negotiations, the conspirators succeeded in overthrowing the democracy and
imposing the oligarchic government of the Four Hundred, among the leaders of which were Phrynichus and
Pisander. At Samos, however, a similar coup instigated by the conspirators did not go forward so smoothly.
Samian democrats learned of the conspiracy and notified four prominent Athenians: the generals Leon and
Diomedon, the trierarch Thrasybulus, and Thrasyllus, at that time a hoplite in the ranks. With the support of
these men and the Athenian soldiers in general, the Samian democrats were able to defeat the 300 Samian
oligarchs who attempted to seize power there.[79] Further, the Athenian troops at Samos formed themselves
into a political assembly, deposed their generals, and elected new ones, including Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus.
The army, stating that they had not revolted from the city but that the city had revolted from them, resolved to
stand by the democracy while continuing to prosecute the war against Sparta.[80]
After a time, Thrasybulus persuaded the assembled troops to vote Alcibiades's recall, a policy that he had
supported since before the coup. Then he sailed to retrieve Alcibiades and returned with him to Samos. The
aim of this policy was to win away Persian support from the Spartans, as it was still believed that Alcibiades
had great influence with Tissaphernes.[81] Plutarch claims that the army sent for Alcibiades so as to use his
help in putting down the tyrants in Athens.[82] Kagan argues that this reinstatement was a disappointment to
Alcibiades, who had hoped for a glorious return to Athens itself but found himself only restored to the
rebellious fleet, where the immunity from prosecution he had been granted "protected him for the time being
but not from a reckoning in the future"; furthermore, the recall, which Alcibiades had hoped to bring about
through his own prestige and perceived influence, was achieved through the patronage of Thrasybulus.[83]
At his first speech to the assembled troops, Alcibiades complained bitterly about the circumstances of his exile,
but the largest part of the speech consisted of boasting about his influence with Tissaphernes. The primary
motives of his speech were to make the oligarchs at Athens afraid of him and to increase his credit with the
army at Samos. Upon hearing his speech the troops immediately elected him General alongside Thrasybulus
and the others. In fact, he roused them so much that they proposed to sail at once for Piraeus and attack the
oligarchs in Athens.[84] It was primarily Alcibiades, along with Thrasybulus, who calmed the people and
showed them the folly of this proposal, which would have sparked civil war and led to the immediate defeat of
Athens.[82] Shortly after Alcibiades's reinstatement as an Athenian general, the government of the Four
Hundred was overthrown and replaced by a broader oligarchy, which would eventually give way to
democracy.[85]
Presently Alcibiades sailed to Tissaphernes with a detachment of ships. According to Plutarch, the supposed
purpose of this mission was to stop the Persian fleet from coming to the aid of the Peloponnesians.[82]
Thucydides is in agreement with Plutarch that the Persian fleet was at Aspendus and that Alcibiades told the
troops he would bring the fleet to their side or prevent it from coming at all, but Thucydides further speculates
that the real reason was to flaunt his new position to Tissaphernes and try to gain some real influence over
him.[84] According to the historian, Alcibiades had long known that Tissaphernes never meant to bring the
fleet at all.[86]
Battles of Abydos and Cyzicus
Alcibiades was recalled by the "intermediate regime" of The Five Thousand, the government which succeeded
the Four Hundred in 411, but it is most likely that he waited until 407 BC to actually return to the city.[87]
Plutarch tells us that, although his recall had already been passed on motion of Critias, a political ally of his,
Alcibiades was resolved to come back with glory.[88] While this was certainly his goal, it was again a means to
an end, that end being to avoid prosecution upon his return to Athens.
The next significant part he would play in the war would occur at the Battle of Abydos. Alcibiades had
remained behind at Samos with a small force while Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus led the greater part of the fleet
to the Hellespont. During this period, Alcibiades succeeded in raising money from Caria and the neighboring
area, with which he was able to pay the rowers and gain their
favor.[89] After the Athenian victory at Cynossema, both fleets
summoned all their ships from around the Aegean to join them for
what might be a decisive next engagement. While Alcibiades was still
en route, the two fleets clashed at Abydos, where the Peloponnesians
had set up their main naval base. The battle was evenly matched, and
raged for a long time, but the balance tipped towards the Athenians The Athenian strategy at Cyzicus.
when Alcibiades sailed into the Hellespont with eighteen Left: Alcibiades's decoy force (blue)
triremes.[88][90] The Persian satrap Pharnabazus, who had replaced lures the Spartan fleet (black) out to
Tissaphernes as the sponsor of the Peloponnesian fleet, moved his sea. Right: Thrasybulus and
land army to the shore to defend the ships and sailors who had Theramenes bring their squadrons in
behind the Spartans to cut off their
beached their ships. Only the support of the Persian land army and the
retreat towards Cyzicus, while
coming of night saved the Peloponnesian fleet from complete
Alcibiades turns to face the pursuing
destruction.[91]
force.
Shortly after the battle, Tissaphernes had arrived in the Hellespont and
Alcibiades left the fleet at Sestos to meet him, bringing gifts and
hoping once again to try to win over the Persian governor. Evidently Alcibiades had gravely misjudged his
standing with the satrap, and he was arrested on arrival.[88] Within a month he would escape and resume
command.[92] It was now obvious, however, that he had no influence with the Persians; from now on his
authority would depend on what he actually could accomplish rather than on what he promised to do.[93]
After an interlude of several months in which the Peloponnesians constructed new ships and the Athenians
besieged cities and raised money throughout the Aegean, the next major sea battle took place the spring of 410
BC at Cyzicus. Alcibiades had been forced to flee from Sestos to Cardia to protect his small fleet from the
rebuilt Peloponnesian navy, but as soon as the Athenian fleet was reunited there its commanders led it to
Cyzicus, where the Athenians had intelligence indicating that Pharnabazus and Mindarus, the Peloponnesian
fleet commander, were together plotting their next move. Concealed by storm and darkness, the combined
Athenian force reached the vicinity without being spotted by the Peloponnesians.[92] Here the Athenians
devised a plot to draw the enemy into battle. According to Diodorus Siculus, Alcibiades advanced with a small
squadron in order to draw the Spartans out to battle, and, after he successfully deceived Mindarus with this
ploy, the squadrons of Thrasybulus and Theramenes came to join him, cutting off the Spartans' retreat.[g][96]
The Spartan fleet suffered losses in the flight and reached the shore with the Athenians in close pursuit.
Alcibiades's troops, leading the Athenian pursuit, landed and attempted to pull the Spartan ships back out to
sea. The Peloponnesians fought to prevent their ships from being towed away, and Pharnabazus's troops came
up to support them.[97] Thrasybulus landed his own force to temporarily relieve pressure on Alcibiades, and
meanwhile ordered Theramenes to join up with Athenian land forces nearby and bring them to reinforce the
sailors and marines on the beach. The Spartans and Persians, overwhelmed by the arrival of multiple forces
from several directions, were defeated and driven off, and the Athenians captured all the Spartan ships which
were not destroyed.[98][99] A letter dispatched to Sparta by Hippocrates, vice-admiral under Mindarus, was
intercepted and taken to Athens; it ran as follows: "The ships are lost. Mindarus is dead. The men are starving.
We know not what to do".[97] A short time later Sparta petitioned for peace, but their appeals were ultimately
rejected by the Athenians.[100]
Further military successes
After their victory, Alcibiades and Thrasybulus began the siege of Chalcedon in 409 BC with about 190
ships.[101] Although unable to attain a decisive victory or induce the city to surrender, Alcibiades was able to
win a small tactical land battle outside of the city gates and Theramenes concluded an agreement with the
Chalcedonians.[102] Afterwards they concluded a temporary alliance with Pharnabazus which secured some
much needed immediate cash for the army, but despite this Alcibiades
was still forced to depart in search for more booty to pay the soldiers
and oarsmen of the fleet.
In pursuit of these funds he traveled to the Thracian Chersonese and

