minae--and that will be more than the value--and she has a son who is
possessed of a three-hundred acre patch at Erchiae, and he has a mind to go
to war with your son--would she not wonder to what this Alcibiades trusts
for success in the conflict? 'He must rely,' she would say to herself,
'upon his training and wisdom--these are the things which Hellenes value.'
And if she heard that this Alcibiades who is making the attempt is not as
yet twenty years old, and is wholly uneducated, and when his lover tells
him that he ought to get education and training first, and then go and
fight the king, he refuses, and says that he is well enough as he is, would
she not be amazed, and ask 'On what, then, does the youth rely?' And if we
replied: He relies on his beauty, and stature, and birth, and mental
endowments, she would think that we were mad, Alcibiades, when she compared
the advantages which you possess with those of her own people. And I
believe that even Lampido, the daughter of Leotychides, the wife of
Archidamus and mother of Agis, all of whom were kings, would have the same
feeling; if, in your present uneducated state, you were to turn your
thoughts against her son, she too would be equally astonished. But how
disgraceful, that we should not have as high a notion of what is required
in us as our enemies' wives and mothers have of the qualities which are
required in their assailants! O my friend, be persuaded by me, and hear
the Delphian inscription, 'Know thyself'--not the men whom you think, but
these kings are our rivals, and we can only overcome them by pains and
skill. And if you fail in the required qualities, you will fail also in
becoming renowned among Hellenes and Barbarians, which you seem to desire
more than any other man ever desired anything.

ALCIBIADES: I entirely believe you; but what are the sort of pains which
are required, Socrates,--can you tell me?

SOCRATES: Yes, I can; but we must take counsel together concerning the