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Plato · c. 428/427-348/347 BC

Euthyphro

Εὐθύφρων
Ancient Sources / Plato / Euthyphro

In the Euthyphro Socrates meets a self-assured religious expert at the porch of the King Archon, just before his own trial, and asks him what holiness is. Euthyphro is about to prosecute his own father for homicide and defends himself by pointing to how Zeus treated his own father. Each definition he offers, from prosecuting wrongdoers to what the gods love, is tested and fails.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 6 passages, about 7000 words in English.
Translator
Harold North Fowler (1914)
Edition
Harold North Fowler (trans.), Plato I: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1914; Greek text: John Burnet, Platonis Opera, Oxford Classical Texts (as digitised by Perseus)
Cite as
Plato, Euthyphro 2a (by Stephanus page and section (e, g, 404e))

Contents · 6 passages

  1. 2a–4eAt the porch of the King Archon: Meletus's indictment and Euthyphro's suit against his father1321 words
  2. 5a–6eEuthyphro claims exact knowledge of holiness; the first definition993 words
  3. 7a–9eSecond definition: what is dear to the gods; the quarrels of the gods1521 words
  4. 10a–11eIs the holy loved by the gods because it is holy?1053 words
  5. 12a–13eHoliness as a part of justice; the care of the gods1084 words
  6. 14a–16aWhat the gods gain from our gifts; Euthyphro leaves1013 words

More by Plato

English translation by Harold North Fowler (1914). Original text: Harold North Fowler (trans.), Plato I: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1914; Greek text: John Burnet, Platonis Opera, Oxford Classical Texts (as digitised by Perseus).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.