In the Nicomachean Ethics Books VIII–IX, Aristotle is the author of an immensely influential study of philia – friendship, as it is usually translated, though I have already suggested that this is a misleading translation, and shall be saying more about the point in a moment. Aristotle famously divides philia into three kinds. The first and ‘highest’ of these three kinds is the focal and paradigmatic case of philia; the other two kinds are ‘lower’ and derivative cases, which may sometimes perhaps only count as philia in an extended or metaphorical sense (kat’ analogian, in Aristotle’s terminology). The focal case is ‘the friendship of virtue’, a relationship of intimate companionship and shared moral/intellectual endeavour between educated and aristocratic men. The two derivative cases of philia that most interest Aristotle are ‘the friendship of honour’, typified by partnerships formed between free adult men in order to achieve the ends of honour such as political office or military or sporting success, and ‘the friendship of advantage’, of which friendships based on amusement or pleasure, and on money-making, would both apparently count for Aristotle as examples.