Core_09_Reading Questions_Plato_Lec3

Alcibiades Entrance and Speech:

Note the traits of Alcibiades’ character manifest in the Entrance section.

The exchanges between Alcibiades and Socrates – are they serious or teasing, or perhaps both? Look for evidence in favor of these readings. Why might Alcibiades be saying all those outrageous things against Socrates (213D & 215B10), declaring at the same time that he – Alcibiades – is in love with Socrates?

Who/what is a satyr and a Silenus (215B), and what does Alcibiades say about Socrates when he compares him first to Silenus, then to Marsyas (215B.6). Look these names up.

Which two main things did Socrates supposedly do to Alcibiades (215E8 & 218A4; 219C.6)?

Apart from his love for Socrates, what other things does Alcibiades try to obtain through Socrates’ seduction?

What attracts Alcibiades to Socrates, what repels him?

Apart from morality proper, what might be the points of Socrates’ refusal to give in to Alcibiades’ seduction? Find passages that express his reasons.

Think of shortcomings of Alcibiades’ responses to his rejection by Socrates? (Not the shortcomings he declares, but those, if any, that are implicit.)

Do you find Alcibiades sincere when he asks Socrates to become his lover in order to help him become the best person he, Alcibiades, can be?

Do you find Socrates’ behavior exemplary or not? Try to think of your reasons and the situations, to which they attach. Is Alcibiades right to call Socrates a seducer as well?

What could the “Bacchic frenzy” in philosophy be?