1.4
Even the lisp that he had became his speech, they say, and made his talk persuasive and full of charm. Aristophanes notices this lisp of his in the verses wherein he ridicules Theorus:— Sosias Then Alcibiades said to me with a lisp, said he, Cwemahk Theocwus? What a cwaven’s head he has! Xanthias That lisp of Alcibiades hit the mark for once! Wasps, 44 ff. The lisp of Alcibiades turned his r’s into l’s, and the play is on the Greek words κόραξ, raven, and κόλαξ, flatterer or craven. And Archippus, ridiculing the son of Alcibiades, says: He walks with utter wantonness, trailing his long robe behind him, that he may be thought the very picture of his father, yes, He slants his neck awry, and overworks the lisp. Kock, Com. Att. Frag., i. p. 688
2.1
His character, in later life, displayed many inconsistencies and marked changes, as was natural amid his vast undertakings and varied fortunes. He was naturally a man of many strong passions, the mightiest of which were the love of rivalry and the love of preeminence. This is clear from the stories recorded of his boyhood.
2.2
He was once hard pressed in wrestling, and to save himself from getting a fall, set his teeth in his opponent’s arms, where they clutched him, and was like to have bitten through them. His adversary, letting go his hold, cried: You bite, Alcibiades, as women do! Not I, said Alcibiades, but as lions do. While still a small boy, he was playing knucklebones in the narrow street, and just as it was his turn to throw, a heavy-laden wagon came along.