attacked Selymbria. He plotted with a pro-Athenian party within the
city and offered the Selymbrians reasonable terms and imposed strict
discipline to see that they were observed. He did their city no injury
whatsoever, but merely took a sum of money from it, set a garrison in
Satellite image of the Thracian
it and left.[103] Epigraphical evidence indicates the Selymbrians
Chersonese (now known as the
surrendered hostages until the treaty was ratified in Athens.[2] His Gallipoli Peninsula) and surrounding
performance is judged as skillful by historians, since it saved time, area. Alcibiades traveled to the
resources, and lives and still fully achieved his goal.[2][104] Chersonese in 408 BC and attacked
the city of Selymbria on the north
From here Alcibiades joined in the siege of Byzantium along with shore of the Propontis.
Theramenes and Thrasyllus. A portion of the citizens of the city,
demoralized and hungry, decided to surrender the city to Alcibiades
for similar terms as the Selymbrians had received. On the designated night the defenders left their posts, and
the Athenians attacked the Peloponnesian garrison in the city and their boats in the harbor. The portion of the
citizenry that remained loyal to the Peloponnesians fought so savagely that Alcibiades issued a statement in the
midst of the fighting which guaranteed their safety and this persuaded the remaining citizens to turn against the
Peloponnesian garrison, which was nearly totally destroyed.[102]
Return to Athens, dismissal, and death
Return to Athens
It was in the aftermath of these successes that Alcibiades resolved to finally

