THE first founder of the family of Alcibiades was, it is said, Eurysaces, the son of Ajax; and he was also descended from Alcmeon, Dinomache, his mother, being a daughter of Megacles. His father, Clinias, having fitted out a galley at his own expense, gained great honour in the sea-fight at Artemisium, and was afterwards killed B.C. 480. in the battle of Coronea, fighting against the Baotians. B.C. 447. Pericles and Ariphron, the sons of Xanthippus, nearly related to him, became the guardians of Alcibiades. It has been said not untruly, that the friendship and affection which Socrates felt for him, has much contributed to his general fame; and certain it is, that though we have no account from any writer concerning the mother of Nicias or Demosthenes, of Lamachus or Phormion, of Thrasybulus or Theramenes, notwithstanding these It were all illustrious men of the same period, yet we know even the nurse of Alcibiades, that her country was Lacedæmon, and her name Amycla; and that Zopyrus was his teacher and attendant; the one being recorded by Antisthenes, and the other by Plato.* is not, perhaps, material to say anything of the beauty of Alcibiades, only that it bloomed with him in all the ages of his life, in his childhood, in his youth, and in his manhood; and in the peculiar character becoming to each of these periods, gave him, in every one of them, a captivating grace and charm. Euripides says, that Of all fair things the autumn too is fair.†. What is by no means universally true. But it happened so with Alcibiades, amongst few others, by reason of his happy constitution and natural vigour of body. Even his lisping, when he spoke, they say, became him well, and gave a grace and persuasiveness to his rapid speech. Aristophanes takes notice of it in the verses in which he jests at Theorus: Alcibiades is made to remark, "How like a colax he is," meaning how like a coraxt, and then it is observed, how hap * Socrates, in the dialogue called the First Alcibiades, points out to his young friend, what an insufficient education he had had. His guardian Pericles had given him no better teacher than a certain Thracian, Zopyrus, the least serviceable of his slaves. Euripides said it at a supper-party (so Plutarch relates elsewhere) when he was laughed at for kissing Agathon the poet, an elderly man. Colax, a flatterer, corax, a crow; this fashionable Attic lisp, or slovenly articulation, turned the sound r into . pily he lisped the truth. Archippus also alludes to it in a passage where he ridicules the son of Alcibiades. That people may think him like his father, With languid step and trailing robe he walks, His conduct in after life displayed many great incon- 2 sistencies and variations, not unnaturally, in accordance with the numerous and wonderful vicissitudes of his fortunes; but among the many strong passions of his real character the one most prevailing of all was his ambition and desire of superiority, which appears in several anecdotes told of his sayings whilst he was a child. Once being hard pressed in wrestling, and fearing to be thrown, he got the hands of his antagonist to his mouth, and bit with all his force; and when the other loosed his hold presently, and said, "You bite, Alcibiades, like a woman," "No," replied he, "like a lion." Another time as he played at knuckle-bones in the street*, being then but a child, a loaded cart came by, when it was his turn to throw. At first he called to the driver to stop, because he was to throw in the way over which the cart was going to pass; but the man giving him no attention and driving on, when the rest of the boys divided and gave way, Alcibiades threw himself on his face before the cart, and stretching himself out bade the carter pass on now if he would; which so startled the man, that he put back his team, while all that saw it were terrified, and crying out ran to assist Alcibiades. When he began to study, he obeyed all * Astragali-which were thrown up in the air, like dice. Various games were played with them. See the wood-cut, p. 176. 3 his other masters fairly well, but refused to learn upon the flute as a sordid thing and not becoming a free citizen; saying, that to play on the lute or the harp does not in any way disfigure a man's body or face, but one can hardly be known by the most intimate friends, when blowing into a pipe: moreover, one who plays on the harp may speak or sing at the same time; but the use of the flute stops the mouth, intercepts the voice, and prevents all articulation and speech. "Therefore," said he, "let the Theban youths pipe who do not know how to speak, but we Athenians, as our ancestors have told us, have Minerva for our patroness, and Apollo for our protector, one of whom threw away the flute, and the other stripped the flute-player* of his skin." Thus, between raillery and good earnest, Alcibiades kept not only himself but others from learning; as it presently became the talk of the young boys, how Alcibiades despised playing on the flute, and ridiculed those who studied it. sequence of which it ceased to be reckoned amongst the liberal accomplishments, and became generally neglected. In con It is stated in the invectives of Antiphon against Alcibiades, that once, when he was a boy, he ran away to the house of Democrates, one of those who made a favourite of him, and that Ariphron would have had proclamation made for him, had not Pericles diverted him from it, by saying, that if he were dead, the proclaiming of him could only discover it one day sooner, and if he were safe, it would be a reproach to him as * Marsyas the Phrygian. long as he lived. Antiphon also says, that he killed one of his followers with the blow of a staff in Sibyrtius's wrestling ground. But we can hardly give credit to the allegations of an enemy, who makes open profession of his design to defame him. The many well-born persons who very soon began to 4 collect about him and make their court to him, were no doubt attracted by his brilliant and extraordinary beauty. But the affection which Socrates entertained for him 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 appearance; and, fearing that his wealth and station, and the great number both of strangers and Athenians who made it their business to flatter and caress him, might at last corrupt him, resolved, if possible, to interpose, and preserve so hopeful a plant from perishing in the flower, before its fruit came to perfection. For never did fortune surround and enclose a man with so many of those things which we vulgarly call good, or so protect him from every weapon of philosophy, and fence him from every access of free and searching words, as she did Alcibiades, who from the beginning was exposed to the flatteries of those who sought merely his gratification, such as might well unnerve him and indispose him to listen to any real adviser or instructor. Yet such was the happiness of his genius, that he discerned Socrates from the rest, and admitted him, whilst he drove away the wealthy and the 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 fond |