We know about him thanks to a dialogue by Plato, in direct speech between Socrates and his friend Phaedrus. The dialogue begins with Phaedrus reading a speech written by Lysias, saying that it is better for a boy to accept as a lover a man whi isn't really in love with him, than to accept one who is.

Socrates counters convincing him that he has been blasphempous associating love only with physical passion: the rue lover is worthy of respect; he is mad with a madness that comes from the gods.

The true lover may be at first attracted physically to a like-minded person, and if his love is reciprocated, and the sensual appetites overcome, both lovers may leave behind love of physical beauty for the common pursuit of that beauty which is to be finally found only in the "Idea" (or "Form") of the Good.