return to Athens in the spring of 407 BC. Even in the wake of his recent
victories, Alcibiades was exceedingly careful in his return, mindful of the
changes in government, the charges still technically hanging over him, and the
great injury he had done to Athens. Thus Alcibiades, instead of going straight
home, first went to Samos to pick up 20 ships and proceeded with them to the
Ceramic Gulf where he collected 100 talents. He finally sailed to Gytheion to
make inquiries, partly about the reported preparations of the Spartans there,
and partly about the feelings in Athens about his return.[106] His inquiries
assured him that the city was kindly disposed towards him and that his closest
friends urged him to return.[107]
Therefore, he finally sailed into Piraeus where the crowd had gathered,
desiring to see the famous Alcibiades.[108] He entered the harbor full of fear The multitude saluting the
until he saw his cousin and others of his friends and acquaintance, who return of Alcibiades with
invited him to land. Upon arriving on shore he was greeted with a hero's loud acclamations.[105]
welcome. [109] Nevertheless, some saw an evil omen in the fact that he had
returned to Athens on the very day when the ceremony of the Plynteria (the
feast where the old statue of Athena would get cleansed) was being celebrated.[110] This was regarded as the
unluckiest day of the year to undertake anything of importance. His enemies took note of this and kept it in
mind for a future occasion.[111]
All the criminal proceedings against him were canceled and the charges of blasphemy were officially
withdrawn. Alcibiades was able to assert his piety and to raise Athenian morale by leading the solemn
procession to Eleusis (for the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries) by land for the first time since the
Spartans had occupied Decelea.[112] The procession had been replaced by a journey by sea, but this year
Alcibiades used a detachment of soldiers to escort the traditional procession.[113] His property was restored
and the ecclesia elected him supreme commander of land and sea (strategos autokrator).[114]
Defeat at Notium
In 406 BC Alcibiades set out from Athens with 1,500 hoplites and a hundred ships. He failed to take Andros
and then he went on to Samos. Later he moved to Notium, closer to the enemy at Ephesus.[115] In the
meanwhile Tissaphernes had been replaced by Cyrus the Younger (son of Darius II of Persia) who decided to
financially support the Peloponnesians. This new revenue started to attract Athenian deserters to the Spartan
navy. Additionally the Spartans had replaced Mindarus with Lysander, a very capable admiral. These factors
caused the rapid growth of the Peloponnesian fleet at the expense of the Athenian. In search of funds and
needing to force another decisive battle, Alcibiades left Notium and sailed to help Thrasybulus in the siege of
Phocaea.[116] Alcibiades was aware the Spartan fleet was nearby, so he left nearly eighty ships to watch them
under the command of his personal helmsman Antiochus, who was given express orders not to attack.
Antiochus disobeyed this single order and endeavored to draw Lysander into a fight by imitating the tactics
used at Cyzicus. The situation at Notium, however, was radically different from that at Cyzicus; the Athenians
possessed no element of surprise, and Lysander had been well informed about their fleet by deserters.[117]
Antiochus's ship was sunk, and he was killed by a sudden Spartan attack; the remaining ships of the decoy
force were then chased headlong back toward Notium, where the main Athenian force was caught unprepared
by the sudden arrival of the whole Spartan fleet. In the ensuing fighting, Lysander gained an entire victory.
Alcibiades soon returned and desperately tried to undo the defeat at Notium by scoring another victory, but
Lysander could not be compelled to attack the fleet again.[118]
Responsibility for the defeat ultimately fell on Alcibiades, and his enemies used the opportunity to attack him
and have him removed from command, although some modern scholars believe that Alcibiades was unfairly
blamed for Antiochus's mistake.[119] Diodorus reports that, in addition to his mistake at Notium, Alcibiades
was discharged on account of false accusations brought against him by his enemies.[98] According to Anthony
Andrewes, professor of ancient history, the extravagant hopes that his successes of the previous summer had
created were a decisive element in his downfall.[115] Consequently, Alcibiades condemned himself to
exile.[98] Never again returning to Athens, he sailed north to the castles in the Thracian Chersonese, which he
had secured during his time in the Hellespont. The implications of the defeat were severe for Athens. Although
the defeat had been minor, it occasioned the removal of not only Alcibiades but also his allies like
Thrasybulus, Theramenes and Critias.[114] These were likely the most capable commanders Athens had at the
time, and their removal would help lead to the Athenian surrender only two years later, after their complete
defeat at Aegospotami.[120]
Death
With one exception, Alcibiades's role in the war ended with his command. Prior to the Battle of Aegospotami,
in the last attested fact of his career,[121] Alcibiades recognized that the Athenians were anchored in a tactically
disadvantageous spot and advised them to move to Sestus where they could benefit from a harbor and a
city.[122] Diodorus, however, does not mention this advice, arguing instead that Alcibiades offered the
Generals Thracian aid in exchange for a share in the command.[h] In any case, the Generals of the Athenians,
"considering that in case of defeat the blame would attach to them and that in case of success all men would
attribute it to Alcibiades", asked him to leave and not come near the camp ever again.[122][125] Days later the
fleet would be annihilated by Lysander.
After the Battle of
Aegospotami, Alcibiades
crossed the Hellespont and
took refuge in Hellespontine
Phrygia, with the object of
securing the aid of the
Achaemenid King
Artaxerxes against
Alcibiades finished his days in
Sparta.[127] Alcibiades was
Hellespontine Phrygia, an
Achaemenid Empire satrapy ruled by
one of several Greek
Satrap Pharnabazus II.
aristocrats who took refuge in In 404 BC, Alcibiades, exiled in the
the Achaemenid Empire Achaemenid Empire province of
following reversals at home, Hellespontine Phrygia, was
other famous ones being Themistocles, Hippias, Demaratos and assassinated by Persian soldiers,
Gongylos.[65] In general, those were generously welcomed by the who may have been following the
Achaemenid kings, and received land grants to support them, and orders of Satrap Pharnabazus II, at
ruled in various cities of Asia Minor.[65] the instigation of Sparta. La mort
d'Alcibiade. Philippe Chéry, 1791.
Much about Alcibiades's death is now uncertain, as there are Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Rochelle.
conflicting accounts. According to the oldest of these, the Spartans
and specifically Lysander were responsible.[128] Though many of his
details cannot be independently corroborated, Plutarch's version is this: Lysander sent an envoy to
Pharnabazus who then dispatched his brother to Phrygia where Alcibiades was living with his mistress,
Timandra.[i]
In 404 BC, as he was about to set out for the Persian court, his residence was surrounded and set on fire.
Seeing no chance of escape he rushed out on his assassins, dagger in hand, and was killed by a shower of
arrows.[129] According to Aristotle, the site of Alcibiades's death was Elaphus, a mountain in Phrygia.[132]
Assessments
Political career
In ancient Greece, Alcibiades was a polarizing figure. According to

