Alcibiades
3 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Alcibiades. All 3 are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
son of Clinias and Deinomache, was born in Athens about 450 B. C. He lost his father in the battle of Coronea (447), so was brought up in the house of his kinsman Pericles. His friend Socrates was unable to restrain his love of luxury and dissipation, which found ample means of gratification in the wealth that accrued to him by his union with Hipparete. He first bore arms in the expedition against Potidæa (432), where his life was saved by Socrates a debt which eight years later he repaid at Delium, by saving, in his turn, the life of the philosopher. He seems to have taken no part in political matters till after the death of ALCIBIADES the demagogue Cleon, when Nicias brought about a 50 years' treaty of peace between Athens and Lacedæmon. Alcibiades, jealous of the esteem in which Nicias was held, persuaded the Athenians to ally themselves with the people of Argos, Elis, and Mantinea (420). It was at his suggestion that, in 415, they engaged in the Sicilian expedition, which he commanded, along with Nicias and Lamachus. But while preparations were making, one night all the statues of Hermes in Athens were mutilated. Alcibiades' enemies threw on him the blame of the sacrilege, but postponed the impeachment until he had set sail, when they stirred up the people against him to such a degree that he was recalled in order to stand his trial. On the voyage home, he landed in Italy, and thence crossed to Lacedæmon, where he soon became a favorite. He induced the Lacedæmonians to send assistance to Syracuse, to form an alliance with Persia, and to support the people of Chios in their effort to throw off the Athenian yoke. He went thither himself, and raised all Ionia in revolt. But Agis, and other leading Spartans, jealous of Alcibiades' success, ordered their 8-Vol. I-Cyc generals in Asia to have him assassinated. Discovering the plot, he fled to Tissaphernes, a Persian satrap, who had orders to act in concert with the Spartans. He now resumed his old manners, adopted the luxurious habit of Asia, and made himself indispensable to Tissaphernes, representing to him that it was contrary to Persia's interests entirely to disable the Athenians. He then sent word to the Athenian commanders at Samos that he would procure for them the friendship of the satrap if they would establish an oligarchy at Athens. The offer was accepted, and the supreme power vested in a council of four hundred. When it appeared, however, that this council had no intention of recalling Alcibiades, the army of Samos chose him for a general, desiring him to lead them to Athens. But Alcibiades did not wish to return to his native country till he had rendered it some service; and during the next four years he defeated the Lacedæmonians at Cynossema, Abydos, and Cyzicus; recovered Chalcedon and Byzantium, and restored to the Athenians the dominion of the sea. He then returned home (407), on a formal invitation, and was received with general enthusiasm. His triumph, however, was brief. He was sent back to Asia with a hundred ships; but his own ill-success against Andros, and the defeat of his lieutenant at Notium, enabled his enemies to get him superseded (406). He went into exile in the Thracian Chersonesus, and two years later crossed over to Phrygia, with the intention of repairing to the court of Artaxerxes. One night, in 404, his house was fired by a band of armed men; and, rushing out sword in hand, he fell pierced with a shower of arrows.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
al-si-bi a-dez (450-404 B. C.), a brilliant but unprincipled Athenian. He was a nephew of Pericles and a pupil of Socrates. Socrates saved his life in battle. A few years later Alcibiades rendered the philosopher a similar service, thus cementing a friendship, which, however, appears to have had little influence on the character of the younger man. Alcibiades was wealthy and profligate, but he was popular. He posed as a radical. He is charged with inciting strife between the Greek cities. For personal ends he stirred up his native city against Sparta, and tried to renew the Peloponnesian War. He persuaded the Athenians to fit out an armament, partly under his command, for the capture of Sicily. On the night before his departure the statues of the god Hermes were thrown down throughout the city, it is believed by Alcibiades and a lot of his riotous companions by way of a parting lark. He was recalled on the charge of impiety to plead for his life, but fled instead to Sparta, where he adopted a plain mode of living, and ingratiated himself, as he had done at Athens, by pretending to be what he was not. From Sparta Alcibiades fled to Persia. From Persia he was recalled to Athens and restored to favor. Again he fled to Asia with his wealth, and finally was assassinated by a flight of arrows as he attempted to escape from his burning home. There is little in the life of Alcibiades worthy of study, except as it illustrates the factional spirit in Greece, and the facility with which an unprincipled man effects a change of base. His career was one of intrigue and wasted opportunity. A glimpse of his character may be gleaned from an incident related by Plutarch. Alcibiades paid 7,000 drachmas, the value of 100 oxen, for a very handsome dog, and then cut off his tail in order that the Athenians might have something fresh to talk about and stop gossiping about his other misdeeds.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
An Athenian general, famous for his enterprise, versatile genius, and natural foibles. He was a disciple of Socrates , whose lessons and example checked for a while his vicious propensities. In the Peloponnesian war he encouraged the Athenians to undertake an expedition against Syracuse. He died in his forty-sixth year, в. c. 404.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The narrative facts here have barely moved, because they rest on Thucydides, Xenophon and Plutarch, and no new narrative source has turned up since Collier's wrote in 1921. What has shifted is the tone: Aiton's 1910 judgement that "there is little in the life of Alcibiades worthy of study" would now be reversed, since he is among the most heavily studied Athenians precisely as a case study in charisma, faction and the failure of democratic accountability. Modern scholars also separate the two scandals of 415 that Aiton merges: Alcibiades was formally accused of profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries, and his responsibility for the mutilation of the herms — asserted there as a "parting lark" — is now generally doubted. Excavation of the Athenian Agora recovered inscribed records of property confiscated and auctioned from the men condemned in that affair, which is about the only genuinely new evidence in a century.
Written for this edition, 2026.