What is "alcibiades"

Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Scambonidae (; Greek: , transliterated Alkibiádēs Kleiníou Skambōnídēs; c. 450 – 404 BC), was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.

During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his political allegiance several times. In his native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated an aggressive foreign policy and was a prominent proponent of the Sicilian Expedition, but he fled to Sparta after his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In Sparta, he served as a strategic adviser, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies and felt forced to defect to Persia. There he served as an adviser to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Athenian political allies brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian general ( Strategos) for several years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time.

The Sicilian Expedition was the idea of Alcibiades, and scholars have argued that, had that expedition been under Alcibiades's command instead of that of Nicias, the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate. In the years when he served Sparta, Alcibiades played a significant role in Athens's undoing; the capture of Decelea and the revolts of several critical Athenian subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his supervision. Once restored to his native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege. Alcibiades's military and political talents frequently proved valuable to whichever state currently held his allegiance, but his propensity for making powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one place for long; and by the end of the war which he had helped to rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance were a bygone memory.

The prominent Athenian statesman Alcibiades has been criticized by ancient comic writers and appears in several Socratic dialogues. He enjoys an important afterlife, in literature and art, having acquired symbolic status as the personification of ambition and sexual profligacy. He continues to fascinate the world and appears in several significant works of modern literature.

Alcibiades (1927–1957) was an American Thoroughbred racemare that won the Kentucky Oaks and was later a good broodmare.

Owned and bred by Hal Price Headley at his Beaumont Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, Alcibiades was named for the ancient Greek soldier and statesman Alcibiades. She was sired by Supremus out of Regal Roman. On her sire's side, she goes back to the great stallion Domino.

Alcibiades had seven starts with four wins at two-years. She won the Clipsetta Stakes and Debutante Stakes; ran second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, and was retrospectively named U.S. Champion two-year-old filly of 1929.

At the age of three years, she had 16 starts, for three wins. Alcibiades won the Grade I Kentucky Oaks, the Arlington Oaks and finished third in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, the Illinois and Latonia Oaks, and the Arlington Matron Handicap. She tore a tendon badly in the Latonia Championship, and this was the end of her racing career. She was retrospectively named Co-Champion three-year-old filly of 1930.

Alcibiades was retired from racing for a record of 23 starts with 7 wins, 2 seconds and 4 thirds with earnings of $47,860.

As a broodmare, Alcibiades produced eight foals, seven of which were runners including:

• Lithe, a sister to Menow, won the Arlington Matron Stakes, the Deomoiselle and Comeley Stakes, etc.
• Menow was the Champion two-year-old colt of 1937 and himself was an influential sire.
• Salaminia, winner of 5 races, including the Alabama Stakes; third dam of Epsom Derby winner Sir Ivor
• Sparta, had 12 wins and 13 seconds

Alcibiades or Alkibiades may refer to:

• Alcibiades (c. 450–404 BC), the famous Athenian statesman (whose grandfather and cousin also bore the name)
  • Alcibiades (fictional character), fictional representations of Alcibiades
  • First Alcibiades, a dialogue attributed to Plato, in which Alcibiades is a character
  • Second Alcibiades, a dialogue doubtfully attributed to Plato, in which Alcibiades is a character
• Alcibiades the Younger, son of Alcibiades
• Alcibiades of Apamea, (c. 230 AD) Jewish Christian Elchesaite
• Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1522–1557)
• Alcibiades the Schoolboy (1652), an Italian satirical defence of homosexuality in dialogue form
• Alcibiades (horse) (1927–1957), racehorse
• Alcibiades Hidalgo (born 1946), Cuban politician and defector to the United States
• Andreas Alcibiades (born 1991), Cypriot soccer player
• Alcibiades Stakes, a horse race run annually in Lexington, Kentucky
• Alcibiades was a pseudonym used by Alfred Tennyson