Euthyphro

Euthyphro is a book by Plato that talks like a chat between people, called a Socratic dialogue. It happens a little before the trial of Socrates in 399 BC. In this chat, Socrates meets a man named Euthyphro, and they discuss what it means to be good or holy.

They try to decide what piety means, but they cannot agree. They wonder: Is something good because the gods like it, or do the gods like it because it is good? This question has been talked about for a very long time.

The talk ends without a clear answer, which makes it famous for starting big discussions about religion and what is right or wrong. This book is one of the first to think deeply about these ideas.

Characters

• Socrates, an important thinker from Athens, was waiting at the Porch of the King Archon for a meeting. He had questions about what is right and good.
• Euthyphro from Prospalta was also at the court. He knew a lot about the gods. People also talked about Euthyphro in another story called the Cratylus, which happened many years before.

Background

Socrates was waiting for a trial for being disrespectful to the gods. This trial is the same one he talks about in another dialogue called the Apology. The story happens in 399 BC, a few weeks before the trial.

In this story, Socrates meets a man named Euthyphro. Euthyphro was taking his own father to court because he thought his father did something wrong. Many of his family members did not agree with him. Socrates and Euthyphro try to talk about what it means to be pious or respectful to the gods, but they cannot agree.

At that time, Athenian religion focused on rituals and practices. Different priests might honor different gods. Euthyphro talked about one god, Zeus, to support his ideas and did not mention the others.

Summary

In this dialogue, Euthyphro meets Socrates outside the court where Socrates is waiting to defend himself. Euthyphro tells Socrates that he is going to court to bring charges against his own father. Socrates, facing his own trial, asks Euthyphro to help him understand what piety means.

Euthyphro tries several ways to explain piety. He says it is about punishing wrongdoers, but Socrates points out this is just one example, not a true definition. Euthyphro then says piety is what the gods like, but Socrates questions this because the gods sometimes disagree. Euthyphro tries again, saying piety is what all the gods love, but Socrates asks if something is loved by the gods because it is pious, or if it is pious because the gods love it. They cannot agree. Finally, Euthyphro says piety is knowing how to make the gods happy through gifts and prayers, but Socrates says this just brings them back to the start. In the end, they do not reach a clear answer, and Euthyphro leaves before they can continue.

Reception

Plato's dialogue Euthyphro has been studied and talked about for many years. In ancient times, writers like Metrodorus of Lampsacus wrote about it, but their works are lost. Later, Thrasyllus of Mendes listed it as one of Plato's important works, and some teachers used it to learn about Plato's ideas.

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, people made copies of the dialogue and translated it into different languages. Scholars like Manuel Chrysoloras and Marsilio Ficino helped share Plato's works with more people. The first printed version of the Greek text came out in Venice in 1513.

Today, many thinkers have looked at the questions in Euthyphro. Some, like Peter Geach, have talked about ideas of what is right or holy. These talks show how Plato's work still affects our thinking today.

Texts and translations

Here are some places where you can find the original Greek text of the Euthyphro and different translations into English:

• Greek text at Perseus
• Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus. Greek with translation by Harold N. Fowler. Loeb Classical Library 36. Harvard Univ. Press (originally published 1914).
• Fowler translation at Perseus
• Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo. Greek with translation by Chris Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Loeb Classical Library 36. Harvard Univ. Press, 2017. ISBN 9780674996878 HUP listing
• Plato. Opera, volume I. Oxford Classical Texts. ISBN 978-0198145691
• Translated by Woods & Pack, 2007
  • Bundled with Socrates' Defense (aka Apology), Crito, and the death scene from Phaedo
• Translated by Jowett, 1891 at the Classics Archive
• G. Theodoridis, 2017: full-text translation
• Cooper, John M.; Hutchinson, D. S., eds. (1997). "Euthyphro". Plato: Complete works. Translated by Grube, G.M.A. Indianapolis, Ind: Hackett Pub. ISBN 9780872203495.
• The Last Days of Socrates, translation of Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo. Hugh Tredennick, 1954. ISBN 978-0140440379.
• "Four Texts on Socrates: Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Aristophanes' Clouds." Translated by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West. Cornell University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0801485749
• The Last Days of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo. Translated by Christopher Rowe. Penguin Classics, 2010. ISBN 978-0141965888