History meme: 3 men - ALCIBIADES was an Athenian general (ca. 450-404 B.C.) who served Athens and its enemies alike and caused damage to every state that employed him.
Alcibiades was the son of a brilliant but unstable politician; wealthy, handsome, and aristocratic, he was brought up in the house of his guardian, Pericles, and groomed for a political career. He had every possible advantage and in addition possessed exceptional charm and ability as a conversationalist, thinker, and diplomat. Entering politics in the wartime atmosphere of the Peloponnesian War, he represented youth and became an intimate of the teacher of young men, Socrates. In 420 B.C., during an uneasy peace with Sparta, by clever tactics he drove Athens into an alliance against Sparta which failed completely and caused Athens to conduct an ostracism. Even in the permissive society of his day, Alcibiades became known for his extravagant and reckless behavior, and the distrust he aroused wrecked his career. In 415 B.C. he was the prime mover of the proposal to attack Syracuse and, together with Nicias and Lamachus, commanded the naval expedition to Sicily. He was soon recalled on charges of having profaned the Mysteries and of having mutilated religious statues (hermae) in a drunken spree on the eve of the fleet’s departure. Alcibiades escaped, reached Sparta, and became a Spartan military adviser. Once there, he fell into disfavor with the Spartan king whose wife he seduced. Subsequently he transferred his services to Persia and then to Athenian antidemocratic extremists, with whom he planned a coup d’etat in Athens. When he failed to obtain Persia’s aid, they discontinued to support him and seized power in Athens without him. After the Peloponnesian War, Sparta demanded his head, and he was assassinated while a fugitive in Phrygia.
Gold ring with plasma stone
2.4cm in diameter (15/16 inch).
Greek, Classical Period, 5th century BC.
Source: Metropolitan Museum