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Euth. I am amused, Socrates, at your making a distinction between
one who is a relation and one who is not a relation; for surely the
pollution is the same in either case, if you knowingly associate
with the murderer when you ought to clear yourself 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 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. They
say that he did not kill him, and that if he did, 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 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 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
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 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 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 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
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?
Euth. Piety is doing as I am doing; that is to say, prosecuting
any one who is guilty of murder, sacrilege, or of any similar
crime-whether he be your father or mother, or whoever he may be-that
makes no difference; and not to prosecute them is impiety. And
please to consider, Socrates, what a notable proof I will give you
of the truth of my words, a proof which I have already given to
others:-of the principle, I mean, that the impious, whoever he may be,
ought not to go unpunished. For do not men regard Zeus as the best and
most righteous of the gods?-and yet they admit that he bound his
father (Cronos) because he wickedly devoured his sons, and that he too
had punished his own father (Uranus) for a similar reason, in a
nameless manner. And yet when I proceed against my father, they are
angry with me. So inconsistent are they in their way of talking when
the gods are concerned, and when I am concerned.
Soc. May not this be the reason, Euthyphro, why I am charged with
impiety-that I cannot away with these stories about the gods? and
therefore I suppose that people think me wrong. But, as you who are
well informed about them approve of them, I cannot do better than
assent to your superior wisdom. What else can I say, confessing as I
do, that I know nothing about them? Tell me, for the love of Zeus,
whether you really believe that they are true.
Euth. Yes, Socrates; and things more wonderful still, of which the
world is in ignorance.
Soc. And do you really believe that the gods, fought with one
another, and had dire quarrels, battles, and the like, as the poets
say, and as you may see represented in the works of great artists? The
temples are full of them; and notably the robe of Athene, which is
carried up to the Acropolis at the great Panathenaea, is embroidered
with them. Are all these tales of the gods true, Euthyphro?
Euth. Yes, Socrates; and, as I was saying, I can tell you, if you
would like to hear them, many other things about the gods which
would quite amaze you.
Soc. I dare say; and you shall tell me them at some other time
when I have leisure. But just at present I would rather hear from
you a more precise answer, which you have not as yet given, my friend,
to the question, What is "piety"? When asked, you only replied,
Doing as you do, charging your father with murder.
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