Thucydides, Alcibiades, being "exceedingly ambitious", proposed the
expedition in Sicily in order "to gain in wealth and reputation by
means of his successes". Alcibiades is not held responsible by
Thucydides for the destruction of Athens, since "his habits gave
offence to every one, and caused the Athenians to commit affairs to
other hands, and thus before long to ruin the city".[133] Plutarch
regards him as "the least scrupulous and most entirely careless of
Epitaph for Ipparetea, daughter of
human beings".[134] On the other hand, Diodorus argues that he was
Alcibiades (Kerameikos Cemetery,
"in spirit brilliant and intent upon great enterprises".[135] Sharon Press Athens).
of Brown University points out that Xenophon emphasizes
Alcibiades's service to the state, rather than the harm he was charged
with causing it.[136][137] Demosthenes defends Alcibiades's achievements, saying that he had taken arms in
the cause of democracy, displaying his patriotism, not by gifts of money or by speeches, but by personal
service.[138] For Demosthenes and other orators, Alcibiades epitomized the figure of the great man during the
glorious days of the Athenian democracy and became a rhetorical symbol.[139] One of Isocrates' speeches,
delivered by Alcibiades the Younger, argues that the statesman deserved the Athenians' gratitude for the
service he had given them.[140] Lysias, on the other hand, argued in one of his orations that the Athenians
should regard Alcibiades as an enemy because of the general tenor of his life, as "he repays with injury the
open assistance of any of his friends".[141][142] In the Constitution of the Athenians, Aristotle does not include
Alcibiades in the list of the best Athenian politicians, but in Posterior Analytics he argues that traits of a proud
man like Alcibiades are "equanimity amid the vicissitudes of life and impatience of dishonor".[143][144]
Alcibiades excited in his contemporaries a fear for the safety of the political order.[145] Therefore, Andocides
said of him that "instead of holding that he ought himself to conform with the laws of the state, he expects you
to conform with his own way of life".[146] Central to the depiction of the Athenian statesman is Cornelius
Nepos' famous phrase that Alcibiades "surpassed all the Athenians in grandeur and magnificence of
living".[147]
Even today, Alcibiades divides scholars. For Malcolm F. McGregor, former head of the Department of
Classics in the University of British Columbia, Alcibiades was rather a shrewd gambler than a mere
opportunist.[148] Evangelos P. Fotiadis, a prominent Greek philologist, asserts that Alcibiades was "a first class
diplomat" and had "huge skills". Nevertheless, his spiritual powers were not counterbalanced with his
magnificent mind and he had the hard luck to lead a people susceptible to demagoguery.[8] K.
Paparrigopoulos, a major modern Greek historian, underlines his "spiritual virtues" and compares him with
Themistocles, but he then asserts that all these gifts created a "traitor, an audacious and impious man".[149]
Walter Ellis believes that his actions were outrageous, but they were performed with panache.[150] For his part,
David Gribble argues that Alcibiades's actions against his city were misunderstood and believes that "the
tension which led to Alcibiades's split with the city was between purely personal and civic values".[151]
Russell Meiggs, a British ancient historian, asserts that the Athenian statesman was absolutely unscrupulous
despite his great charm and brilliant abilities. According to Meiggs his actions were dictated by selfish motives
and his feud with Cleon and his successors undermined Athens. The same scholar underscores the fact that
"his example of restless and undisciplined ambition strengthened the charge brought against Socrates".[58]
Even more critically, Athanasios G. Platias and Constantinos Koliopoulos, professors of strategic studies and
international politics, state that Alcibiades's own arguments "should be sufficient to do away with the notion
that Alcibiades was a great statesman, as some people still believe".[152] Writing from a different perspective,
psychologist Anna C. Salter cites Alcibiades as exhibiting "all the classic features of psychopathy."[153] A
similar assessment is made by Hervey Cleckley at the end of chapter 5 in his The Mask of Sanity.[154]
Military achievements
Despite his critical comments, Thucydides admits in a short digression

that "publicly his conduct of the war was as good as could be
desired".[133] Diodorus and Demosthenes regard him as a great
general.[135][138] According to Fotiadis, Alcibiades was an invincible
general and, wherever he went, victory followed him; had he led the
army in Sicily, the Athenians would have avoided disaster and, had
his countrymen followed his advice at Aegospotami, Lysander would
have lost and Athens would have ruled Greece.[8] On the other hand,
Paparrigopoulos believes that the Sicilian Expedition, prompted by Pietro Testa: The Drunken Alcibiades
Interrupting the Symposium (1648)
Alcibiades, was a strategic mistake.[155] In agreement with
Paparrigopoulos, Platias and Koliopoulos underscore the fact that the
Sicilian expedition was a strategic blunder of the first magnitude,
resulting from a "frivolous attitude and an unbelievable underestimation of the enemy".[38] For his part,
Angelos Vlachos, a Greek Academician, underlines the constant interest of Athens for Sicily from the
beginning of the war.[j] According to Vlachos, the expedition had nothing of the extravagant or adventurous
and constituted a rational strategic decision based on traditional Athenian aspirations.[158] Vlachos asserts that
Alcibiades had already conceived a broader plan: the conquest of the whole West.[159] He intended to conquer
Carthage and Libya, then to attack Italy and, after winning these, to
seize Italy and Peloponnesus.[157] The initial decision of the ecclesia
provided however for a reasonable military force, which later became
unreasonably large and costly because of Nicias's demands.[159]
Kagan criticizes Alcibiades for failing to recognize that the large size
of the Athenian expedition undermined the diplomatic scheme on
which his strategy rested.[160]
Kagan believes that while Alcibiades was a commander of

