The Life of Alcibiades Read online

to’s Symposium , was to add that extra spark, unlike anything else, that

  further enhanced the individual and his reputation. From the beginning,

  this young man is not just the archetypal “golden boy.”

  The very phrase “young man” calls for an additional comment. We

  think of Alcibiades as a young man. And it is partly Plato’s fault if this

  label has stayed with him and added to his charm.

  Youth

  Alcibiades was never old: he wasn’t fi fty years old when he died. How-

  ever, at the time of the Symposium he was no longer a young man. He was

  probably born between 452 and 450 BCE. When the Peloponnesian War

  began, he had just left the tutelage of Pericles. He had his own house, his

  own slaves. He would soon assume political responsibilities. But his char-

  acter was still that of an adolescent—brilliant, bold, a little irresponsi-

  ble, the way he would always be seen. The events in the Symposium are

  thought to have occurred in 416, when Alcibiades was thirty-fi ve years

  old. But he was still seen as a “boyfriend,” someone other men pursued, 19

  and as a spoiled child, one who could say anything and was forgiven ev-

  erything. This adolescent view has, in some way, permeated our image of

  him, and is imprinted there forever.

  In 416, it should be said, Plato was twelve years old. He never knew the

  young Alcibiades. There was a generation between them. But the legend of

  Alcibiades is etched in our minds. And in relation to Socrates he is always

  19 . The story he tells of a failed seduction, which we will return to in the next chapter, is obviously prior to the supposed date of the banquet; but it is not presented as an old story.

  Richly

  Endowed 13

  seen as an adolescent. Plato, who was never very faithful to chronology,

  portrays him thus, at the expense of realism.

  It should be added that Alcibiades, even while remaining very hand-

  some as he aged, eagerly projected youthfulness.

  He assumed major political roles as soon as his age permitted, and he

  made a strength of his youth. When opposing Nicias, in that very same

  year of 416, he spoke for youth and claimed the right of young people to

  speak and offer advice.

  That claim occurred during the debate about the Sicilian expedition.

  Nicias, who opposed the expedition, viciously attacked the ambitious

  young Alcibiades. Nicias was himself more than fi fty years old. He did

  not mince words: “And if there be any man here, overjoyed at being cho-

  sen to command, who urges you to make the expedition, merely for ends

  of his own—especially if he is still too young to command . . .” And he

  summarized: “When I see such a person now sitting here at the side of

  that same individual and summoned by him, alarm seizes me; and I, in

  my turn, summon any of the older men.” 20 There it is, in fi fth-century Athens, the contrast between old and young that we know well. The same

  theme occurs in the theater fairly often. It is something we might call a

  social phenomenon. But Alcibiades was not to be intimidated. Yes, he was

  young. He points to his success and declares: “Thus did my youth and

  so-called monstrous folly fi nd fi tting arguments to deal with the power of

  the Peloponnesians, and by its ardor win their confi dence and prevail. And

  do not be afraid of my youth now, but while I am still in its fl ower and

  Nicias appears fortunate, avail yourselves to the utmost of the services of

  us both.” 21

  Later in his speech he repeats scornfully: “Do not let the passive policy

  which Nicias advocates, or his setting of the young against the old, turn

  you from your purpose, but in the good old fashion by which our fathers,

  old and young together, by their united counsels brought our affairs to

  their present height. . .; neither youth nor old age can do anything the one

  without the other.”

  As in the Symposium , youth will continue symbolizing the young man

  of thirty-fi ve. And in his hands, his youth became an advantage, another

  20 . 6.12.2, 6.13.1.

  21 . 6.17.1; the following quote is at 6.18.6.

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  means of persuading individuals and mobs, another means of making ev-

  erything about himself.

  He had everything. He had too much. Why would he not think that

  he was more important than anyone else? He became a symbol worthy of

  refl ection for all time, and the most dazzling symbol of all. In every era

  there are brilliant boys whose youth seems a golden age. There are many

  gifted young men with talent for political life. But Alcibiades had all these

  qualities and more. His nobility, his beauty, his boldness were incompa-

  rable; what is more, his country had attained the highest degree of power

  and culture. His ambition was boundless. Moreover, the teacher who was

  drawing him to the good demanded absolute truth and justice. Thus, the

  life of Alcibiades represents an ideal and an unforgettable symbol. It has

  meaning for every era. And perhaps more than in any other age, it has

  meaning in ours. Alcibiades, as a fi gure of selfi sh ambition in a democracy

  in crisis, reveals, through the betrayals and scandals of his own time, crises

  of our times—even though there would seem to be no discernible Alcibi-

  ades among modern politicians.

  Actually, as in a blueprint, we see his destiny leading him and Athens. It

  began with small scandals of an insolent selfi shness and grew into plots of

  political audacity—up to the day when the scandals swept violently over

  him. In a democracy, scandal is and always has been dangerous.

  Alcibiades’s scandals began early and continued for a very long time.

