From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMethyō means be drunk; be intoxicated.
- In LysisAt 222c Socrates says that they are, as it were, drunk with the argument.
- Reading contextThe metaphor anticipates the actual drinking attributed to the tutors at the end, without making the speakers themselves literally drunk.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “As though we are drunk with the argument.”
- English renderings
- Be drunk; be intoxicated
Meaning
Be drunk; be intoxicated.
Grammatical category: verb.
Use in the book
At 222c Socrates says that they are, as it were, drunk with the argument. The comparison introduces a provisional concession that akin and like are different.
The edition prints μεθύομεν from a manuscript’s marginal reading and notes the alternative μυθεύομεν, “we are telling stories.” The entry follows the printed text while keeping that editorial fact visible. The metaphor anticipates the actual drinking attributed to the tutors at the end, without making the speakers themselves literally drunk.
Places to read
- 222cὥσπερ μεθύομεν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου — As though we are drunk with the argument.