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"Lysis, " written by Plato in approximately 380 BCE (the exact year is unknown) is an in depth look, through the teachings of Socrates, at the nature of friendship, desire, usefulness and personal identity. This work is relevant to our course about childhood because the characters in the dialogue that Socrates is speaking with are youths. Socrates reveals through his teachings many of the ancient attitudes towards different aspects of "childhood. " It is quite apparent that this outlook on children more closely resembles the later ideas of the Renaissance, rather than those found in Medieval history. Due to the obsession with knowledge and learning found in both the Classical and Renaissance eras, those who partook in the learning, the youth of society, held a much higher standing in society than the children of the plague-ridden society of the 14 th and early 15 th century. This specific work by Plato is particularly interesting and relevant because in the text Socrates talks about childhood in great extent and he seems to have a great appreciation for the young men in Greek society. Socrates also employs a much different style of teaching than that is found in later Judeo-Christian society of Europe.
Plato describes this method with great admiration as he writes, "Socrates maintains his character of a 'know nothing; ' but the boys have already learned the lesson which he is unable to teach them, and they are free from the conceit of knowledge. " (Plato, "Lysis" pg. 4) Socrates' method involves asking the student questions so that the student can come to his own conclusions, rather than the instructor simply spitting information at the child until it is memorized and embedded in their brain. By doing this, the instructor can guide the student in the path of the conclusion, but the student is mostly responsible for working through the understanding of the idea. As we see in many sources found from Medieval society, education was much more structural ized and literal, rather than rhetorical. However, as is suggested in "Lysis, " Classical Greek society placed an enormous importance on the teaching of children in order to raise them as moral citizens. One negative aspects of this source is the almost exclusive philosophical slant of the literature. Most of the text concerns the nature of "love" and "like", which doesn't tell the reader too much about many aspects of everyday life for children.
As in most of his teachings, Socrates becomes enthralled in the usage of language concerning certain ideas and discovering the core meaning of the terms that are connected to specific ideas. It does, however, clearly reveals that the citizens of the Ancient Grecian era were concerned enough with children and the concept of friendship among children that they would engage in extensive philosophical debates about them. Likewise, several obstacles that a modern-day reader may encounter while examining "Lysis, " include the difficulty in translating an ancient text and attempting to understand its thesis in a contemporary environment. This text has, in all probability, been translated from the original Greek language into several different European languages before the final English translation emerged. This could lead to some confusion due to the drastic differences between the myriad languages that can be found in Europe, each with its own embedded set of ideals and characteristics. It is very possible that some of the meaning may have been changed or lost in translation, so a historical study of this work must take into very careful consideration that very fact.
One specific example of this confusion arises in Socrates' discussion of boyish lovers and the language he uses in doing so. In a modern day context, we would consider the term "lover" to mean one who is romantically and sexually linked to another person. However, in Ancient Greece, the love that they speak of is not meant in a blatant sexual way, rather, it expresses a deep understanding and appreciation of the intellect of a fellow citizen or student. When Plato refers to the young boys Lysis and Menexenus as "lovers" he is not implying that there is some sort of homosexuality occurring, even though it was not that uncommon of the age.
We must also remember that Greeks used some of the same words to mean many different things and vice-versa, which can be seen in the interchangeable nature of the words "lover" and "friend. " Another intricacy that arises in examining "Lysis" as a primary source is that there are not very many other classical writings that deal with childhood in the period. In the later Medieval and Renaissance eras of European history, there are a growing number of studies that examine the ideas of family and childhood by authors such as Philippe Aries and Barbra Hanawalt (among others). In the classical world, however, much of what we know comes from a select group of ancient philosopher and historians, like Plato. There is far from a plethora of information, but if we examine these select sources, we can, in fact, draw out several details about ancient life. Since Plato was somewhat of a ground-breaker in this field of recording history, it is difficult to parallel his ideas with any of his colleagues. One of the only known influence upon Plato was from his teacher Socrates, but most of what the modern world knows about Socrates comes from the writings of Plato, so it is difficult to decipher between what was actually said and what was slanted towards Plato's "earthly" views.
Although it is difficult to pinpoint any influences upon Plato, his influence is much easier to account for throughout the history of Europe. In the Italian Renaissance of the 16 th century, many of the intellectuals, like Erasmus, took a look back at the works of Plato and other Ancient Greek philosophers in formulating their own theories about love, thought, and in the specific case of "Lysis, " childhood mannerism and friendship. We can most likely presume that because the Renaissance placed a great deal of importance on children and it was a time of great interest in youth, that the classical world shared much of the same positions. One thing that sets this piece apart from others that we have read is the inclusion of female relationships with the young men of the society. Socrates speaks to the young students about friendships between the sexes and how these relationships are commendable, but extremely difficult to maintain because of sexual desire. Young men are seen as morally weak and a friendship with a female would lead to an obsession with the flesh, rather than a profitable intellectual relationship.
In the text Socrates exclaims, "While we do not deny that great good may result from such attachments, for the mind may be drawn out and the character enlarged by them; yet we feel also that they are attended with many dangers, and that this Romance of Heavenly Love requires a strength, a freedom from passion, a self-control, which, in youth especially, are rarely to be found. " (Plato, "Lysis" pg 11) Socrates expands on this idea of desire throughout the book, which leads us to believe that while women may not have held the same civic duties and responsibilities as men, their importance in society was prevalent nonetheless. "Lysis, " as are most of Plato's writings, can be classified in a group unlike any of the other sources we have read. This is both because of their ancient nature and also because of their special philosophical theme and style that separates it from a common letter or treatise. Many aspects of childhood can be taken from the source and they paint a picture of an age that could have been completely forgotten were it not for historians like Plato. The nature of friendships between both boys and girls, the style of education, and the adult mind-set towards the importance of children are all scattered throughout Socrates' discussion of the nature of friendship and childhood.
Therefore, several conclusions can be drawn by reading this source. These conclusions mostly lead us to believe that the classical world was much like what we " ve learned about the Renaissance, that children were not overlooked or abused like Aries may suggest, but rather their delicate ignorance was like a slab of clay that needed to be molded through scholarly debate and mental exercises. It seems as though children had an extremely important role that, for some reason, dissipated throughout the course of the Common Era and was only mirrored by the Humanistic Renaissance, some two thousand years later.
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