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On his way to court to answer the charges that will lead to his death, Socrates meets Euthyphro, a confident young priest who is prosecuting his own father…
On his way to court to answer the charges that will lead to his death, Socrates meets Euthyphro, a confident young priest who is prosecuting his own father over the death of a labourer, because he believes the gods demand it. Socrates asks him to explain what piety is, and in trying they reach the famous question: is something good because the gods love it, or do the gods love it because it is good? Euthyphro hurries away before they find an answer.
Context and significance
Written in the early fourth century BC, this short dialogue opens the series of Plato's works on the trial and death of Socrates, followed by the Apology, the Crito and the Phaedo. It is given here in Benjamin Jowett's translation.
About the author
Plato (c. 428–348 BC) was born into an aristocratic family in Athens and became the devoted student of Socrates. After his teacher's trial and execution in 399 BC, he travelled, returned to Athens and founded the Academy, a school that lasted for centuries and counted Aristotle among its students.
Almost all his writings are dialogues in which Socrates questions his fellow citizens about justice, love, knowledge and the soul, from the Apology to the Symposium and the Republic. Known to Arab philosophers as Aflatun, he was read closely by al-Farabi and Ibn Rushd, and Western philosophy has been called a series of footnotes to him.