From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGnēsios means genuine; authentic.
- In LysisThe genuine lover is contrasted with the προσποιητός, the pretended one.
- Reading context“Genuine” is part of an attractive but still insecure result.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “For the genuine lover.”
- English renderings
- Genuine; authentic
Meaning
Genuine; authentic.
Grammatical category: adjective.
Use in the book
The genuine lover is contrasted with the προσποιητός, the pretended one. Socrates infers that such a lover must be loved by the beloved, from the proposed necessity of loving what is naturally akin.
The adjective strengthens the distinction within courtship but does not itself prove the conclusion. The boys assent only barely, Hippothales reacts with pleasure, and Socrates immediately re-examines whether the akin differs from the like. “Genuine” is part of an attractive but still insecure result.