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Plato

Lysis

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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LysisLysis · 203a–204a

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Lysis · 203a–204a

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Ancient Greek

p. 2

ΛΥΣΙΣ

ΣΩΚΡΑΤΗΣ

203aἘπορευόμην μὲν ἐξ Ἀκαδημείας εὐθὺ Λυκείου τὴν ἔξω τείχους ὑπ’ αὐτὸ τὸ τεῖχος· ἐπειδὴ δ’ ἐγενόμην κατὰ τὴν πυλίδα ᾗ ἡ Πάνοπος κρήνη, ἐνταῦθα συνέτυχον Ἱπποθάλει τε τῷ Ἱερωνύμου καὶ Κτησίππῳ τῷ Παιανιεῖ καὶ ἄλλοις μετὰ τούτων νεανίσκοις ἁθρόοις συνεστῶσι. καί με προσιόντα ὁ Ἱπποθάλης ἰδών, Ὦ Σώκρατες, ἔφη, ποῖ δὴ πορεύῃ καὶ 203b πόθεν;

Ἐξ Ἀκαδημείας, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, πορεύομαι εὐθὺ Λυκείου.

Δεῦρο δή, ἦ δ’ ὅς, εὐθὺ ἡμῶν. οὐ παραβάλλεις; ἄξιον μέντοι.

Ποῖ, ἔφην ἐγώ, λέγεις, καὶ παρὰ τίνας τοὺς ὑμᾶς;

Δεῦρο, ἔφη, δείξας μοι ἐν τῷ καταντικρὺ τοῦ τείχους περίβολόν τέ τινα καὶ θύραν ἀνεῳγμένην. διατρίβομεν δέ, ἦ δ’ ὅς, αὐτόθι ἡμεῖς τε αὐτοὶ καὶ ἄλλοι πάνυ πολλοὶ καὶ καλοί.

204aἜστιν δὲ δὴ τί τοῦτο, καὶ τίς ἡ διατριβή;

Παλαίστρα, ἔφη, νεωστὶ ᾠκοδομημένη· ἡ δὲ διατριβὴ τὰ πολλὰ ἐν λόγοις, ὧν ἡδέως ἄν σοι μεταδιδοῖμεν.

Καλῶς γε, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ποιοῦντες· διδάσκει δὲ τίς αὐτόθι;

Σὸς ἑταῖρός γε, ἦ δ’ ὅς, καὶ ἐπαινέτης, Μίκκος.

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Lysis

p. 3

203aI was making my way from the Academy straight to the Lyceum, taking the road outside the wall, right under the wall itself; and when I came to the little gate where the spring of Panops is,1 there I fell in with Hippothales the son of Hieronymus and Ctesippus of Paeania,2 and other young men with them, standing about together in a body. And Hippothales, seeing me coming, said, “Socrates, where are you making your way, and 203b where from?”

“From the Academy,” I said; “I’m making my way straight to the Lyceum.”

“This way, then,” he said, “straight to us. Won’t you drop in? It’s worth it, you know.”

“Where do you mean,” I said, “and to whom? Who are ‘you’?”

“This way,” he said, pointing out to me, opposite the wall, an enclosure of some sort with its door open. “We spend our time,” he said, “right there, we ourselves and a great many others too, and beautiful ones.”

204a“And what is this place, and how do you spend the time?”

“A wrestling-school,” he said, “newly built; and the time is spent mostly in talk, which we would gladly share with you.”

“You do well to,” I said; “and who teaches there?”

“A companion of yours,” he said, “and one who praises you: Miccus.”3

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About This Reading Edition

The complete Lysis, 203a–223b: Socrates questions Lysis and Menexenus about friendship, love, desire, and what is akin, as Hippothales listens. Burnet’s Greek faces a new Diotimos Editions English translation, with an introduction, key words, outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and linked translator notes.

Historical Text and Translation

Greek: Plato, Lysis, in John Burnet, Platonis Opera, volume III (Oxford, 1903; second impression, corrected, January 1909, printed by Horace Hart). The words were taken from the Perseus Digital Library transcription and checked against photographs of this impression by the supplied edition; Burnet’s lineation and critical apparatus are retained. The digital Greek transcription and its modifications are attributed to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, under CC BY-SA 4.0. English translation and editorial matter: Diotimos Editions, 2026.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s printed edition are in the public domain. The Perseus digital Greek transcription and its modifications are reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. The new English translation and editorial matter are credited to Diotimos Editions, 2026; no open license is stated in the supplied edition.