Socrates and Euthyphro cross paths at the court of Athens because Socrates had been charged with impiety by Meletus, and Euthyphro wants to prosecute his father for having mistakenly killed a murderous servant. Socrates suggests that Euthyphro is knowledgeable of all religious matters if he is able to prosecute his father. Euthyphro is confident in knowing all there is about piety, therefore Socrates asks Euthyphro to give him guidance on what piety is to possibly help him during his trial.
Euthyphro’s first definition of piety is, prosecuting the wrongdoer and those who do not are impious. Socrates is not satisfied with Euthyphro first definition because other than prosecuting offenders there are other holy deeds that can be done. Socrates asks Euthyphro to give him a definite definition that shows the similarity that all holy deeds have in common. Euthyphro’s second definition of piety is what is dear to the gods and what is not dear to the gods is impious. But Socrates response to his proposal is that the gods quarrel, so there are similar differences of opinion between the gods – what is agreeable to one could differ from another.
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The Euthyphro dilemma then arises as Socrates presents a careful argument to portray the two cannot be the same, as what is pious is not equivalent to what is loved by all the gods. Following this reasoning, the two determines the pious is beloved by the gods because it is holy, and the other is it is holy because it is beloved of the gods. Then, Socrates suggests to Euthyphro the dilemma given his definitions because when asked about the essence of piety, he has given the characteristics only and not the nature of