considerable ability, he was no military genius, and his confidence Félix Auvray (1800–1833): Alcibiades
and ambitions went far beyond his skills. He thus was capable of with the Courtesans (1833)
important errors and serious miscalculations. Kagan argues that at
Notium, Alcibiades committed a serious error in leaving the fleet in
the hands of an inexperienced officer, and that most of the credit for the brilliant victory at Cyzicus must be
assigned to Thrasybulus.[160] In this judgement, Kagan agrees with Cornelius Nepos, who said that the
Athenians' extravagant opinion of Alcibiades's abilities and valor was his chief misfortune.[161]
Press argues that "though Alcibiades can be considered a good General on the basis of his performance in the
Hellespont, he would not be considered so on the basis of his performance in Sicily", but "the strengths of
Alcibiades's performance as a General outweigh his faults".[136]
Skill in oratory
Plutarch asserts that "Alcibiades was a most able speaker in addition to his other gifts", while Theophrastus
argues that Alcibiades was the most capable of discovering and understanding what was required in a given
case. Nevertheless, he would often stumble in the midst of his speech, but then he would resume and proceed
with all the caution in the world.[162] Even the lisp he had, which was noticed by Aristophanes, made his talk
persuasive and full of charm.[163][164] Eupolis says that he was "prince of talkers, but in speaking most
incapable";[33] which is to say, more eloquent in his private discourses than when orating before the ecclesia.
For his part, Demosthenes underscores the fact that Alcibiades was regarded as "the ablest speaker of the
day".[138] Paparrigopoulos does not accept Demosthenes's opinion, but acknowledges that the Athenian
statesman could sufficiently support his case.[149] Kagan acknowledges his rhetorical power, whilst Thomas
Habinek, professor of Classics at the University of Southern California, believes that the orator Alcibiades
seemed to be whatever his audience needed on any given occasion.[165][166] According to Habinek, in the
field of oratory, the people responded to Alcibiades's affection with affection of their own. Therefore, the
orator was "the institution of the city talking to—and loving—itself".[166] According to Aristophanes, Athens
"yearns for him, and hates him too, but wants him back".[167]
References in popular culture

Alcibiades has not been spared by ancient comedy and stories attest to an epic confrontation between
Alcibiades and Eupolis resembling that between Aristophanes and Cleon.[139] He also appears as a character
in several Socratic dialogues (Symposium, Protagoras, Alcibiades I and II, as well as the eponymous dialogues
by Aeschines Socraticus and Antisthenes). Purportedly based on his own personal experience, Antisthenes
described Alcibiades's extraordinary physical strength, courage, and beauty, saying, "If Achilles did not look
like this, he was not really handsome."[168] In his trial, Socrates must rebut the attempt to hold him guilty for
the crimes of his former students, including Alcibiades.[169] Hence, he declares in Apology: "I have never
been anyone's teacher".[170]
Alcibiades has been depicted regularly in art, both in Medieval and
Renaissance works, and in several significant works of modern literature as
well.[171] He has been the main character in historical novels of authors like
Anna Bowman Dodd, Gertrude Atherton, Rosemary Sutcliff, Daniel
Chavarria, Steven Pressfield and Peter Green.[172]
Notes
a. /ˌælsɪˈbaɪ.ədiːz/ AL-sib-EYE-ə-deez (listen (http://cougar.eb.com/soun
dc11/bix/bixalc02.wav)) ; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκιβιάδης Κλεινίου
Σκαμβωνίδης, romanized: Alcibiádēs Cleiníu Scambōnídēs,
pronounced [alkibiádɛːs klei̯níuː skamboːnídɛːs].
An engraving by Agostino
b. Isocrates asserts that Alcibiades was never a pupil of Socrates.[10] Veneziano, reflecting a
Thus he does not agree with Plutarch's narration.[11] According to Renaissance view of
Isocrates, the purpose of this tradition was to accuse Socrates. Alcibiades
The rhetorician makes Alcibiades wholly the pupil of Pericles. [12]
c. According to Plutarch, who is Timeline of Alcibiades' life (c. 450–404 BC)

