Famous Men of Greece · Ch. XIX · Unit 6: The golden age and the war with Sparta

24. Alcibiades

Goal: Your child can describe Alcibiades's gifts and faults and tell what happened to the Sicilian expedition.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • A map or globe (a free online map works well)
  • A notebook or paper and colored pencils
  • Your timeline (a long strip of paper on the wall, or a notebook page)

What's in the book

Alcibiades, rich, handsome and three times an Olympic chariot winner, is brilliant but not sincere. The book explains the Olympic games (first in 776 B.C.). He talks Athens into attacking Syracuse in Sicily, is recalled over the broken statues of Mercury, and the fleet is lost. He changes sides again and again and is killed in 404 B.C.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Set the scene

    Find Olympia in southern Greece, then the island of Sicily and the city of Syracuse on its east coast.

  2. Read the chapter together

    Read pages 173–179 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names.

  3. Narration

    Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:

    - How were the Olympic games held, and what did the winner get?

    - Why did Alcibiades want Athens to attack Sicily?

    - What happened to the busts of Mercury, and why did it matter?

    - Where did Alcibiades go when he ran away from Athens?

  4. The Olympic games

    SayThe Greeks counted time from the first Olympic games, 776 B.C., in periods of four years called "Olympiads." The modern Olympic games, which began again in 1896, are named after these.

    Add 776 B.C. to the timeline. Notice how much earlier it is than Pericles.

  5. Talk it over

    Ask:

    1. The book says Alcibiades was brilliant but "not sincere." What does sincere mean?

    2. Why did nobody, not even his friends, trust him for long?

    3. Could the Sicilian expedition have turned out differently?

  6. Remember it

    The Spartan admiral's message after Alcibiades helped Athens win:

    "Our glory is gone. The men are without food. We know not what to do."

Afterwards

Hold a little "Olympics" outside: a short running race, a long jump, a throw (a soft ball or a beanbag). Crown the winner with a wreath of leaves.

Answers to the book's problems

1. Meaning what you say and being what you seem. 2. He changed sides whenever it suited him: Athens, Sparta, Persia, and back to Athens. 3. Any reasoned answer (if Alcibiades had stayed in command; if Nicias had not been trapped in the harbor).

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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