ALCIBIADES (450?-404 B.C.), Athenian General

Born into a wealthy family and endowed with great beauty, Alcibiades gained a reputation early in life for arrogance and unruly behavior. As a teenager, he met Socrates and was captivated by the philosopher's questions of accepted wisdom. Alcibiades fell in love with Socrates, and attempted to seduce the older man; the seduction scene in Plato's Symposium is based on this incident. In the ensuing years, Alcibiades became active in the political and military affairs of Athens, then switched allegiance to the rival city-state of Sparta. He was run out of Sparta by its king following rumors of an affair between Alcibiades and the queen, and transferred his loyalties to the Persians. A few years later he returned to Athens, where a right-wing coup had replaced his former enemies with allies, and was briefly made general and ruler of the city. He lost this position following a military defeat in 406 B.C., after which the Spartans and Persians, worried about where he might turn up next, had him murdered.