Alcibiades - References in Comedy, Philosophy, Art and Literature

References in Comedy, Philosophy, Art and Literature

Alcibiades has not been spared by ancient comedy and stories attest to an epic confrontation between Alcibiades and Eupolis resembling that between Aristophanes and Cleon. He also appears as a character in several Socratic dialogues (Symposium, Protagoras, Alcibiades I and II, as well as the eponymous dialogues by Aeschines Socraticus and Antisthenes). Purportedly based on his own personal experience, Antisthenes described Alcibiades' extraordinary physical strength, courage, and beauty, saying, "If Achilles did not look like this, he was not really handsome." In his trial, Socrates must rebut the attempt to hold him guilty for the crimes of his former students, including Alcibiades. Hence, he declares in Apology: "I have never been anyone's teacher". Aristophanes mocked his heavy lisp in the satirical play, The Wasps, "Look, Thothiath, Theowuth ith twanthformed. He'th a waven!" He is portrayed as one of Cleon's close friends.

Long after his death, Alcibiades continues to appear in art, both in Medieval and Renaissance works, and in several significant works of modern literature as well. He still fascinates the modern world, doing so most notably as the main character in historical novels of authors like Anna Bowman Dodd, Gertrude Atherton, Rosemary Sutcliff, Daniel Chavarria, Steven Pressfield and Peter Green. He is also a central character in Paul Levinson's time travel novel The Plot To Save Socrates, in Kurt R. A. Giambastiani's time travel novel Unraveling Time, in Erik Satie's Socrate, a work for voice and small orchestra (the text is composed of excerpts of Victor Cousin's translation of works by Plato), and in Joel Richards' Nebula award-nominated short story The Gods Abandon Alcibiades. Alcibiades also figures in the satirical Picture This by Joseph Heller and in William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.

Alcibiades is mentioned in observance II of law 44 " Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect " in Robert Greene's book The 48 Laws of Power. In it the author writes about Alcibiades ability to mimic the people he is in the presence of such as the Spartans and then the people of Persia.

In Harry Turtledove's 2002 alternate history story, The Daimon, the point of the departure is that Alcibiades commands the Sicilian Expedition to a decisive victory before returning to Athens. Uniting the Greek city-states, the conquest of the Persian Empire proceeds under the Athenian, Alcibiades, rather than under the Macedonian, Alexander the Great, roughly 80 years later.