From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAphaireō means take away; deprive, or have something taken away.
- In LysisAt 221e the form ἀφαιρῆται stands in the claim that a thing becomes deficient in whatever is taken away from it.
- Reading contextThe next claim about the οἰκεῖον is the conclusion drawn from this formulation, not part of its dictionary meaning.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “A thing becomes deficient in whatever is taken away from it.”
- English renderings
- Take away; deprive, or have something taken away
Meaning
Take away; deprive, or have something taken away.
Grammatical category: verb; here middle/passive form.
Use in the book
At 221e the form ἀφαιρῆται stands in the claim that a thing becomes deficient in whatever is taken away from it. The taking-away image provides the step from lack to the proposal that desire concerns what is one’s own or akin.
The inference deserves attention: lacking something is presented through removal, which suggests a prior relation to what is missing. The verb itself does not establish that every desire literally restores a possession formerly held. The next claim about the οἰκεῖον is the conclusion drawn from this formulation, not part of its dictionary meaning.
Places to read
- 221eἘνδεὲς δὲ γίγνεται οὗ ἄν τι ἀφαιρῆται — A thing becomes deficient in whatever is taken away from it.