Editing Alcibiades (section)

==Assessments==

===Political career===
[[File:1475 - Keramikos cemetery, Athens - Gravestone for Ipparetea - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 12 2009.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Epitaph for Hipparete, daughter of Alcibiades (Kerameikos Cemetery, [[Athens]]).]]

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".<ref name="Th6.15">Thucydides, VI, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200;query=chapter%3D%23631;layout=;loc=6.14.1 15].</ref> Plutarch regards him as "the least scrupulous and most entirely careless of human beings".<ref name="PlCom6">Plutarch, ''The Comparison of Alcibiades with Coriolanus'', 5</ref> On the other hand, [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] argues that he was "in spirit brilliant and intent upon great enterprises".<ref name="Diodorus68">Diodorus, ''Library'', xiii, 68.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23320;layout=;loc=13.67.1 5].</ref> Sharon Press of [[Brown University]] points out that [[Xenophon]] emphasizes Alcibiades's service to the state, rather than the harm he was charged with causing it.<ref name="Press">S. Press, [http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Classics/bcj/07-03.html Was Alcibiades a Good General?]</ref><ref name="Hellenica1.4.18">Xenophon, ''Hellenica'', 1.4. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0206&query=chapter%3D%234&layout=&loc=1.3.1 18].</ref> [[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.<ref name="Meidias144-145">Demosthenes, ''Against Meidias'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Dem.+21+144&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0074 144–45].</ref> 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.<ref name="Gribble32">D. Gribble, ''Alcibiades and Athens'', 32–33.</ref> One of [[Isocrates]]' speeches, delivered by Alcibiades the Younger, argues that the statesman deserved the Athenians' gratitude for the service he had given them.<ref name="Isocrates">Isocrates, ''Concerning the Team of Horses'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0144;query=section%3D%231750;layout=;loc=16.12 15].</ref> [[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".<ref name="Lysias">Lysias, ''Against Alcibiades 1'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0154%3Aspeech%3D14 1].</ref><ref name="Lysias2">Lysias, ''Against Alcibiades 2'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0154;query=section%3D%23647;layout=;loc=15.9 10].</ref> In the ''[[Constitution of the Athenians (Aristotle)|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".<ref name="Con28">Aristotle, ''Constitution of the Athenians'', {{Athpol|28}}.</ref><ref name = "Ar13">Aristotle, ''Posterior Analytics'', ii, 13.</ref> Alcibiades excited in his contemporaries a fear for the safety of the political order.<ref name="Gribble41">D. Gribble, ''Alcibiades and Athens'', 41.</ref> 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".<ref name="Andocides19">Andocides, ''Against Alcibiades'', [http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&getid=1&query=Andoc.%204.19 19] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518203056/http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&getid=1&query=Andoc.%204.19 |date=18 May 2020 }}.</ref> 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".<ref name="NeposXI">Cornelius Nepos, ''Alcibiades'', [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/nepos/nepos.alc.shtml XI].</ref>

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.<ref name="McGregor27-50">M.F. McGregor, ''The Genius of Alkibiades'', 27–50.</ref> Evangelos P. Fotiadis, a prominent Greek [[philology|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.<ref name="the Helios" /> [[Constantine Paparregopoulus|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".<ref name="Paparrigopoulos264-268">Κ. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Αβ, 264–68.</ref> Walter Ellis believes that his actions were outrageous, but they were performed with [[panache]].<ref>W. Ellis, ''Alcibiades'', 18.</ref> 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".<ref name="Gribble55">D. Gribble, ''Alcibiades and Athens'', 55 &c.</ref> [[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".<ref name="Britannica" /> 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".<ref name="Platias240">A.G. Platias and C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 240.</ref> Writing from a different perspective, psychologist Anna C. Salter cites Alcibiades as exhibiting "all the classic features of [[psychopathy]]."<ref>Anna C. Salter, ''Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, And Other Sex Offenders'', Basic Books, 2005, p. 128.</ref>  A similar assessment is made by [[Hervey Cleckley]] at the end of chapter 5 in his ''[[The Mask of Sanity]]''.<ref>The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues about the So-Called Psychopathic Personality. Martino Fine Books; 2 edition (18 February 2015) (original ed. 1941)</ref>

