From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Kind
γένος
genosGenos means kind; class or category.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGenos means kind; class or category.
- In LysisThe plural γένη introduces good, bad, and neither-good-nor-bad as “some three kinds, as it were.”
- Reading contextThe classifications are applied across body, soul, and other things as the inquiry develops.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “There are, as it were, some three kinds.”
- English renderings
- Kind; class or category
Meaning
Kind; class or category.
Grammatical category: neuter noun.
Use in the book
The plural γένη introduces good, bad, and neither-good-nor-bad as “some three kinds, as it were.” The qualifying ὡσπερεὶ and ἄττα keep the classification provisional.
The noun organizes the possibilities available to the current argument. It is not, solely by being used here, a technical assertion about three metaphysical genera. The classifications are applied across body, soul, and other things as the inquiry develops.
Places to read
- 216dὡσπερεὶ τρία ἄττα εἶναι γένη — There are, as it were, some three kinds.
From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Genus and kind
γένος
genosGenos groups things by a shared kind, descent, or character.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGenos groups things by a shared kind, descent, or character.
- In StobaeusA poetic description of Aphrodite’s power speaks of the mortal race sustained by earth and rain.
- In this edition“Race” suits the poetic collective; “kind” or “genus” suits classificatory arguments.
- A place to beginThe mortal race flourishes through the union of earth and rain.
- English renderings
- kind; genus; race
Meaning
Genos groups things by a shared kind, descent, or character. A formal classificatory genus is one possible use, not the meaning of every occurrence.
Use in the book
A poetic description of Aphrodite’s power speaks of the mortal race sustained by earth and rain. The definitions of soul employ kinds in a more philosophical classification of bodily and incorporeal realities. The reader must distinguish a group of living beings from an articulated division of being.
Places to read
- I.9.1The mortal race flourishes through the union of earth and rain.
- I.49.32.13Definitions place soul between or in relation to kinds of reality.
Translation in this edition
“Race” suits the poetic collective; “kind” or “genus” suits classificatory arguments. Avoid a modern racial interpretation of the human collective.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 111, 365–366. The occurrence in I.10.5 stands in a corrupt line. Clearer passages are used here to establish the entry’s meanings.