From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordHēniochos means charioteer; the driver entrusted with the horses.
- In LysisWhen Socrates asks whether Lysis may take the reins in his father’s racing chariot, the boy names a paid ἡνίοχος as the person allowed to drive.
- Reading contextPreserve that distinction from the muleteer and tutor, whose enslaved status is explicitly established in the next examples.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “There is a charioteer employed by my father.”
- English renderings
- Charioteer; the driver entrusted with the horses
Meaning
Charioteer; the driver entrusted with the horses.
Grammatical category: noun, masculine.
Use in the book
When Socrates asks whether Lysis may take the reins in his father’s racing chariot, the boy names a paid ἡνίοχος as the person allowed to drive. The answer sets practical responsibility against family ownership and the son’s status.
Socrates emphasizes that the father even pays this hired person for the authority denied to his own son. The driver is not identified as a slave. Preserve that distinction from the muleteer and tutor, whose enslaved status is explicitly established in the next examples.
Places to read
- 208aἜστιν τις ἡνίοχος παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς — There is a charioteer employed by my father.