23 Facts About Euthyphro

Euthyphro, by Plato, is a Socratic dialogue whose events occur in the weeks before the trial of Socrates (399 BC), between Socrates and Euthyphro.

Euthyphro tells Socrates that he is going to court himself to prosecute his father for binding a worker in chains and leaving him to die.

Since Euthyphro seems assured of himself, Socrates asks him to define piety.

Euthyphro dialogue occurs near the court of the archon basileus, where Socrates and Euthyphro encounter each other; each man is present at the court for the preliminary hearings to possible trials (2a).

Euthyphro has come to present charges of murder against his own father who, after arresting one of his workers for killing a slave from the family estate on Naxos Island, tied him and threw him in a ditch where he died of exposure to the elements without proper care and attention (3e–4d) while Euthyphro's father waited to hear from the exegetes (cf.

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Euthyphro dismisses the astonishment of Socrates, which confirms his overconfidence in his own critical judgment of matters religious and ethical.

Euthyphro says that what lies behind the charge of impiety presented against Socrates, by Meletus and the others, is Socrates' claim that he is subjected to a daimon, which warns him of various courses of action.

At the dialogue's conclusion, Euthyphro is compelled to admit that each of his definitions of "piety" has failed, but, rather than correct his faulty logic, he says that it is time for him to leave, and excuses himself from their dialogue.

Euthyphro uses Zeus as evidence for his notions of piety while disregarding Uranus and Cronus, for example.

Euthyphro argues against Socrates' criticism, by noting that not even the gods would disagree, among themselves, that someone who kills without justification should be punished.

Euthyphro seems unsure as to what the question means and so Socrates applies a dialectic technique: an analogy, to clarify his question.

Euthyphro persuades Euthyphro to agree that when we call a thing "carried", it is simply because it is being carried by someone and not because it possesses an inherent characteristic, which could be called "carried".

Euthyphro seems to be taken aback so Socrates reminds him the definitions he gave previously.

Euthyphro had said that something is loved by the gods because it is pious, which means that their love follows from something inherent in the pious.

Yet, Socrates later says that the information provided in his question to Euthyphro is insufficient for a clear definition of "piety", because piety belongs to those actions we call just, that is, morally good; however, there are actions, other than pious actions, which we call just; for example, bravery and concern for others.

Euthyphro then proposes a fifth definition: "Piety is an art of sacrifice and prayer".

Euthyphro proposes the notion of piety as a form of knowledge, of how to do exchange: Giving gifts to the gods, and asking favours in return.

Euthyphro considered it one of the tentative dialogues and gave On Holiness as an alternate title.

Euthyphro mentioned that some teachers used it as the first dialogue in their courses meaning that it was in antiquity seen as the most suitable introduction to Plato's works.

Euthyphro claimed that after the events of this dialogue, Euthyphro was persuaded not to prosecute his father though that is not supported by any of Plato's own writings.

Euthyphro reasoned that Plato had to criticize the Athenian religion in dialogue form rather than directly attacking it in order to avoid being executed like Socrates himself.

Euthyphro saw it as "a very inferior work compared to Laches and Charmides.

Euthyphro felt the dialogue relied too heavily on word games and semantics.