Persons of the Dialogue: Socrates and Euthyphro Scene: The Porch of the King Archon As the dialogue begins, Socrates is on his way to court to face the Euthyphro is on his way to the court to prosecutehis father for murder. Socrates is very surprised at Euthyphro’s chargeagainst his father and asks him if he is sure that what he is doing is piousor holy. He asks Euthyphro to tell him about the nature of piety andimpiety. Euthyphro will not define piety or impiety, but instead says“Piety is doing as I am doing," and compares it with the actions of the godZeus when he punished his own father. Socrates asks for a definition andnot an example, to which Euthyphro offers that “Piety is that which is dearto the gods." Socrates accepts this definition, but forces Euthyphro toadmit that the gods differ, just like human beings, about what they loveand hate. By this definition, the same act may be called both pious andimpious, therefore this definition leads to contradiction. Euthyphro offersa third definition and claims: “What all the gods love is pious." Socratesthen asks whether an act is loved by the gods because it is pious, or andact is pious because it is loved by the gods. Euthyphro responds that thegods love an act because it is pious. By this, Socrates concludes thatEuthyphro’s definition is only a characteristic of piety, not its definition. At this point, Euthyphro says that he does not know how to express whathe means and accuses Socrates of setting arguments in motion. Socratesis not satisfied and accuses Euthyphro of being lazy, and forces theargument further by asking whether piety is a part of justice, or justice apart of piety. Here, Euthyphro offers yet another definition: “Piety...is thatpart of justice which attends to the gods." Now Socrates wants anexplanation of “attention," and asks if the gods benefit from this“attention," to which Euthyphro responds that the...
