Alcibiades
Alcibiades (450?–404 B.C.), an Athenian general and statesman. His unprincipled leadership helped cause the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.). He was a nephew and ward of Pericles and a favorite student of Socrates. Idolized by the young people of Athens, Alcibiades was brilliant but self-seeking, courageous but unstable in his loyalties.
After the Peace of Nicias brought a truce in the Peloponnesian War in 421, Alcibiades, who was elected one of Athens' 10 generals in 420, schemed to renew the conflict. He was opposed in the Athenian Assembly by Nicias, but succeeded in forming a Peloponnesian alliance against Sparta. Athens provided only ineffectual support, however, and the allied cities were defeated in 418. In 416 Alcibiades persuaded the Assembly to send an expedition against Syracuse, in Sicily, with himself as one of the commanders.
Accused of sacrilegious acts, Alcibiades was summoned home from Sicily for trial. Instead, he took refuge in Sparta, where he helped the Spartans against his native city. When he offended the Spartan king, Alcibiades fled to the Persians, traditional enemies of the Greeks. In 411, however, he was recalled to lead the Athenian army and navy and won several victories over the Spartans. When his navy suffered a defeat at Ephesus in 407, he was again forced to flee. Upon Sparta's final victory, won with Persian support, Alcibiades was assassinated by the Persians.