# Lysis — Dialogues character guide

> Lysis in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** grandfather Lysis

**First appearance:** 0008-lysis

## Snapshot

A boy whose name sets older men stammering and composing terrible poetry, he becomes the unwitting test case for Socrates' hardest question: what makes a friend?

## Who they are

Lysis is the beloved of the excitable Hippothales, who has been serenading the whole palaestra with verses about him until everyone's ears ache. Modest and quick, he is drawn into Socrates' questioning about friendship, only to find that liking someone and being liked may not be the same thing at all. His easy confidence in his own friendships becomes the raw material for a puzzle that neither he nor his admirers can easily solve, making him the quiet center of the dialogue's early and middle movement.

## Relationships

### [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/socrates)

_friendship_

Lysis is a young boy in the Lysis, with Socrates gently guiding him through a discussion on friendship.

### [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/socrates)

_friendship_

Lysis is a young boy in the Lysis, with Socrates gently guiding him through a discussion on friendship.

## In the story

### [Lysis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/lysis)

A young boy who is the subject of the discussion on friendship.

### [Some Questions Relating to Friendship](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/some-questions-relating-to-friendship)

The dialogue Lysis is the primary ancient source for the questions about friendship discussed in this chapter.

### [Lysis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/lysis)

One of the young interlocutors; remains mostly silent but assents to Socrates' arguments.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/lysis
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