Plutarch's Lives, Vol. 1

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 100

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Chapters 15-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 15 Summary: “Alcibiades”

Alcibiades comes from one of the best families in Athens, the family of the Alcmeonidae. His uncle is Pericles. Plutarch notes that he was famous for his good looks throughout his life and that these good looks gave him many advantages.

There are a lot of inconsistencies in Alcibiades’s character. From a young age, he loves competition and being the best. He is also very vain, refusing to play the flute because of the way it makes his face look, and he can be extremely reckless. Among the people drawn to the young Alcibiades is the philosopher, Socrates. According to Plutarch, Socrates was Alcibiades’s only real friend who tried to help him: Besides Socrates, Alcibiades was surrounded only by flatterers. Though Alcibiades greatly reveres Socrates, he is also self-indulgent and allows himself to be moved too much by his flatterers, who play to his desire for fame.

For all his weaknesses, Alcibiades is a brave soldier. In the Battle of Potidaea, he is nearly killed but is saved by Socrates. In the later Battle of Delium, Alcibiades puts himself in danger to defend Socrates.

Alcibiades marries Hipparete, the daughter of a wealthy Athenian named Hipponicus. Hipparete soon tries to divorce Alcibiades when she learns of all the time he spends with sex workers. Alcibiades refuses the divorce and forces Hipparete to stay home; she dies soon after.

Alcibiades enters public life, bolstered by his good looks, family, and speaking ability. He gains more and more power and prestige, soon entering an unprecedented seven chariots in the Olympic Games. Alcibiades’s lavish behavior earns him friends as well as enemies. The politicians Nicias and Phaeax in particular resist Alcibiades at every turn. Nicias, Phaeax, and Alcibiades do work together, however, to ensure that another politician, Hyperbolus, gets ostracized instead of one of them.

When the Spartans and Athenians make a truce during the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades is jealous that it is called the “Peace of Nicias” and does everything he can to stir up hostilities again. He makes alliances with other Greek city-states, including Argos, Mantinea, and Elea, and provokes a battle with the Spartans.

Plutarch speaks about Alcibiades’s hedonism. His behavior also becomes increasingly tyrannical as he grows more powerful, but the Athenian masses are lenient with him because he spends a lot of money on public projects.

Alcibiades convinces the Athenians to launch a campaign against the island of Sicily, convinced that this will be a good way for him to earn power and glory. Nicias tries to dissuade the Athenians from attacking Sicily but is unsuccessful. In the end, Alcibiades, Nicias, and Lamachus are chosen to lead the invasion. Just as the fleet is preparing to sail, however, Alcibiades is implicated in a serious act of impiety (the mutilation of religious statues called hermae). Alcibiades’s trial is initially postponed until after the war in Sicily, but he is recalled after the fleet has already sailed.

Alcibiades flees and defects to Sparta. He convinces the Spartans to fortify the island of Deceleia and use it as a base of operations against Athens. Alcibiades is initially popular in Sparta, but he falls out of favor when he seduces the king’s wife. So Alcibiades flees again, this time to Persia. In Persia, Alcibiades works for the Persian satrap (regional governor), Tisaphernes. Alcibiades advises Tisaphernes to play Athens and Sparta against each other.

The Athenians, meanwhile, regret driving Alcibiades away. Alcibiades catches wind of this and urges his friends in Athens to replace the democracy with an oligarchy, promising that if they achieve this, he will bring the Persians to their side. An oligarchic revolution takes place in Athens. The Athenian fleet, stationed on Samos, is furious to learn of this and demands that Alcibiades lead them against the oligarchy. Alcibiades refuses, but he becomes pro-democracy when the oligarchic government in Athens is overthrown. Alcibiades wins some naval battles against the Spartans. Meanwhile, though, Tisaphernes turns against him and imprisons him at Sardis, but Alcibiades soon escapes. He wins more battles against the Spartans and Persians.

Alcibiades finally sails back to Athens, where he is given a warm welcome. Alcibiades, however, soon starts losing battles, and the Athenians become suspicious. Thrasybulus, a rival of Alcibiades, turns the people against him. Alcibiades goes to Thrace and tries to make a kingdom for himself there. The generals who replace Alcibiades are soon defeated by the Spartans at Aegespotami, ignoring Alcibiades’s message warning them that they are setting themselves up for a major defeat. The Spartans destroy Athens’ fleet and win the Peloponnesian War.

Alcibiades, meanwhile, is soon betrayed by the Thracians. He tries to return to the Persians, but by now the Spartans want him dead. A party of Persians is sent to Phrygia, where Alcibiades is living, and they assassinate him.

