In Timon of Athens, much attention has given to Timon, the eponymous exile; and yet the exile subplot of Alcibiades appears hardly a coincidence. Shakespeare likely tightens the thematic discussion with it. In the play, Alcibiades pleads with the Athen senators for one of his soldiers who, at rage, killed a man . Their refusal frustrates Alcibiades, who has been thitherto loyal to Athens. His gnawing annoyance and shame no longer keeps his mouth shut: ‘It could not else be I should prove so base / To sue and be denied such common grace. / My wounds ache at you.’ Alcibiades’ military success and scars are nothing for the senators when considering his plead.
Alcibiades’ animosity is most evident here:
I hate not to be banished.
It is a cause worthy my spleen and fury,
That I may strike at Athens.
His stirred up spleen and sound fury now mark his budding exile and revenge. This dramatic sentiment, however, doesn’t appear far from real history.
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Some political enemies plotted against Alcibiades as he was engaged in the Sicilian Expedition. Meanwhile, some statues of Hermes were found destroyed in Athens. The plotters immediately seized this opportunity to defame Alcibiades. An agnostic and eyesore for some, Alcibiades was accused of chopping off the statues’ heads and phalluses overnight. The trial unoffically proceeded without Alcibiades’ presence. Near the end of the war, Alcibiades was recalled from the battlefield to stand trial (or rather, to receive his punishment because the common sentiment was that he was guilty). An Athenian ship was instructed to take Alcibiades home. To keep him in the dark, among the crew any news related to Alcibiades’ conviction was forbidden. But Alcibiades smelled something fishy in the air. He escaped from the ship and went into his first exile.
The first landing was in Sparta, the enemy of his fatherland, Athens. He led and taught the Spartan to fight the Athens, winning local people’s hearts. And yet, his sexual indulgence, which his teacher Socrates used to chide, made him fall out of favour. One of the Spartan queens bore Alcibiades a baby. The king was furious; another exile began. Now, he couldn’t stay long in Sparta. Realising it, he left for Persia, where he would find a ship from his native land, Athens. Alcibiades led his newly met crew through different military conquests, before returning home as a hero.
But his misery of exile didn’t end there. When the Athens mistrusted him again, Thrace (now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey) became his place for another voluntary exile where he lived in his castle (he had built it himself). Later, when he moved to Phrygia, Persia, once more, peace was still denied from him. Remember the pregnant Spartan queen? The king was still angry. Lysander (a Spartan general) and the Persia satrap (a provincial governor) plotted an assassination against Alcibiades. The Spartan King also had a personal reason to help initiate the plot. As Alcibiades' house was set on fire, javelins and arrows claimed his life.
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In Shakespeare’s imagination, Timon is misanthropic but not powerful enough to wage a war against Athens. He kills himself at the end. In real history, Timon was just a sidekick to Alcibiades. Timon regarded him highly ironically because he believed Alcibiades would one day destroy Athens. Alcibiades, I think, is more interesting as an exile than Timon. Ambition, trickery, and exile, all in this minor character.