however criticized for using
"implausible or unreliable stories"
in order to construct Alcibiades's
portrait,[13] Alcibiades once wished
to see Pericles, but he was told
that Pericles could not see him,
because he was studying how to
render his accounts to the
Athenians. "Were it not better for
him," said Alcibiades, "to study
how not to render his accounts to
the Athenians?".[11] Plutarch
describes how Alcibiades "gave a
box on the ear to Hipponicus,
whose birth and wealth made him
a person of great influence." This
action received much disapproval,
since it was "unprovoked by any
passion of quarrel between them".
To smooth the incident over,
Alcibiades went to Hipponicus's
house and, after stripping naked,
"desired him to scourge and
chastise him as he pleased".
Hipponicus not only pardoned him
but also bestowed upon him the
hand of his daughter.[14] Another
example of his flamboyant nature
occurred during the Olympic
games of 416 where "he entered
seven teams in the chariot race,
more than any private citizen had
ever put forward, and three of them
came in first, second, and
fourth".[15] According to Andocides,
once Alcibiades competed against
a man named Taureas as choregos
of a chorus of boys and "Alcibiades
drove off Taureas with his fists. The
spectators showed their sympathy
with Taureas and their hatred of
Alcibiades by applauding the one
chorus and refusing to listen to the
other at all."[16]
d. Plutarch and Plato agree that
Alcibiades "served as a soldier in
the campaign of Potidaea and had
Socrates for his tentmate and
comrade in action" and "when
Alcibiades fell wounded, it was
Socrates who stood over him and
defended him".[11][19] Nonetheless,
Antisthenes insists that Socrates
saved Alcibiades at the Battle of
Delium.[20]
e. Thucydides records several
speeches which he attributes to
Pericles; but Thucydides
acknowledges that: "it was in all
cases difficult to carry them word
for word in one's memory, so my
habit has been to make the
speakers say what was in my
opinion demanded of them by the
various occasions, of course
adhering as closely as possible to
the general sense of what they
really said."[45]
f. Kagan has suggested that
Thrasybulus was one of the
founding members of the scheme
and was willing to support
moderate oligarchy, but was
alienated by the extreme actions
taken by the plotters.[69] Robert J.
Buck, on the other hand, maintains
that Thrasybulus was probably
never involved in the plot, possibly
because he was absent from
Samos at the time of its
inception.[70]
g. In the case of the battle of Cyzicus,
Robert J. Littman, professor at
Brandeis University, points out the
different accounts given by
Xenophon and Diodorus.
According to Xenophon,
Alcibiades's victory was due to the
luck of a rainstorm, while,
according to Diodorus, it was due
to a carefully conceived plan.
Although most historians prefer the
accounts of Xenophon,[94] Jean Hatzfeld remarks that Diodorus's accounts contain many
interesting and unique details.[95]
h. Plutarch mentions Alcibiades's advice, writing that "he rode up on horseback and read the
generals a lesson. He said their anchorage was a bad one; the place had no harbor and no
city, but they had to get their supplies from Sestos".[123][124] B. Perrin regards Xenophon's
testimony as impeachable[121] and prefers Diodorus's account.[125] According to A. Wolpert, "it
would not have required a cynical reader to infer even from Xenophon's account that he
(Alcibiades) was seeking to promote his own interests when he came forward to warn the
generals about their tactical mistakes".[126]
i. According to Plutarch, some say that Alcibiades himself provoked his death, because he had
seduced a girl belonging to a well-known family.[129] Thus there are two versions of the story:
The assassins were probably either employed by the Spartans or by the brothers of the lady
whom Alcibiades had seduced.[130] According to Isocrates, when the Thirty Tyrants established
their rule, all Greece became unsafe for Alcibiades.[131]
j. Since the beginning of the war, the Athenians had already initiated two expeditions and sent a
delegation to Sicily.[156] Plutarch underscores that "on Sicily the Athenians had cast longing
eyes even while Pericles was living".[157]
Citations
1. A. Vlachos, Thucydides' Bias, 59 &c.
2. P.B. Kern, Ancient Siege Warfare, 151.
3. Plato, Alcibiades 1, 103a (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?layout=&doc=Perseus%3
Atext%3A1999.01.0176&query=section%3D%2388&loc=Alc.%201.120e).
4. W. Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 99
5. Herodotus 8.17, Thucydides 8.6.
6. Plato, Alcibiades 1, 121a (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A
1999.01.0176%3Atext%3DAlc.%201%3Apage%3D121).
7. C.A. Cox, Household Interests, 144.
8. "Alcibiades". Encyclopaedic Dictionary The Helios. 1952.
9. N. Denyer, Commentary of Plato's Alcibiades, 88–89.
10. Isocrates, Busiris, 5 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A199
9.01.0144&layout=&loc=11.5).
11. Plutarch, Alcibiades, 7 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1
999.01.0182&query=chapter%3D%237&layout=&loc=Alc.%208.1).
12. Y. Lee Too, The Rhetoric of Identity in Isocrates, 216.
13. D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 30.
15. Plutarch, Alcibiades, 12 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A
1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%2312;layout=;loc=Alc.%2011.1).
16. Andocides, Against Alcibiades, 20 (http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbn
ame=GreekFeb2011&getid=1&query=Andoc.%204.20).
17. http://praxeology.net/sqalcibiades.htm
18. Plato, Symposium, 220e (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A
1999.01.0174%3Atext%3DSym.%3Asection%3D220e).
19. Plato, Symposium, 221a (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3
A1999.01.0174&query=section%3D%23727&layout=&loc=Sym.%20220e).
20. I. Sykoutris, Symposium of Plato (Comments), 225.
21. I. Sykoutris, Introduction to Symposium, 159–10.
22. Plato, Symposium, 215a–22b (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Ate
xt%3A1999.01.0174;layout=;query=section%3D%23697;loc=Sym.%20215b).
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37. Thucydides 6.8–23
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42. L. Strauss, The City and Man, 104.
43. Thucydides, 6.26.
48. D. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 273
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60. Plutarch, Agesilaus, III.
61. P.J. Rhodes, A History of the Classical Greek World, 144.
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66. T. Buckley, Aspects of Greek History, 411.
68. R. Sealey, A History of the Greek City States, 359.
69. Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 385.
70. R.J. Buck, Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy, 27–28.
76. D. Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, 136–38.
77. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 366.
78. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, 8.56.
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87. Cartwright-Warner, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, 301.
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90. Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.5 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atex
t%3A1999.01.0206).
