At a Glance:
Full Title
Author Plato
Language Ancient Greek
Time and place written Athens, c.380 BCE (exact year unknown)
Speaker Socrates (469–399 BCE), Plato's mentor.
Other main characters Hippothales, Ctessipus (both friends of Socrates), Lysis (a boy, Hippothales sought-after beloved), and Menexenus (Lysis's friend).
Translation used in this note Benjamin Jowett, with some corrections by Eugene O'Connor.
Setting The festival of the Hermaea (a feast in honor of the god Hermes), in an Athenian temple.
Primary topic of the dialogue Friendship
Other topics Passionate love, desire, likeness, and the relationship between understanding and freedom.
Conclusion to the dialogue Aporia; nothing is decided.