Most modern readers are familiar with the famous and infamous Alcibiades through his appearance in Plato's Symposium. The philosopher/biographer Plutarch (AD 46- AD 120) wrote a splendid account of the life of Alcibiades. But being primarily a philosopher, Plutarch put great premium on strength of character and how one conducts oneself in the public arena. For me, this philosophic approach is most appealing. Like the ancient Greeks, I find the author's Alcibiades fascinating. Here are quotes from Plutarch along with my comments.
"The beauty of Alcibiades bloomed with him in all the ages of his life, in his infancy, in his youth, and in his manhood; and, in the peculiar character becoming to each of these periods, gave him, in every one of them, a grace and a charm." --------- Ah, to be such a splendid work of beauty at every single stage of your life. What a gift from the gods!
"His conduct displayed many great inconsistencies and variations not unnaturally, in accordance with the many and wonderful vicissitudes of his fortunes; but among the many strong passions of his real character, the one most prevailing of all was his ambition and desire of superiority." ---------- Oh my, Plutarch senses all could not turn out well for such a man.
"Alcibiades had a dog which cost him seventy minas (about $40,000 US dollars), and was a very large one and very handsome. His tail, which was his principal ornament, he caused to be cut off, and his acquaintance exclaiming at him for it, and telling him that all Athens was sorry for the dog, and cried out upon him for this action. Alcibiades laughed, and said, "Just what I wanted has happened, then. I wished the Athenians to talk about this, that they might not say something worse of me." ---------- To cut off your dog's tail -- how telling of someone's character! And Plutarch relates how later in his military career, Alcibiades ordered the killing of 3000 prisoners. No doubt with an equal disregard for the suffering he was creating. Sidebar: Here is a painting from the 1800s of Alcibiades with his beautiful dog before his tail was cut off (https://www.google.com/search?q=alcib...).
"We are to understand that Alcibiades had the highest capacity for inventing, for discerning what was the right thing to be said for any purpose, and on any occasion, but, aiming not only at saying what was required, but also at saying it well." --------- Not only physical beauty but to have the gift of rhetoric - what a combination! No wonder Alcibiades inspired a kind of hero-worship among the people of ancient Greece.
"He intermingled exorbitant luxury and wantonness in his eating and drinking and dissolute living; wore purple robes like a woman, which dragged after him as we went through the marketplace." ---------- Ha! So the golden boy with the golden tongue wasn't so golden on the inside. And, of course, to hurl the ultimate insult: their golden boy acting like a woman!
"The force of his eloquence, the grace of his person, his strength of body, joined with his great courage and knowledge in military affairs, prevailed upon the Athenians to endure patiently his excesses, to indulge many things to him, and according to their habit, to give the softest names to his faults, attributing them to youth and good nature." ---------- What a golden boy can get away with! Of course, we have counterparts in our modern world of spectator sports. But as long as the sports heroes can win for the team . . . well, boys will be boys.
"He captivated and won over everybody by his conformity to Spartan habits. People who saw him wearing his hair close cut, bathing in cold water, eating coarse meal, and dining on black broth, doubted, or rather could not believe, that he ever had a cook in his house. . . . For he had this peculiar talent and artifice for gaining men's affections, that he could at once comply with and really embrace and enter into their habits and ways of life, and change faster than the chameleon." ---------- Now to top it off, the golden boy could morph into the ideal man, depending on whatever city he happens to be in at the given moment. Plutarch realizes how such a man of vanity and self-aggrandizement is potentially dangerous, very dangerous.
And, of course, true to form, Alcibiades repeatedly changed sides to suit his own thirst for power and glory. First back and forth between Athens and Sparta and then Persia - but finally being a chameleon caught up with him. He was hunted down by order of his Greek enemies and assassinated, assassinated, that is, by barbarians - the ultimate low blow. Such is the fate of a man of flawed character.
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