The Euthyphro of Plato, Roger Penney
This is the first of the four Socratic dialogues called together The Last Days of Socrates. Socrates is shown trying to get a priest to define what is meant by piety. Socrates is soon to be on trial for his life accused of not believeing in the gods and of corrupting the youth of Athens. It is often difficult to follow but this may help. There are questions as an aid to understanding at the end.
The Euthyphro
By Roger Penney
INTRODUCTION
The Four Socratic Dialogues, or as they are collectively known, The Last Days of Socrates, are four separate items but they make up a unity. They are four within one. The connections may not be obvious but nevertheless they are there.
The Euthyphro shows Socrates at work as it were, attempting to get his friend, the supposedly learned priest, to explain what piety is. Naturally he was, with Plato’s skill as a writer, turned into a stooge to show us how clever Socrates was. I am not saying that Socrates was not clever, only that the Socrates we see in the Socratic dialogues is the creation of Plato and is used to put forth his, sometimes questionable, ideas. Maybe Socrates believed all the things we read of him arguing about with his students. Maybe he did not. It does not really matter. Plato uses him to introduce ideas to us and it is them up to us to discuss those ideas to see if we like them and agree with them, or not.
The Apology is Socrates making his defence against his accusers Meletus, Anytus and Lycon. Plato was present at the trial and we may have his memory of what Socrates actually said. People in those days had prodigious memories, much better than we have today. Socrates is shown as brave, defiant, sure of himself and with a delightful sense of humour.
The Crito comes next and is a dialogue between Socrates and his friends while he waits for the day of the execution. In this Socrates gives an impassioned defense of the necessity to obey the laws. Disobedience is to invite anarchy and destruction. His friends still want him to escape and have bribed the guard but Socrates will have none of it. This part is in the form of a dialogue between the laws and Socrates with the laws appealing to his very existence which has always been in obedience to the laws of the state or Athens as he made clear in his defence before the court.
Finally The Phaedo is recounted by Phaedon to friends of Socrates away from Athens. He describes how Socrates calmly and bravely met his end and how with dignity he conducted himself debating and discussing with his friends to the last. It is mainly taken up with his beliefs about the after life and the reasons for those beliefs.
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