From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordDysalōtos means hard to capture or win.
- In LysisThe comparative δυσαλωτότεροι describes beautiful boys made more boastful by praise; δυσαλωτοτέραν immediately describes the quarry a bad hunter frightens away.
- Reading contextRetain the sense of capture in the translation, while recognizing that the application to a beloved is a strategic metaphor.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “he makes the quarry harder to catch.”
- English renderings
- Hard to capture or win
Meaning
Hard to capture or win.
Grammatical category: adjective.
Use in the book
The comparative δυσαλωτότεροι describes beautiful boys made more boastful by praise; δυσαλωτοτέραν immediately describes the quarry a bad hunter frightens away. The shared adjective makes the transfer from erotic pursuit to hunting unmistakable.
The difficulty is represented as partly created by the pursuer himself. Praise is not merely ineffective: it changes its object in a way that obstructs success. Retain the sense of capture in the translation, while recognizing that the application to a beloved is a strategic metaphor.
Places to read
- 206aδυσαλωτοτέραν τὴν ἄγραν ποιοῖ — he makes the quarry harder to catch.