Person
Alcibiades
Philosophy & Ethics
History & CivilizationsWho is Alcibiades in the Agency editorial?
Alcibiades was an Athenian statesman and general of the fifth century BCE, and one of the speakers in Plato's Symposium. Issue.13 names him in its retelling of that dialogue: it lists him as "a statesman and general" and summarizes the speech about love he gives after arriving at the party drunk.
In short
Alcibiades was an Athenian statesman and general of the fifth century BCE who appears as a speaker in Plato's Symposium. In the Agency editorial he is named only in Issue.13, in the section on the philosophy of love, where the author retells the Symposium. The edition lists him last among the characters of the dialogue, says he was once saved by Socrates in the Battle of Potidaea in 432 BCE, and tells that he "bursts into the party drunk and wreathed in garlands". Its summary of his speech says that love is a powerful and dangerous force and that he tells the story of his own unrequited love for Socrates.
Key facts
- Who was Alcibiades?
- An Athenian statesman and general of the fifth century BCE, who died in 404 BCE. Plato makes him one of the speakers of the Symposium.
- Where does the Agency editorial name Alcibiades?
- In Issue.13, in the section on the philosophy of love: in the list of characters of Plato's Symposium, in a paragraph about his arrival and in the heading of the summary of his speech.
- What does Issue.13 say his speech is about?
- According to the edition's summary, love is a powerful and dangerous force that can lead to great joy and great pain, and he tells the story of his own unrequited love for Socrates.
Who was Alcibiades?
Alcibiades was an Athenian statesman and general of the fifth century BCE, active during the Peloponnesian War. He died in 404 BCE. Plato, who has his own entry in this wiki, makes him the last speaker of the Symposium. These facts come from outside the edition and are marked for verification.
How does Alcibiades appear in Issue.13?
Issue.13 is about love, and one of its sections retells Plato's Symposium, the dinner party at which each guest gives a speech about love. In the list of characters of the dialogue, Alcibiades comes last, as "a statesman and general". After the summary of the speech of Socrates, the author writes that Alcibiades, whom he calls an iconic Athenian once saved by Socrates in the Battle of Potidaea in 432 BCE, "bursts into the party drunk and wreathed in garlands" and gives his own speech.
The edition then summarizes that speech under the heading Alcibiades: "Love is a powerful and dangerous force that can lead to both great joy and great pain." The summary adds that he tells the story of his own unrequited love for Socrates, and that he argues that true love requires honesty and vulnerability. It is the last of the speeches the edition summarizes.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.