Menexenus has just come from the bouleuterion (the council house) in the agora, where he has learned that the eulogy over the dead will be delivered by one of two people. Of interest to us is the motive of Menexenus is going to the bouleuterion. Is it political ambition, as Socrates insinuates, or something else?

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

I've chosen to read Menexenus next, since we've just finished Lysis, in which Menexenus was one of the boys, while here he is a little older. It is unclear how a dialogue which is mostly a sample of a funeral oration delivered by Socrates to Menexenus will support my contention that Platonic dialogues are dramatizations of one or other idea, and it will be particularly interesting if this turns out to be the first dialogue to disprove my hypothesis.

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

If the dialogue is actually a demonstration of aspects of good and apparent good, then what is the function of friendship (philia) in it? I suggest that philia in Lysis serves the same function as justice in Politeia (Republic), as a handy criterion by which to judge the various types of goodness and apparent goodness.

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

The verbiage in the dialogue hardly represents the best of philosophical argument, but it is an excellent demonstration of the clash between various character types representing aspects of good or apparent good. The attempt is commendable, but not so clear-cut and fully elaborated as it is in Politeia (Republic), which for this and other reasons must be considered to be a later work.

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

The first conversation supposedly on philia which Socrates narrates is with Lysis alone. We actually learn more about Lysis and his alternative approach to being better than others (and therefore apparently good), while Menexenus seems to prefer verbal debate as his means of appearing good.

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

The narrated conversation between Socrates and the boys is in two parts. The second is mainly with Menexenus.

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

The dialogue is traditionally considered to be about friendship. The structure of the dialogue suggests that there is more to it than that. For example, the narrated conversation between Socrates and the boys Lysis and Menexenus is contextualized as a demonstration to Hippothales on how to speak to one's lust object with a view to catching him. We may deduce from the non-reaction of the unknown audience to whom Socrates is narrating that this emphasis on eros (lust) is to engage the audience in a conversation otherwise of little interest.

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

The dialogue concludes with Socrates disappointing both his audiences. He suggests to Lysis and Menexenus, his apparent friends, that they are a laughingstock to the others because they do not know what a friend is. As for his unknown audience, who would surely identify with Hippothales eager to learn from Socrates how to captivate a lust object, we may imagine the confusion caused by Socrates having some intimate words with Lysis and Menexenus while they are all being led out of the palaestra. Hippothales is not mentioned, and the feeling is that he is shut out.

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

Socrates gives a summation of the case, as if in a lawcourt, listing all the things which friendship is not. Were the list to be true, we would need to conclude not only that friendship is still undefined, but that it is altogether impossible

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com

The boys a.re unchanged by the entire conversation, despite Socrates' attempt to intoxicate them with words. The main problem the boys have is an inability to compare what is being said with what has been said earlier. Politeness is a Good Thing according to poisoners, but some friendly criticism and opposition is the alcoholic antidote to hemlock. Alcohol only works, however, if it is ingested

Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go.

The resulting analyses may be found at:

https://theplatoparadigm.com