Why study Alcibiades?
Alcibiades is a controversial figure for historians; some of their opinions are summarized at the end of the Wikipedia article on him. (Please note that there is at least one mistake in the section about his oratorical skills; the reference to him being “in speaking most incapable” is, according to Plutarch, speaking of his political rival Phaeax.) Usually there’s a “but” or a “though” attached–“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,” and so on. Even the people who have studied Alcibiades for years are still trying to decide if his accomplishments outweigh his mistakes and faults. For Plutarch, there are two “telling details” about Alcibiades: the sight of him (Alcibiades, not Plutarch) flouncing along the street in a purple robe; and the extra-soft custom bed that he had fitted out on his warship. Neither of these examples, in Plutarch’s opinion, sho
