From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAllēlōn means of one another; with case changes, to or towards one another.
- In LysisThe pronoun makes reciprocity explicit where φίλος alone may leave the direction of affection unclear.
- Reading contextDo not substitute a reflexive sense, “of themselves,” for the reciprocal sense when reading these clauses.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “Then both become friends of one another.”
- English renderings
- Of one another; with case changes, to or towards one another
Meaning
Of one another; with case changes, to or towards one another.
Grammatical category: reciprocal pronoun.
Use in the book
The pronoun makes reciprocity explicit where φίλος alone may leave the direction of affection unclear. At 212b ἀμφότεροι ἀλλήλων φίλοι means that both are friends of each other; ἀλλήλους φιλῶσιν at 212c means that each loves the other.
Its force matters again in the closing admission that Socrates and the boys think themselves friends of one another. An ordinary mutual relationship has survived the failure to define it. Do not substitute a reflexive sense, “of themselves,” for the reciprocal sense when reading these clauses.