94. R.J. Littman, The Strategy of the Battle of Cyzicus, 271.
95. J. Hatzfeld, Alcibiade, 271
96. Diodorus, XIII, 50–51 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A199
9.01.0084%3Abook%3D13%3Achapter%3D50).
97. Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.17–23 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3A
text%3A1999.01.0206).
98. Diodorus, Library, xiii, 74.4 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%
3A1999.01.0084%3Abook%3D13%3Achapter%3D74)
99. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 410–13.
00. Diodorus, Library, 52–53 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3
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02. Diodorus, Library, xiii, 67.1 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+13.66&fromd
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1999.01.0182&query=chapter%3D%2330&layout=&loc=Alc.%2029.1)
05. Text on page 257, image on the following page. Macgregor, Mary (190). The story of Greece :
told to boys and girls (https://archive.org/details/storyofgreecetol00macg/page/256). London :
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06. Xenophon, Hellenica, 1, 4, 8–12 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3A
text%3A1999.01.0206&layout=&loc=1.4.1).
07. B. Due, The Return of Alcibiades, 39
08. Xenophon, Hellenica, 1, 4, 13 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Ate
xt%3A1999.01.0206&layout=&loc=1.4.1).
1999.01.0182&layout=&loc=Alc.+34.1).
11. D Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, 290.
12. S. Price, Religions of the Ancient Greeks, 54
13. Xenophon, Hellenica, 1, 4, 18 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Ate
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14. Plutarch, Alcibiades, 33 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2
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15. A. Andrewes, The Spartan Resurgence, 490
18. For the accepted account of the battle see Plutarch, Alcibiades, 35 (https://www.perseus.tufts.e
du/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182&layout=&loc=Alc.+35.1) or the
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19. G. Cawkwell, Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War, 143
21. B. Perrin, The Death of Alcibiades , 25–37.
22. Xenophon, Hellenica, 2.1.25 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:199
9.01.0206&query=section%3D%23217).
24. Plutarch, Comparison with Coriolanus, 2
25. Diodorus, Library, xiii, 105 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%
3A1999.01.0084&query=chapter%3D%23357&layout=&loc=13.104.1).
26. A. Wolpert, Remembering Defeat, 5.
27. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alcibiades". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1
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28. Isocrates, Concerning the Team of Horses, 16.40 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?d
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30. H.T. Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/pte
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Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, 39.
31. Isocrates, Concerning the Team of Horses, 40 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc
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32. Aristotle, History of Animals, 578b27 (http://www.tcnj.edu/~chai2/literature/piece/151_History-of
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33. Thucydides, VI, 15 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A199
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34. Plutarch, The Comparison of Alcibiades with Coriolanus, 5
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37. Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.4. 18 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atex
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38. Demosthenes, Against Meidias, 144–45 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Dem.
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39. D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 32–33.
40. Isocrates, Concerning the Team of Horses, 15 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc
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48. M.F. McGregor, The Genius of Alkibiades, 27–50.
49. Κ. Paparrigopoulos, History of the Greek Nation, Αβ, 264–68.
50. W. Ellis, Alcibiades, 18.
51. D. Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens, 55 &c.
52. A.G. Platias and C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 240.
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61. Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades, VII (http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/nepos/nepos.alc.shtml).
63. Aristophanes, Wasps, 44 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3
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68. E. Corrigan, Plato's Dialectic at Play, 169; C. Kahn, "Aeschines on Socratic Eros", 90.
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Strauss, Leo (1978). The City and Man. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-77701-6.
Sykoutris, Ioannis (1934). Symposium (Introduction and Comments). Estia. In Greek.
Vlachos, Angelos (1974). Thucydides' Bias. Estia (in Greek).
Wolpert, Andrew (2002). Remembering Defeat: Civil War and Civic Memory in Ancient Athens.
Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-6790-3.
Further reading
Atherton, Gertrude (2004). The Jealous Gods. Kessinger Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-4179-
2807-1.
Benson, E.F. (1929). The Life of Alcibiades: The Idol of Athens. New York: D. Appleton Co.
ISBN 978-1-4563-0333-4.
Bury, J.B.; Meiggs, Russell (1975). A History of Greece (4th ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press.
Bury, J.B.; Cook, S.A.; Adcock, F.E., eds. (1927). The Cambridge Ancient History. 5. New York:
Macmillan.
Chavarria, Daniel (2005). The Eye Of Cybele. Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1-888451-67-2.
Forde, Steven (1989). The Ambition to Rule Alcibiades and the Politics of Imperialism in
Thucydides. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Green, Peter (1967). Achilles his Armour
(https://archive.org/details/achilleshisarmou0000gree). Doubleday.
Henderson, Bernard W. (1927). The Great War Between Athens and Sparta: A Companion to
the Military History of Thucydides. London: Macmillan.
Hughes-Hallett, Lucy (2004). Heroes: A History of Hero Worship. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
ISBN 1-4000-4399-9.
Meiggs, Russell (1972). The Athenian Empire. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Pressfield, Steven (2000). Tides of War: A Novel of Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War.
Doubleday, New York. ISBN 0-385-49252-9.
Robinson, Cyril Edward (1916). The Days of Alkibiades (https://archive.org/details/daysofalkibi
ades00robi). E. Arnold.
Romilly de, Jacqueline (1997). Alcibiade, ou, Les Dangers de l'Ambition (in French). LGF.
ISBN 978-2-253-14196-9.
Stuttard, David (2018). Nemesis: Alcibiades and the Fall of Athens. Harvard University Press.
ISBN 9780674660441.
Sutcliff, Rosemary (1971). Flowers of Adonis. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 978-0-340-
15090-0.
External links
Biographical
"Alcibiades was an Athenian general in the Peloponnesian War" (http://ancienthistory.about.co

