The Last Days of Socrates

Euthyphro

[2a - 3e] [4a - 5d] [5e - 6e] [7a - 8b] [8c - 9b] [9c - 11e] [12a - 12e] [13a -16a]

	(2) Euthyphro's Lawsuit 4a-5d

	Socrates. And what is your suit, Euthyphro? are you the		Jowett's Notes
	pursuer or the defendant?

	Euthyphro. I am the pursuer.

	Soc. Of whom?

4a	Euth. You will think me mad when I tell you.

	Soc. Why, has the fugitive wings?

	Euth. Nay, he is not very volatile at his time of life.

	Soc. Who is he?

	Euth. My father.

	Soc. Your father! my good man?

	Euth. Yes.

	Soc. And of what is he accused?

	Euth. Of murder, Socrates.

	Soc. By the powers, Euthyphro! how little does the common		The irony of Socrates.
	herd know of the nature of right and truth. A man must be an
	extraordinary man, and have made great strides in wisdom,
	before he could have seen his way to bring such an action.

4b	Euth. Indeed, Socrates, he must.

	Soc. I suppose that the man whom your father murdered was		Euthyphro is under a sacred obligation to prosecute a homicide, even if he be his own father.
	one of your relatives -- clearly he was; for if he had been a
	stranger you would never have thought of prosecuting him.

	Euth. I am amused, Socrates, at your making a distinction for
	between one who is a relation and one who is not a relation;
	surely the pollution is the same in either case, if you knowingly
	associate with the murderer when you ought to clear yourself
4c	and him by proceeding against him. The real question is
	whether the murdered man has been justly slain. If justly, then
	your duty is to let the matter alone; but if unjustly, then, even
	if the murderer lives under the same roof with you and eats at
		the same table, proceed
		against him. Now the
		man who is dead was
		a poor dependent of
		mine who worked for
		us as a field labourer on
	our farm in Naxos, and one day in a fit of drunken passion he
	got into a quarrel with one of our domestic servants and slew
	him. My father bound him hand and foot and threw him into a
	ditch, and then sent to Athens to ask of a diviner what he should
4d	do with him. Meanwhile he never attended to him and took no
	care about him, for he regarded him as a murderer; and
	thought that no great harm would be done even if he did
	die. Now this was just what happened. For such was
	the effect of cold and hunger and chains upon him, that
	before the messenger returned from the diviner, he was
	dead. And my father and family are angry with me for
	taking the part of the murderer and prosecuting my father.
4e	They say that he did not kill him, and that if he did, the dead
	man was but a murderer, and I ought not to take any notice,
	for that a son is impious who prosecutes a father. Which
	Temple of Apollo on Naxos Photo: Thomas Martin & Ivy S. Sun The Perseus Project	shows, Socrates, how
		little they know what the
		gods think about piety and
		impiety.

	Soc. Good heavens, Euthyphro! and is your knowledge of
	religion and of things pious and impious so very exact, that,
	supposing the circumstances to be as you state them, you are
	not afraid lest you too may be doing an impious thing in
	bringing an action against your father?

	Euth. The best of Euthyphro, and that which distinguishes
5a	him, Socrates, from other men, is his exact knowledge of all
	such matters. What should I be good for without it?

	Soc. Rare friend! I think that I cannot do better than be your		Socrates, who is accused of false theology, thinks that he cannot do better than become the disciple of so great a theologian as Euthyphro.
	disciple. Then before the trial with Meletus comes on I shall
	challenge him, and say that I have always had a great interest
	in religious questions, and now, as he charges me with rash
	imaginations and innovations in religion, I have become your
5b	disciple. You, Meletus, as I shall say to him, acknowledge
	Euthyphro to be a great theologian, and sound in his opinions;
	and if you approve of him you ought to approve of me, and
	not have me into court; but if you disapprove, you should
	begin by indicting him who is my teacher, and who will be the
	ruin, not of the young, but of the old; that is to say, of myself
	whom he instructs, and of his old father whom he admonishes
	and chastises. And if Meletus refuses to listen to me, but
	will go on, and will not shift the indictment from me to you, I
	cannot do better than repeat this challenge in the court.

	Euth. Yes, indeed, Socrates; and if he attempts to indict me I
5c	am mistaken if I do not find a flaw in him; the court shall have
	a great deal more to say to him than to me.

	Soc. And I, my dear friend, knowing this, am desirous of		He asks, `What is piety?'
	becoming your disciple. For I observe that no one appears to
	notice you -- not even this Meletus; but his sharp eyes have
	found me out at once, and he has indicted me for impiety.
	And therefore, I adjure you to tell me the nature of
	piety and impiety, which you said that you knew so well, and
	of murder, and of other offences against the gods. What are
5d	they? Is not piety in every action always the same? and
	impiety, again -- is it not always the opposite of piety, and also
	the same with itself, having, as impiety, one notion which
	includes whatever is impious?

	Euth. To be sure, Socrates.

	Soc. And what is piety, and what is impiety?