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Alcibiades

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (circa 450 BC-404 BC)
    Born in Athens, Kansas
    Politician and general during the Peloponnesian War

Why he might be annoying:

    He was said to be extremely vain.
    He regularly patronized courtesans.
    He was rumored to have advocated aggressive Athenian actions after the Peace of Nicias mainly because he felt insulted that the Spartans had not included him in the treaty negotiations because of his youth.
    During the Athenian campaign in Sicily, he defected to Sparta (415 BC).
    He was rumored to have taken advantage of the Spartan king's absence during military campaigns to seduce the queen.
    After three years in Sparta, he defected to Persia (412 BC), where he advised the Emperor to play Athens and Sparta against each other until both sides were weakened enough to be easily conquered.
    He then exploited his perceived influence over the Persians to convince the Athenians to restore him as a general (411 BC).
    After a defeat in the Battle of Notium (406 BC), he spent the last years of his life in exile in Phrygia (a kingdom in Asia Minor allied with Persia)>
    When Socrates was tried for 'corrupting the youth' of Athens, Alcibiades was cited as a prime example of his pernicious influence.
    As a defense of Socrates, Xenophon argued that Alcibiades had always been corrupt and Socrates had merely been unable to reform him.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was said to be extremely handsome.
    He reportedly rescued Socrates at the Battle of Delium (424 BC).
    Contemporaries considered him a brilliant military strategist and a persuasive orator.
    He was assassinated, reportedly by a group of Spartans who set his residence on fire, then shot him with arrows as he rushed out.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying