The Lovers

Name: The Lovers
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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The LoversThe Lovers · 132a–132c

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The Lovers · 132a–132c

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Ancient Greek

p. 2

ΕΡΑΣΤΑΙ

132aΕἰς Διονυσίου τοῦ γραμματιστοῦ εἰσῆλθον, καὶ εἶδον αὐτόθι τῶν τε νέων τοὺς ἐπιεικεστάτους δοκοῦντας εἶναι τὴν ἰδέαν καὶ πατέρων εὐδοκίμων, καὶ τούτων ἐραστάς. ἐτυγχανέτην οὖν δύο τῶν μειρακίων ἐρίζοντε, περὶ ὅτου δέ, οὐ σφόδρα κατήκουον. ἐφαινέσθην μέντοι ἢ περὶ Ἀναξαγόρου 132b ἢ περὶ Οἰνοπίδου ἐρίζειν· κύκλους γοῦν γράφειν ἐφαινέσθην καὶ ἐγκλίσεις τινὰς ἐμιμοῦντο τοῖν χεροῖν ἐπικλίνοντε καὶ μάλ’ ἐσπουδακότε. κἀγώ—καθήμην γὰρ παρὰ τὸν ἐραστὴν τοῦ ἑτέρου αὐτοῖν—κινήσας οὖν αὐτὸν τῷ ἀγκῶνι ἠρόμην ὅτι ποτὲ οὕτως ἐσπουδακότε τὼ μειρακίω εἴτην, καὶ εἶπον· Ἦ που μέγα τι καὶ καλόν ἐστι περὶ ὃ τοσαύτην σπουδὴν πεποιημένω ἐστόν;

Ὁ δ’ εἶπε, Ποῖον, ἔφη, μέγα καὶ καλόν; ἀδολεσχοῦσι μὲν οὖν οὗτοί γε περὶ τῶν μετεώρων καὶ φλυαροῦσι φιλοσοφοῦντες.

132cΚαὶ ἐγὼ θαυμάσας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν εἶπον· Ὦ νεανία, αἰσχρὸν δοκεῖ σοι εἶναι τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν; ἢ τί οὕτως χαλεπῶς λέγεις;

Καὶ ὁ ἕτερος—πλησίον γὰρ καθήμενος ἐτύγχανεν αὐτοῦ, ἀντεραστὴς ὤν—ἀκούσας ἐμοῦ τε ἐρομένου κἀκείνου ἀπο-

The Lovers

p. 3

132aI went into the school of Dionysius the writing-master,¹ and there I saw those of the young who were thought the most comely in looks and born of esteemed fathers, and their lovers. Now two of the lads were in fact quarreling, but about what, I could not quite hear. They appeared, though, to be quarreling about either Anaxagoras 132b or Oenopides: it was circles, at any rate, that they appeared to be drawing, and with their hands they were miming some inclinations, tilting them, and were very much in earnest.² And I—for I was seated next to the lover of one of the two—well, nudging him with my elbow, I asked what in the world the two lads were so much in earnest about, and said, “Surely it is something great and fine that they have put such earnestness into?”

And he said, “Great and fine, you call it?” he said. “No: these two are prattling about the things up in the sky, and talking nonsense, philosophizing.”³

132cAnd I said, wondering at his answer, “Young man, do you think philosophizing is shameful? Or why do you speak so harshly?”

And the other—for he was in fact sitting near him, being his rival in love⁴—hearing me asking and him

1.A grammatistēs, “writing-master”, taught boys their letters. Diogenes Laertius says that Plato learned his letters from a Dionysius, “whom he mentions in the Rival Lovers” (3.4).

2.Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (about 500–428 BC) taught at Athens and held the sun to be a fiery stone (Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.7.7); Oenopides of Chios, a mathematician and astronomer of the fifth century, first found the slant of the zodiac, as Eudemus records (Theon of Smyrna, p. 198 Hiller). The “inclinations” (enkliseis) can be read as the tilt of one circle against another, which the tilted hands suit.

3.Adoleschein, “to prattle”, and ta meteōra, “the things up in the sky”, were the comic poets’ words for philosophers: Aristophanes’ Socrates looks into “the things up in the sky” from a basket (Clouds 225–228), and his school is “prattle” (1480, 1485); in the Phaedo (70b–c) Socrates says that not even a comic poet could now accuse him of prattling. Philosophein, “to philosophize”, and philosophia, “philosophy”, join philo-, “loving”, and sophia, “wisdom”; the English keeps “philosophy”, “philosophize” and “philosopher” throughout. The love in the word returns in the dialogue’s other loves: philotimōs, “ambitiously”, literally “honor-lovingly” (133a), philogymnastia, “the love of exercise” (133d), and philonikein, “strive for victory”, literally “love winning” (134c).

4.Anterastēs, “rival lover”, one who courts the same boy. From it the dialogue has its other title, Anterastai, “The Rival Lovers”, under which Diogenes Laertius lists it (3.59) and which a later hand writes in the margin of B (apparatus, at the title).

About This Reading Edition

Socrates recalls a debate between two rival lovers about what philosophy is: much learning, a knowledge of many crafts, or the knowledge by which we know ourselves and judge rightly. This complete edition presents the dialogue, 132a–139a, across thirteen Greek–English page pairs, with an introduction, Key Words of the Dialogue, an outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and thirty translator’s notes. The dialogue is transmitted among Plato’s works; its authorship remains disputed.

Discussion Questions

Historical Text and Translation

The Greek follows John Burnet’s Platonis Opera, volume II (Oxford, 1901; second edition, 1910), in a later Oxford impression printed by John Johnson. The supplied edition checks the Perseus Digital Library transcription against the printed pages and retains Burnet’s paragraphing, verse, editorial signs, and critical apparatus. The supplied PDF preserves the complete printed layout.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Socrates’ narration, the rival lovers’ exchanges, and the distinctions between learning, craft, usefulness, justice, and temperance remain aligned with the Greek. All thirty translator’s notes accompany their passages. The introduction and Key Words of the Dialogue precede the text; the Outline, Editorial Note, Glossary of Key Terms, and Note on this Edition follow it.

Rights

The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s printed edition are in the public domain. The Perseus digital Greek transcription and its modifications are attributed to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, and reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. The independent English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions.