§9ΣΩ. ἴθι νυν, ὦ φίλε Εὐθύφρων, δίδαξον καὶ ἐμέ, ἵνα σοφώτερος γένωμαι, τί σοι τεκμήριόν ἐστιν ὡς πάντες θεοὶ ἡγοῦνται ἐκεῖνον ἀδίκως τεθνάναι, ὃς ἂν θητεύων ἀνδροφόνος γενόμενος, συνδεθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου τοῦ ἀποθανόντος, φθάσῃ τελευτήσας διὰ τὰ δεσμὰ πρὶν τὸν συνδήσαντα παρὰ τῶν ἐξηγητῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ πυθέσθαι τί χρὴ ποιεῖν, καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου δὴ ὀρθῶς ἔχει ἐπεξιέναι καὶ ἐπισκήπτεσθαι φόνου τὸν ὑὸν τῷ πατρί;
Socrates: Come now, my dear Euthyphro, teach me too, so that I may become wiser, what proof you have that all the gods believe that he died unjustly—the man who, being a hired laborer and having become a murderer, and having been bound by the master of the deceased, died first because of his bonds before the one who bound him could learn from the interpreters what he ought to do with him, and that on behalf of such a man indeed it is right for a son to prosecute and indict his father for murder?
ἴθι, περὶ τούτων πειρῶ τί μοι σαφὲς ἐνδείξασθαι ὡς παντὸς μᾶλλον πάντες θεοὶ ἡγοῦνται ὀρθῶς ἔχειν ταύτην τὴν πρᾶξιν·
Come, try to show me something clear about these things, that indeed above all else all the gods believe this action to be right.
κἄν μοι ἱκανῶς ἐνδείξῃ, ἐγκωμιάζων σε ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ οὐδέποτε παύσομαι.
And if you show it to me sufficiently, I will never stop praising you for your wisdom.
ΕΥΘ. ἀλλʼ ἴσως οὐκ ὀλίγον ἔργον ἐστίν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐπεὶ πάνυ γε σαφῶς ἔχοιμι ἂν ἐπιδεῖξαί σοι.
Euthyphro: But perhaps it is no small task, Socrates, though I could show it to you very clearly indeed.
ΣΩ. μανθάνω·
Socrates: I understand.
ὅτι σοι δοκῶ τῶν δικαστῶν δυσμαθέστερος εἶναι, ἐπεὶ ἐκείνοις γε ἐνδείξῃ δῆλον ὅτι ὡς ἄδικά τέ ἐστιν καὶ οἱ θεοὶ ἅπαντες τὰ τοιαῦτα μισοῦσιν.
It is because I seem to you to be harder to teach than the judges, since to them indeed you will clearly show that these things are unjust and that all the gods hate such things.
ΕΥΘ. πάνυ γε σαφῶς, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐάνπερ ἀκούωσί γέ μου λέγοντος.
Euthyphro: Very clearly indeed, Socrates, if only they listen to me speaking.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ ἀκούσονται. ἐάνπερ εὖ δοκῇς λέγειν.
Socrates: But they will listen, if only you seem to speak well.
τόδε δέ σου ἐνενόησα ἅμα λέγοντος καὶ πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν σκοπῶ· εἰ ὅτι μάλιστά με Εὐθύφρων διδάξειεν ὡς οἱ θεοὶ ἅπαντες τὸν τοιοῦτον θάνατον ἡγοῦνται ἄδικον εἶναι, τί μᾶλλον ἐγὼ μεμάθηκα παρʼ Εὐθύφρονος τί ποτʼ ἐστὶν τὸ ὅσιόν τε καὶ τὸ ἀνόσιον;
But I thought of this while you were speaking, and I am examining it for myself: "If Euthyphro should teach me ever so much that all the gods believe such a death to be unjust, what more have I learned from Euthyphro about what the pious and the impious actually are?
θεομισὲς μὲν γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον, ὡς ἔοικεν, εἴη ἄν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐ τούτῳ ἐφάνη ἄρτι ὡρισμένα τὸ ὅσιον καὶ μή· τὸ γὰρ θεομισὲς ὂν καὶ θεοφιλὲς ἐφάνη. ὥστε τούτου μὲν ἀφίημί σε, ὦ Εὐθύφρων· εἰ βούλει, πάντες αὐτὸ ἡγείσθων θεοὶ ἄδικον καὶ πάντες μισούντων.
For this action indeed, as it seems, would be hated by the gods; but then, it appeared just now that the pious and the impious are not defined by this, for what is hated by the gods was also shown to be loved by the gods." So I release you from this, Euthyphro; if you like, let all the gods believe it to be unjust and let them all hate it.
ἀλλʼ ἆρα τοῦτο ὃ νῦν ἐπανορθούμεθα ἐν τῷ λόγῳ—ὡς ὃ μὲν ἂν πάντες οἱ θεοὶ μισῶσιν ἀνόσιόν ἐστιν, ὃ δʼ ἂν φιλῶσιν, ὅσιον· ὃ δʼ ἂν οἱ μὲν φιλῶσιν οἱ δὲ μισῶσιν, οὐδέτερα ἢ ἀμφότερα—ἆρʼ οὕτω βούλει ἡμῖν ὡρίσθαι νῦν περὶ τοῦ ὁσίου καὶ τοῦ ἀνοσίου;
But indeed, this which we are now correcting in our argument—that what all the gods hate is impious, and what they all love is pious, and what some love and others hate is neither or both—is this how you want the pious and the impious to be defined for us now?
ΕΥΘ. τί γὰρ κωλύει, ὦ Σώκρατες;
Euthyphro: For what is there to prevent it, Socrates?
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ΣΩ. οὐδὲν ἐμέ γε, ὦ Εὐθύφρων, ἀλλὰ σὺ δὴ τὸ σὸν σκόπει, εἰ τοῦτο ὑποθέμενος οὕτω ῥᾷστά με διδάξεις ὃ ὑπέσχου.
Socrates: Nothing on my part, Euthyphro, but you indeed look to your own case, whether by assuming this hypothesis you will most easily teach me what you promised.
ΕΥΘ. ἀλλʼ ἔγωγε φαίην ἂν τοῦτο εἶναι τὸ ὅσιον ὃ ἂν πάντες οἱ θεοὶ φιλῶσιν, καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον, ὃ ἂν πάντες θεοὶ μισῶσιν, ἀνόσιον.
Euthyphro: Well, I for my part would say that this is the pious: what all the gods love; and the opposite, what all the gods hate, is the impious.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν ἐπισκοπῶμεν αὖ τοῦτο, ὦ Εὐθύφρων, εἰ καλῶς λέγεται, ἢ ἐῶμεν καὶ οὕτω ἡμῶν τε αὐτῶν ἀποδεχώμεθα καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ἐὰν μόνον φῇ τίς τι ἔχειν οὕτω συγχωροῦντες ἔχειν;
Socrates: Should we then examine this in turn, Euthyphro, to see if it is well said, or should we let it go, and accept it thus from ourselves and others, if only someone says that something is so, agreeing that it is so?
ἢ σκεπτέον τί λέγει ὁ λέγων;
Or should we examine what the speaker is saying?
ΕΥΘ. σκεπτέον·
Euthyphro: We must examine it.
οἶμαι μέντοι ἔγωγε τοῦτο νυνὶ καλῶς λέγεσθαι.
I think, however, that this is now well said.