From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPrōton philon means first friend; what is primarily dear or valued.
- In LysisThe phrase appears at 219d as the endpoint of a series of “for the sake of” relations.
- Reading contextIt is more accurate to explain what role the “first friend” would play than to announce what it definitively is.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “what is first friend.”
- English renderings
- First friend; what is primarily dear or valued
Meaning
First friend; what is primarily dear or valued.
Grammatical category: neuter adjective phrase.
Use in the book
The phrase appears at 219d as the endpoint of a series of “for the sake of” relations. Medicine is valued for health; if health too is valued for something else, the inquiry must either give up or reach a starting point that no longer refers on to another friend. “First” marks explanatory priority, not the first friend acquired in time.
The father’s concern for his poisoned son illustrates the difference between an end and the wine and vessel treated as valuable for that end (219d–220a2). At 220b the really friendly or dear is that in which the so-called friendships terminate. The example does not establish that every person has exactly one ultimate object, nor does the phrase itself identify a separately existing Form.
Socrates next asks whether this is the good and whether it is loved because of the bad (220b–e2). The latter explanation is then challenged by desires that are not bad (221a–d2). The regress argument and its proposed stopping point remain part of an unfinished inquiry. It is more accurate to explain what role the “first friend” would play than to announce what it definitively is.