From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordKtaomai means acquire; get something for oneself.
- In LysisSocrates describes friendship through the language of acquisition: some people want horses, dogs, gold, or honours, while he especially wants friends.
- Reading contextThe language expresses the high value Socrates puts on friendship and establishes the question he will ask; it should not be taken as a settled claim that a friend is property in the same sense as gold.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “to acquire this possession quickly and easily.”
- English renderings
- Acquire; get something for oneself
Meaning
Acquire; get something for oneself.
Grammatical category: verb.
Use in the book
Socrates describes friendship through the language of acquisition: some people want horses, dogs, gold, or honours, while he especially wants friends. He credits the boys with having acquired one another quickly and thoroughly, then professes not to know how a friend is acquired.
The related nouns κτῆμα, “possession,” and κτῆσις, “acquisition,” belong to this same opening comparison. The language expresses the high value Socrates puts on friendship and establishes the question he will ask; it should not be taken as a settled claim that a friend is property in the same sense as gold.