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  Insults and Scandals

  A gilded youth is no friend of self-discipline, and the young Alcibiades was

  too gifted not to become spoiled by success. Insolence was part of his na-

  ture, and it conformed to circumstances. He was confi dent and was not

  going to let anyone get in his way.

  These are traits that were no doubt less threatening for the future than

  his ambition but, when combined with ambition, fi rst encouraged it and

  then, owing to scandals, thwarted it, and led to failure.

  He was no more moderate in his fl aws than in his talents. So while the

  self-control, reserve, and piety of an Alexander were extolled, posterity

  would remember Alcibiades with a litany of the most exaggerated re-

  proaches. Cornelius Nepos exclaimed, in a Latin phrase that even today

  needs no translation:

  “Luxuriosus, dissolutus, libidinosus, intemper-

  ans!” (1.1).

  We will not go that far, but let the reader decide. The anecdotes col-

  lected by Plutarch are suffi cient to suggest Alcibiades’s character—and all

  the dangers therein.

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  Plutarch recounts anecdotes randomly; and he has retained those that

  lack any grounds: a person like Alcibiades excited passions, myths, and

  tall tales. But the anecdotes agree among themselves, and the individual

  is unmistakable.

  Admittedly, the stories are entertaining. We read them with the indul-

  gence an older generation often s
hows toward youthful pranks, for they

  express a certain courage, gaiety, and freedom. But we should be wary be-

  cause, little by little, the stories go from cheerful insolence to real affronts

  to people and disdain for rules. Indulgence has no place when you realize

  that the slope can be slippery: it certainly was for Alcibiades.

  His character can be detected as early as the description in Plato’s Sym-

  posium. Was he drunk, this fellow Alcibiades? Was he not yelling at the

  top of his lungs? Should he not have been subdued by the fl ute player? Oh,

  but it was his charmed youth. Oh well, everyone admired him. But they

  should have recognized in the beautiful Alcibiades what could already be

  seen, his inseparable other side, the intolerable Alcibiades.

  His insolence went very far back, to childhood and early adolescence.

  One of Plutarch’s fi rst anecdotes tells us about an incident in a busy street.

  It is the kind of thing one can imagine in any small city of our own time. Al-

  cibiades is a small child ( mikros ); he is playing with little bones in the street when a vehicle arrives loaded with merchandise. “First, he ordered the driver

  to stop because his little bones had dropped in the path of the vehicle. The

  man, who was a bit boorish, didn’t listen and kept going. The other children

  scattered.” What did Alcibiades do? He lay down in front of the truck and

  yelled: “You can continue now if you want.” At that, the driver withdrew,

  frightened, and the bystanders ran, crying in fear, toward the child (2.4).

  Of course, he should have allowed the truck to pass. That was obvious.

  But what presence of mind. What courage. Alcibiades never lacked cour-

  age. He was always taking risks—in war and in politics, even at the mo-

  ment of his death. But this early view illustrates his almost reckless valor;

  and perhaps readers today are thinking, in the backs of their minds, about

  a young man all alone in front of a tank, on the great square in China. In

  any case, the heart of all the Athenians who were present that day went

  out to that child, despite his arrogance and foolhardiness.

  And then we see him, a very young man, learning to wrestle. He bit his

  opponent, who let go, yelling: “You bite like a girl, Alcibiades!” Was he

  ashamed? Not at all. Proudly, he retorted “No! Like a lion” (2.3). Plutarch

  Insults

  and

  Scandals 17

  quotes it as one of Alcibiades’s famous sayings, one worthy of a Spartan. 1

  In any case, it suited him. Obviously, Alcibiades should not have bitten the

  boy, but the boldness of his reply was admired. So what if he was violent?

  Alcibiades’s “words” would often become famous. Intelligence helped,

  but so did the total lack of timidity and consideration for others.

  With such a temperament, young Alcibiades was bound for a lifetime

  of insolence. And in fact, it is clear that the many assets he enjoyed gave

  rise to increasingly serious faults in his day-to-day life.

  Handsome, rich, noble, he took no account of others and felt entitled

  to everything.

  This attitude appeared fi rst in his manners. As noted already, there

  were the long, purple robes. But that wasn’t all. We know that he was the

  fi rst to wear a new shoe style known as the “Alcibiades.” 2 People say that he raised fi ghting cocks; he enjoyed leading the life of a spoiled youth.

  In relations with others, this meant an attitude of deliberate arrogance.

  From this came a series of small insults, at times friendly, and at other

  times hateful, revealing a total contempt for others.

  Once, for example, he met a schoolteacher and asked for a book of

  Homer. The man didn’t have one. What did Alcibiades do then? Apolo-

  gize and say thank you? No, he simply slapped the man. 3 Not everyone can defend the study of Homer in this way, even if sometimes tempted to

  do so. The difference is that Alcibiades never resisted temptation: he was

  quick to strike a blow.

  At another time, it was a choregos who was a competitor of Alcibiades:

  another slap (16.5).

