This painting, by the Danish artist Kristian Zahrtmann (1843 – 1917), features the famous philosopher Socrates (on the left) and one of his more infamous pupils, Alcibiades (on the right), who both lived in ancient Athens. Born into a wealthy family, and well-endowed with good looks and intelligence, Alcibiades (c. 450-404/403 BCE) had no shortage of intellectuals who wanted to befriend and mentor him during his youth. Socrates (c. 469-399 BCE) secured the role as the young man’s tutor and saw in Alcibiades a complicated mix of brilliance and vice. He hoped to cultivate the pupil’s intellect and attempt to contain the young man’s negative traits. Plutarch (c. 50-120), a Greek-Roman scholar and biographer, wrote about the relationship between this particular teacher and student pair:
“The affection which Socrates entertained for him [Alcibiades] is a great evidence of the natural noble qualities and good disposition of the boy, which Socrates, indeed, detected both in and under his personal beauty….Yet such was the happiness of his [Alcibiades’] genius that he discerned Socrates from the rest, and admitted him, whilst he drove away the wealthy and noble who made court to him. And, in a little time, they grew intimate, and Alcibiades, listening now to language entirely free from every thought of unmanly fondness and silly displays of affection, but [was now taught by one who] sought to expose the weakness of his soul and rebuke his vain and foolish pride” (Plutarch, Life of Alcibiades, section 4).
Alcibiades benefited from Socrates’ tutelage and he went on to become a brilliant military strategist and political agent. Yet, Socrates was unsuccessful in his attempt to instill a firm code of ethics, morality and integrity in his pupil. Quite the opposite, Alcibiades became known as an unscrupulous, unpredictable, and chaotic individual who eventually embodied the mindset of a mercenary for hire. During the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), Alcibiades offered his considerable talents to whichever faction served his interests, regardless of if his employers were Athenian, Spartan, or Persian.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Plutarch’s Lives, edited by Charles W. Eliot in the Harvard Classics series. New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1909, 1937.
- History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner and introduced by M. I. Finley. New York: Penguin Classics, 1972.
- http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alcibiades*.html
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alcibiades-Athenian-politician-and-general
- https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS8219
