From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAkoloutheō means follow; keep up; conform to an earlier statement.
- In LysisAt 218e the verb promises that an example may help Menexenus follow the explanation.
- Reading contextThe verb itself does not mean that the premises have been proved true.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “If it is to follow the earlier agreement.”
- English renderings
- Follow; keep up; conform to an earlier statement
Meaning
Follow; keep up; conform to an earlier statement.
Grammatical category: verb.
Use in the book
At 218e the verb promises that an example may help Menexenus follow the explanation. At 219c the subject is the developing claim: it must follow the earlier agreement by making one friend depend on another.
The shift connects pedagogical understanding with argumentative consistency. In one case a listener follows a speaker; in the other a new statement follows what has already been granted. The verb itself does not mean that the premises have been proved true.