From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSyngramma means written composition.
- In LysisThe plural συγγράμματα accompanies ποιήματα in Ctesippus’ complaint about Hippothales’ literary production.
- Reading contextThese writers are not named; proposed historical identifications remain interpretations.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “he attempts to drench us with poems and compositions.”
- English renderings
- Written composition
Meaning
Written composition.
Grammatical category: noun, neuter.
Use in the book
The plural συγγράμματα accompanies ποιήματα in Ctesippus’ complaint about Hippothales’ literary production. The corresponding infinitive συγγράφειν appears in Hippothales’ denial that he composes for his beloved. The passage distinguishes ordinary spoken narration, compositions, and singing, but does not supply a catalogue of genres. “Treatise” would be misleadingly specialized here: the works belong to the lover’s repeated celebration of Lysis.
At 214b the same noun names the writings of the wisest people, who discuss nature and the whole. Their claim that like is friend to like is examined alongside poetic authority. These writers are not named; proposed historical identifications remain interpretations.