© 1998 Bernard SUZANNE   Last updated December 5, 1998 
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Alcibiades

This page is part of the "tools" section of a site, Plato and his dialogues, dedicated to developing a new interpretation of Plato's dialogues. The "tools" section provides historical and geographical context (chronology, maps, entries on characters and locations) for Socrates, Plato and their time. For more information on the structure of entries and links available from them, read the notice at the beginning of the index of persons and locations.

Alcibiades was born around 450 in one of the noblest and wealthiest families of Athens. His father was Clinias, a member of an old aristocratic Athenian family that traced its origins to Eurysaces, the son of Ajax, king of Salamis, who had earned Athenian citizenship by handing the island over to Athens. His mother was Deinomache, a member of the Alcmeonidæ family, the family of Cleisthenes, the Athenian lawgiver who, in 508, had reformed the Athenian constitution and instituted the system of demes. And Deinomache's father, Megacles, who had played important enough an role in Athenian politics to deserve ostracism, was the brother of Pericles' mother Agariste. This explains why, when Alcibiades' father Clinias, who had won fame at the naval battle of Artemisium in 480, was killed at the battle of Coronea in 447, Pericles became his guardian (Alcibiades was about 4 at the time).
Besides being well-born, extremely wealthy and raised in the anteroom of power next to the most powerful man of the time, Alcibiades was also incredibly beautiful and very bright. In a word, he had everything one could desire. And as if all that weren't enough, when he married, he took his wife in the richest family of Athens, the Ceryces, torch-bearers at the Eleusinian mysteries : she was Hipparete, the daughter of Hipponicus and sister of Callias and Hermogenes.

(to be continued)

To Perseus general lookup, encyclopedia, mentions in ancient authors.
The Life of Alcibiades by Plutarch is available at Perseus.


Plato and his dialogues : Home - Biography - Works - History of interpretation - New hypotheses - Map of dialogues : table version or non tabular version. Tools : Index of persons and locations - Detailed and synoptic chronologies - Maps of Ancient Greek World. Site information : About the author.

First published January 4, 1998 - Last updated December 5, 1998
© 1998 Bernard SUZANNE (click on name to send your comments via e-mail)
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