“Alcibiades’ pride in his properties knew no bounds. But, as usual, Socrates tried to bring him down to earth. Carved on a marble slab was displayed a map of the world as it was then known. Socrates took Alcibiades to see it and asked if he could point out Attica. He could. “And your estates and houses?” Alcibiades replied that they were not marked, to which Socrates exclaimed: “Exactly. They don’t add up to even a small portion of the earth – and yet you hold them in such high regard?”
