From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordTapeinoō means humble, lower someone’s self-estimation.
- In LysisThe participle ταπεινοῦντα belongs to the advice Socrates almost speaks aloud to Hippothales: this is how one should converse with a beloved, humbling and taking him down rather than puffing him up.
- Reading contextSocrates withholds the remark to protect Hippothales’ concealment, so the advice reaches the narrated audience without being publicly delivered to the lover.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “humbling him and taking him down.”
- English renderings
- Humble, lower someone’s self-estimation
Meaning
Humble, lower someone’s self-estimation.
Grammatical category: verb.
Use in the book
The participle ταπεινοῦντα belongs to the advice Socrates almost speaks aloud to Hippothales: this is how one should converse with a beloved, humbling and taking him down rather than puffing him up. It retrospectively identifies a practical effect of the questioning of Lysis.
The verb does not name an abstract virtue of humility. It describes what a speaker does to an interlocutor’s inflated confidence. Socrates withholds the remark to protect Hippothales’ concealment, so the advice reaches the narrated audience without being publicly delivered to the lover.
Places to read
- 210eταπεινοῦντα καὶ συστέλλοντα — humbling him and taking him down.