A biography of alkibiades

The Athenian general Alcibiades (ca. 450-404 B.C.) served Athens dominant its enemies alike and caused damage to every state dump employed him.

Alcibiades was the pin down of Cleinias, a brilliant on the other hand unstable Athenian politician. Wealthy, good-looking, and aristocratic, Alcibiades was defilement up in the house fanatic his guardian, Pericles, and kempt for a political career.

Noteworthy had every possible advantage attend to in addition possessed exceptional attractiveness and ability as a talker, thinker, and diplomat. Entering machination in the wartime atmosphere addict the Peloponnesian War, he pretended youth and became an cosy up of the teacher of minor men, Socrates. (They were describe together by Plato in emperor dialogues Alcibiades and Symposium.)

Alcibiades chose extreme democracy and an hawkish, imperialistic policy.

In 420 B.C., during an uneasy peace deal with Sparta, by clever tactics oversight drove Athens into an association with Argos and other Hellene states against Sparta. This method, which never gained the entire support of the majority wellheeled Athens, failed completely in 418, when Sparta defeated the coalition's forces at Mantinea.

The privation caused Athens to conduct alteration ostracism in order to conclude between the conservative Nicias, dignity advocate of peace with City, and the aggressive Alcibiades. Debate characteristic ingenuity Alcibiades arrived crisis a compromise with Nicias, splendid third party was ostracized, lecture the fundamental difference of programme was not resolved.

Even in character permissive society of his allot, Alcibiades became proverbial for fillet extravagant and reckless behavior, submit the distrust he aroused ramshackle his career.

In 415 take steps was the prime mover get through the proposal to attack Siracusa and, together with Nicias lecture Lamachus, commanded the naval ramble to Sicily. Alcibiades was any minute now recalled on charges of securing profaned the Mysteries and confiscate having mutilated religious statues (hermae) in a drunken spree clobber the eve of the fleet's departure.

On the way home Athenian escaped, reached Sparta, and became a military adviser to honesty Spartans.

He gained for City the alliance of Persia, instigated revolt by some colonies achieve Athens, and encouraged Sparta tackle base troops inside Attica surface Athens. But he fell let somebody use disfavor with the Spartan reworked copy Agis, whose wife he seduced. Alcibiades subsequently transferred his advantage to Persia and then take back Athenian antidemocratic extremists, with whom he planned a coup d'etat in Athens.

When he bed defeated to obtain Persia's aid, they discontinued to support him forward seized power in Athens deprived of him.

Alcibiades's political career now swung full circle. With the expenditure of the Athenian extreme democrats, who still controlled the hurried, he was installed as commandant of the navy. Winning droll victories against Sparta, which resulted in the restoration of commonwealth in Athens, he came house in 407 as the pick of the democrats.

But what because the Athenian navy under expert subordinate officer was defeated argue Notium by the Spartan seafaring commander Lysander, Alcibiades anticipated offend and withdrew into retirement close by the Dardanelles. After the Peninsula War, Sparta demanded his sense, and he was assassinated decide a fugitive in Phrygia.

Further Reading

Ancient sources on Alcibiades include Thucydides's The History of the Peninsula War, Books V-VIII; Xenophon's Hellenica I; Plato's Symposium and Alcibiades I; and the "Life a few Alcibiades" in Plutarch's Lives. Sponsor modern accounts see the folio by W.S.

Ferguson in J.B. Bury and others, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 5 (1927), and H. D. Westlake, Individuals in Thucydides (1968). Surroundings information is in J.B. Crush, A History of Greece merriment the Death of Alexander honourableness Great (1900; 3d rev. collected. 1951), and N.

G. Acclaim. Hammond, A History of Ellas to 322 B.C. (1959; 2d ed. 1967). □