m/cs/people/a/alcibiades.htm). Bingley.
"Alcibiades" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060905000755/http://www.glbtq.com/social-scienc
es/alcibiades.html). Endres, Nikolai. Archived from the original (http://www.glbtq.com/social-sci
ences/alcibiades.html) on 5 September 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
"Alcibiades: Aristocratic Ideal or Antisocial Personality Disorder" (http://h06.cgpublisher.com/pr
oposals/41/index_html). Evans, Kathleen. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060828185
600/http://h06.cgpublisher.com/proposals/41/index_html) from the original on 28 August 2006.
Retrieved 5 August 2006.
"Alcibiades" (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alcibiades-Athenian-politician-and-genera
l). Meiggs, Russell. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
"Alcibiades" (https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alcibiades/alcibiades.html). Prins, Marco-Lendering,
Jona. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060831114947/https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alcibi
ades/alcibiades.html) from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
"Alcibiades" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080222230558/http://www.bartleby.com/65/al/Alcib
iad.html). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001–05. Archived from the original on
2008-02-22. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
Texts and analyses
"Good Man, Bad Man, Traitor: Aspects of Alcibiades" (https://web.archive.org/web/2006091113

3925/http://faculty.ccc.edu/colleges/wright/greatbooks/Program/Symposm/Issue1/Arcan.htm).
Arcan, Gabriela. Archived from the original (http://faculty.ccc.edu/colleges/wright/greatbooks/Pr
ogram/Symposm/Issue1/Arcan.htm) on 11 September 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
"Thucydides and Civil War: the Case of Alcibiades" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070705050
328/http://www.prio.no/files/file46395_robert_faulkner_7final-thuccivil_war.doc). Faulkner,
Robert. Archived from the original (http://www.prio.no/files/file46395_robert_faulkner_7final-thu
ccivil_war.doc) on July 5, 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
"Survie d'un lion: Alcibiade" (http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/FE/10/Lion/Lion2.html). Loicq-Berger,
Marie-Paule. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060827081434/http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/F
E/10/Lion/Lion2.html) from the original on 27 August 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
"Alcibiades and the Sicilian Expedition" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070927021737/http://w
ww.bitsofnews.com/content/view/3686/42/). Rubio, Alexander G. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/3686/42/) on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
"Plato, Thucydides, and Alcibiades" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070705050414/http://www.
prio.no/files/file46404_thucydides_draft_henrik_syse.doc). Syse, Henrik. Archived from the
original (http://www.prio.no/files/file46404_thucydides_draft_henrik_syse.doc) on July 5, 2007.
Retrieved 5 August 2006.
"Alcibiades, Athens, and the Human Condition in Thucydides' History" (http://www.apaclassics.
org/AnnualMeeting/03mtg/abstracts/warren.html). Warren, Brian. Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20060819192700/http://www.apaclassics.org/AnnualMeeting/03mtg/abstracts/warren.
html) from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2006.
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Alcibiades: Alcibiades, Son of Cleinias

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Alcibiades

Alcibiades, son of Cleinias[a] /ˌælsəˈbaɪədiz/ Ancient

During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades

Alcibiades took part in the

Political career until 412 BC

Defection to Achaemenid Empire in Asia Minor

On his arrival in the local Persian court, Alcibiades won the

Reinstatement as an Athenian General

Battles of Abydos and Cyzicus

Further military successes

In pursuit of these funds he traveled to the Thracian Chersonese and

Return to Athens, dismissal, and death

It was in the aftermath of these successes that Alcibiades resolved to finally

In ancient Greece, Alcibiades was a polarizing figure. According to

Despite his critical comments, Thucydides admits in a short digression

Kagan believes that while Alcibiades was a commander of

References in popular culture

c. According to Plutarch, who is Timeline of Alcibiades' life (c. 450–404 BC)

"Alcibiades was an Athenian general in the Peloponnesian War" (http://ancienthistory.about.co

Texts and analyses

"Good Man, Bad Man, Traitor: Aspects of Alcibiades" (https://web.archive.org/web/2006091113

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alcibiades&oldid=1019976066"

This page was last edited on 26 April 2021, at 13:40 (UTC).

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