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They said Alcibiades is known for his luxury. Well, yes, but that's really secondary to his massive crush on Socrates, his fame as a general, and the political scandal that led to his exile. He was a brilliant young politician and general during the Peloponesian War. He and his friends were members of what we would call the left wing. Basically, they were a bunch of handsome young guys interested in social, political, and religious reform. They were also flamboyant in dress and manner and open about their appetites for good food, wine, and, sex. Basically, they annoyed the old guys in charge. Dabbling with the radical and politically and socially subversive philosophies of that troublemaker Socrates likely didn't make him popular with the grumpy old conservative guys that tend to clog the halls of power.

What really annoyed them though, was Alcibiades landing the co-generalship of the Campaign in Sicily. They knew this would be a chance to win huge glories and honors out in the field, since everyone knew the other guy was a doddering nincompoop. Imagine the envy. Imagine them sitting around angry because if he kicked butt as expected, they would have to deal with him for the rest of their political lives.

The night before he left for the campaign, some men went through the town smashing the members off all the Hermes. This was not only incredibly sacrilegious, but was a bad omen, since it was a sort of symbolic castration of the city. A scandal resulted.

The old men waited until Alcibiades was in Sicily before pressing charges, requiring his recall. There was no evidence it was him, just a whisper campaign. He knew he couldn't beat it though, since the framing was deliberate and well organized. Instead of going home to face trial, he defected to Sparta. He ended up in the Persian court, since the Greeks were some of the greatest warriors of the time and the Persian rulers were no fools. As Athens was losing badly, he tried to get them to recall him, but no dice.

Interestingly enough, Plato had his Symposium occur the night of the infamous vandalism of the Hermes. He has Alcibiades arrive late to dinner, but doesn't comment on the incident of the Hermes.