===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".<ref name="Th6.15" /> Diodorus and Demosthenes regard him as a great general.<ref name="Diodorus68" /><ref name="Meidias144-145" /> 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.<ref name="the Helios" /> On the other hand, Paparrigopoulos believes that the Sicilian Expedition, prompted by Alcibiades, was a strategic mistake.<ref name="Paparrigopoulos272">Κ. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Αβ, 272.</ref> 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".<ref name="Platias237" /> For his part, Angelos Vlachos, a Greek [[Academician]], underlines the constant interest of Athens for Sicily from the beginning of the war.{{efn|Since the beginning of the war, the Athenians had already initiated two expeditions and sent a delegation to Sicily.<ref name="Vlachos204">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 204.</ref> Plutarch underscores that "on Sicily the Athenians had cast longing eyes even while Pericles was living".<ref name="Plut17"/>}} According to Vlachos, the expedition had nothing of the extravagant or adventurous and constituted a rational strategic decision based on traditional Athenian aspirations.<ref name="Vlachos206">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 206.</ref> Vlachos asserts that Alcibiades had already conceived a broader plan: the conquest of the whole West.<ref name="Vlachos202-203">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 202–03.</ref> He intended to conquer Carthage and [[Libya]], then to attack Italy and, after winning these, to seize Italy and Peloponnesus.<ref name="Plut17">{{cite Plutarch|Alcibiades|17}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Vlachos202-203" /> Kagan criticizes Alcibiades for failing to recognize that the large size of the Athenian expedition undermined the diplomatic scheme on which his strategy rested.<ref name="Kagan419-420">D. Kagan, ''The Fall of the Athenian Empire'', 419–20.</ref>

Kagan believes that while Alcibiades was a commander of considerable ability, he was no military genius, and his confidence and ambitions went far beyond his skills. He thus was capable of 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.<ref name="Kagan419-420" /> 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.<ref name="NeposVII">Cornelius Nepos, ''Alcibiades'', [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/nepos/nepos.alc.shtml VII].</ref>

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".<ref name="Press" />

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:TestaAlcibiades.jpg|[[Pietro Testa]]: ''The Drunken Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium'' (1648)
File:Nathaniel Dance Holland (1735-1811) - Timon of Athens - RCIN 406725 - Royal Collection.jpg|[[Nathaniel Dance-Holland]]: ''[[Timon of Athens (painting)|Timon of Athens]]'' (1766)
File:AuvrayAlcibiades.jpg|[[Félix Auvray]] (1800–1833): ''Alcibiades with the Courtesans'' (1833)
</gallery>

===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.<ref name="Plut10">{{cite Plutarch|Alcibiades|10}}</ref> Even the [[lisp]] he had, which was noticed by Aristophanes, made his talk persuasive and full of charm.<ref name="Aristophens44">Aristophanes, ''Wasps'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182%3Atext%3DAlc.#anch1 44].</ref><ref name="Plut1">{{cite Plutarch|Alcibiades|1}}</ref> Eupolis says that he was "prince of talkers, but in speaking most incapable";<ref name="Plut13"/> 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".<ref name="Meidias144-145" /> Paparrigopoulos does not accept Demosthenes's opinion, but acknowledges that the Athenian statesman could sufficiently support his case.<ref name="Paparrigopoulos264-268" /> 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.<ref name="Kagan178">D. Kagan, ''The Fall of the Athenian Empire'', 178.</ref><ref name="Habinek">[[Thomas Habinek|T. Habinek]], ''Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory'', 23–24.</ref> 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".<ref name="Habinek" /> According to Aristophanes, Athens "yearns for him, and hates him too, but wants him back".<ref name="Frogs1425">Aristophanes, ''Frogs'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0032&query=sp%3D%23724 1425].</ref>