Chapter 16 Summary: “Coriolanus”

Plutarch introduces the distinguished Roman family of the Marcii. Caius (Gaius) Marcius Coriolanus comes from this family. As a young man, he is aggressive and proud, but also intelligent, disciplined, and hardworking. As he grows into an adult, Coriolanus becomes known for his loyalty to his city, his family, and his social class. He does not approve of the blurring of the lines between the aristocratic patricians—the class to which he belongs—and the plebeians (the lower classes): He believes that giving too many rights to the plebeians can only weaken the Roman spirit.

In a war against the Volscians, Coriolanus plays an important role in taking the enemy city of Corioli. In honor of his success, he is given the name “Coriolanus.” As Coriolanus grows more powerful, he also demonstrates his magnanimity by sharing his wealth. The situation in Rome, however, grows more troubled and volatile. There is a grain shortage which the commoners blame on the aristocrats’ desire to punish them. The city of Velitrae is depopulated by plague and Romans are sent there to start a new colony, and more Romans are sent to fight against the Volscians. The plebeians initially refuse to colonize the Velitrae area or fight against the Volscians, but Coriolanus manages to smooth things over. Coriolanus, believing he has the people’s support, decides to run for consul. The fickle commoners do not elect him, being reminded of his strong ties with the old aristocracy. Coriolanus does not hide his anger.

When a large amount of grain becomes available in Rome, Coriolanus opposes a motion to distribute it cheaply among the masses: He does not want the commoners to think that they can control the aristocrats too easily. The people riot when they hear about Coriolanus’s position, and Coriolanus only angers them further when he continues to defy them. Eventually, Coriolanus is put on trial and banished from Rome.

Coriolanus, wanting revenge, turns to the Volscian city of Antium. There, he falls in with his old enemy Tullus Aufidius, and promises to use his military skills to help the Volscians. The Romans, meanwhile, begin to realize that they made a mistake when they banished Coriolanus. Coriolanus wins great admiration among the Volscians, especially as he begins to successfully campaign against Rome. The Romans want to call Coriolanus back home, but the senate resists doing so until he and the Volscians are camped just outside of the city gates.

The senate sends envoys to Coriolanus, but he initially rebuffs their offer to come back home. However, Coriolanus’s negotiations with the Romans lead the Volscians to question his allegiances. Finally, Coriolanus’s mother comes to beg him to spare Rome. Coriolanus obeys her and orders the Volscians to retreat. Upon his return to Antium, the Volscians strip him of his powers and put him on trial. Aufidius has him assassinated before the trial is over.

Chapter 17 Summary: “The Comparison of Alcibiades with Coriolanus”

Alcibiades and Coriolanus were both effective generals, but poor politicians. While Alcibiades used flattery and deception to get his way, Coriolanus was more unjust because of his proud and tyrannical nature. Both men turned against their home city when they were banished, but in Plutarch’s eyes it is again Coriolanus who committed the greater injustice: Alcibiades came back home when the Athenians recalled him, while Coriolanus refused to come back home even when the Romans begged him.

Chapters 15-17 Analysis

Alcibiades and Coriolanus are in many ways cautionary tales more than they are models, reflecting The Influence of Character on History. Both men initially demonstrate great potential. Alcibiades is handsome, comes from a good family, and has a great deal of natural intelligence and courage. Coriolanus, similarly, comes from an aristocratic background and possesses intelligence, bravery, and discipline. Nevertheless, both men also have significant moral failings that lead them, ultimately, to squander their gifts. Alcibiades’s hedonism and susceptibility to flattery leads to his undoing, and he spends much of his life switching allegiances between Athens, Sparta, and Persia. Coriolanus’s fatal flaw, on the other hand, is his pride: Again and again, Coriolanus belittles and insults the commoners of Rome until, at last, he winds up in exile.

Plutarch uses Alcibiades and Coriolanus to illustrate the importance of morality for any public figure. Without a sound moral code, he suggests, even the most naturally-gifted people will fail to meet their potential. The moral failings of Alcibiades and Coriolanus, moreover, end up hurting not only themselves but also their respective states. Both men betray their native states to hostile rivals or enemies—Alcibiades sells out Athens to the Spartans and Persians, while Coriolanus leads a Volscian army against Rome. The Athenian statesman Themistocles, discussed by Plutarch in an earlier biography, commits a similar offense when he defects to Persia after his banishment from Athens, but even Themistocles, for all his moral ambivalence, chose to end his life rather than help Persia against Athens.

Alcibiades and Coriolanus effectively demonstrate how much a single individual—and their character—can shape the course of history. During the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades constantly shifts allegiances between Athens and Sparta, on several occasions changing the tide of the war. Coriolanus’s defection to the Volscians, similarly, very nearly leads to the conquest of Rome. The massive impact that a single individual can have underscores even more strongly the importance of morality in public life, as it is morality that ensures loyalty and prevents the kind of treachery practiced by Alcibiades and Coriolanus.