of eristic or illogical logic against which no definition of friendship
would be able to stand. In the course of the argument he makes a
distinction between property and accident which is a real contribution to
the science of logic. Some higher truths appear through the mist. The
manner in which the field of argument is widened, as in the Charmides and
Laches by the introduction of the idea of knowledge, so here by the
introduction of the good, is deserving of attention. The sense of the
inter-dependence of good and evil, and the allusion to the possibility of
the non-existence of evil, are also very remarkable.

The dialectical interest is fully sustained by the dramatic accompaniments.
Observe, first, the scene, which is a Greek Palaestra, at a time when a
sacrifice is going on, and the Hermaea are in course of celebration;
secondly, the 'accustomed irony' of Socrates, who declares, as in the
Symposium, that he is ignorant of all other things, but claims to have a
knowledge of the mysteries of love. There are likewise several contrasts
of character; first of the dry, caustic Ctesippus, of whom Socrates
professes a humorous sort of fear, and Hippothales the flighty lover, who
murders sleep by bawling out the name of his beloved; there is also a
contrast between the false, exaggerated, sentimental love of Hippothales
towards Lysis, and the childlike and innocent friendship of the boys with
one another. Some difference appears to be intended between the characters
of the more talkative Menexenus and the reserved and simple Lysis.
Socrates draws out the latter by a new sort of irony, which is sometimes
adopted in talking to children, and consists in asking a leading question
which can only be answered in a sense contrary to the intention of the
question: 'Your father and mother of course allow you to drive the
chariot?' 'No they do not.' When Menexenus returns, the serious dialectic
begins. He is described as 'very pugnacious,' and we are thus prepared for
the part which a mere youth takes in a difficult argument. But Plato has