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ἐὰν τύχῃ κτλ. It has long been admitted that this picture is drawn chiefly from Alcibiades. In antiquity Plutarch seems to have suspected something of the sort, for he describes Alcibiades' degeneration in language adapted from the present passage (Alc. 4. 1). But the personal touches must not blind us to the fact that Plato is portraying the type, although Alcibiades sits for the portrait. πλούσιος -- μέγας describe Alcibiades exactly: cf. Alc. I 104 A, B, Thuc. VI 16 1—3, Isocr. περὶ ζεύγους 25 ff., Plut. Alc. 1. 4, 4. 1 and elsewhere. The Greeks thought tallness essential to beauty: see e.g. Arist. Eth. Nic. IV 7. 1123^{b} 7 and Pol. VII 4. 1326^{a} 33. ἡγούμενον κτλ. Plutarch (Alc. 17. 2, 3) declares that Alcibiades intended the Sicilian expedition to be a step towards an almost universal empire: Sicily was to be merely the ἐφόδια τοῦ πολέμου. Alcibiades says nearly as much himself in Thuc. VI 90. 2, with which compare 15. 2. Grote (VII p. 79) is inclined to deny that even Alcibiades dreamt of anything beyond the conquest of Sicily, but the ancient historians thought differently: cf. also Alc. II 141 B ff. Many of the Athenians, probably not without reason (though Plutarch l.c. 35. 1 leaves the point unsettled), suspected him of aiming at a τυραννίς (Thuc. VI 15. 4 and Isocr. περὶ ζεύγους 38).
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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