An Ancient Greek Warrior with a Modern American Lust for Fame
Tales of classical Greeks in their plumed helmets and woolen tunics might seem far removed from today’s era of prevaricators, personality cults, and political panic. But what seems new and scary has old roots. And in the case of an Athenian general — and a modern American prototype — named Alcibiades, these roots go back as far as the fifth century BC.
Alcibiades (pronounced al-suh-bai-uh-deez) was a handsome, unscrupulous, wealthy, arrogant, ambitious, charismatic, intelligent, licentious, brave, traitorous, hot-headed, cultural contradiction of a man born in 450 BC. An unapologetic champion of ego-mad individualism, Alcibiades lived for self-promotion and public attention. And he reveled in the kinds of controversy and acclaim that, like his modern-day peers, brought him both.
Alcibiades, a close friend of Socrates and a ward of Pericles, seemed to have understood early that his beauty set him apart. Indeed as the Roman historian Plutarch wrote, Alcibiades’ “excellent natural parts” made him “lovely and pleasant” from youth to adulthood.
To further promote his brand, as well as demonstrate what we might call his influencer’s clout, Alcibiades emblazoned his warrior’s shield with an image of Eros armed with a bow and thunderbolt — not a mere arrow. He was also reported to walk “with utter…