  And then there was an artist—a painter—whom he kept sequestered

  until he fi nished his work (again, one might wish to do the same, without

  claiming that such behavior is acceptable . . .).

  1 . Apophthegms 186d, 234d.

  2. Athenaeus 12.534 c.

  3. Plutarch, Life of Alcibiades 7.1. Someone else, meriting a reprimand in the form of a smack, received compliments full of irony (7.2). Montaigne, noting the fi rst anecdote (2.36), related it very nicely, calling Alcibiades “that silly man,” and compared the gesture to that of someone calling out “a priest without a prayer book.”

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  He criticized, he insulted. It was said 4 he was so sure of himself that he would have criticized even the twelve gods . . .

  What’s more, he could, out of pure insolence, ridicule the very rules

  of the city. One anecdote—frankly a rather dubious one—relates how he

  supposedly tore up and destroyed a bill of accusation against one of his

  protégés. 5 Even if it is made up, the story is still symbolic of what it meant to feel so free to do as one pleased.

  At the very least we can understand the ferocity of the words of his

  adversaries. The author of Against Alcibiades , which is falsely attributed

  to Andocides, exaggerated: “Some he robbed, others he beat, or locked

  up and held for ransom. He showed that democracy was nothing, for he

  spoke like an advocate for the people and acted like a tyrant” (27).

  This refusal to respect the rules was emboldened by the two great ad-

  vantages of wealth and beauty. With the fi rst came the outrageous behav-

  ior, and with the second, moral scandals.

  Alcibiades was rich. Because he enjoyed being talked about, he was

  also a big spender. As a result, he always needed money; and perhaps

  at times he counted on his fame and notoriety to excuse his lack of

  scruples.

  Three anecdotes bring vividly to life this love of ostentation and this

  lack of scruples, either admitted or demonstrated.

  The fi rst is innocent and almost endearing. According to Plutarch, his

  entry into public life came during an assembly where the people collected

  gifts and acclaimed public donors. Ah! Such a beautiful noise, all this

  acclamation. Alcibiades hastened to an offi cial and offered his contribu-

  tion. It must have been large, because “the people applauded and shouted

  cries of joy.” 6 Alcibiades, delighted, released a quail he was carrying under his coat. And with that the Athenians scrambled to catch the bird of the

  stylish young man. The quail suggested levity, the gift implied generosity,

  while the acclamations are a reminder of Alcibiades’s appetite for popu-

  larity and attention.

  Very quickly though, we turn to something more serious. One day

  when he went to see his mentor, Alcibiades was told that he was busy;

  4. Aeschines of Sphettos: about him, see below, chapter 12.

  5 . This anecdote comes from a certain Chamaileon; for a critical view of this and other cases, see Hatzfeld, 132.

  6. Plutarch, Life of Alcibiades 10.1. See later in this chapter and below, chapter 10.

  Insults

  and

  Scandals 19

  he was trying to
prepare his account for the people of Athens. (The mag-

  istrates had to do this at the end of each year, and some people claimed

  that Pericles had taken certain liberties.) Alcibiades is said to have replied:

  “Better to fi nd a way to avoid giving an account!” 7 How promising in the future politician! In fact, throughout his life, Alcibiades showed a disturbing unwillingness to be accountable—diplomatic lies or fi nancial trickery,

  the pleasant youth had some unpleasant ways.

  And then the third and most famous of the anecdotes on this subject is

  equally revealing. It concerns the dog with its tail cut off. Alcibiades had a

  valuable dog with a very beautiful tail, which he cut off. An appalling and

  reprehensible act. But he was delighted: “It is exactly what I wanted, for the

  Athenians to blabber about it.” Why? Because he liked to be talked about?

  Because he liked to attract attention? Of course, but not only for that rea-

  son. Alcibiades always had a plan, and there was also always something he

  wanted to be forgotten; he went on: “I want the Athenians to blabber about

  this so that they won’t say something worse about my accounts” (9.1).

  The scandal pleased him because it satisfi ed his vanity; it also pleased

  him because it provided a smoke screen to distract from other aspects of

  his ambition or misbehavior.

  Are we any better now, in the twentieth century?

  In any case, the rumors continued, rightly or wrongly. Plutarch, com-

  paring Alcibiades and Coriolanus, wrote: “As for money, there are reports

  that Alcibiades often took money, illegally, from people seeking to corrupt

  him and that he used the money to line his pockets and pay for his de-

  baucheries” (3). Just slander? Have we never heard such charges against

  other statesmen? Even the Athenian democracy let itself be tainted by cor-

  ruption. In this, we are hardly unique.

  We know where this extravagance and the desire for fame would lead

  Alcibiades: just as in other epochs, he sought fame in athletic success;

  he maintained a stable of racehorses and ran into legal trouble over the

  money invested in this operation. We will return to this later, but the

  meaning of it all is clear.

  7. Plutarch, Life of Alcibiades 7.3. These words appear in Diodorus and recall an old view that Pericles might have taken the advice of his ward in starting the war (12.38). This is still cited in Plutarch in Apophthegms 186e.