1 h 2 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 1 h 2 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 32 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 32 pagesAbout this book
Does divine approval make something good, or do the gods approve it because it is already good?
On the porch of the King Archon in Athens, two men meet over troubling cases. Socrates faces a charge of impiety brought by Meletus. Euthyphro, a confident religious expert, has come to prosecute his own father for a death. In Plato’s short dialogue, their encounter turns a legal setting into a searching conversation about what it means to be holy.
Euthyphro believes he knows what piety is. Socrates asks him to explain, then tests each answer with another question. Are examples enough to define an idea? Can the gods’ approval settle what is right? As certainty meets scrutiny, the conversation draws you into questions about justice, religious authority, and the reasons behind your own moral judgments.
What you’ll discover
- A startling family case Meet a son whose decision to prosecute his father puts his religious certainty under scrutiny.
- Questions that test certainty Follow Socrates as he probes familiar claims and asks what a sound definition requires.
- The puzzle of divine approval Consider whether goodness depends on what the gods love, or stands apart from their approval.
- Piety, justice, and service Explore how duties toward the gods might fit within a wider account of justice.
- An invitation to think Find a first taste of ethical reasoning that asks you to examine rather than simply accept.
Who will love it
For anyone who wants a first taste of Socratic questioning, or who wonders whether right and wrong depend on God or on something deeper.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A son prosecutes his own father
- Examples are not a definition
- What the gods love, and why they disagree
- Is the holy loved because it is holy?
- Piety as part of justice and as service
- What the dialogue teaches, and how it has lasted
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 1 h 2 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 32 pages: 5,95 USD when you start free, 11,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 32 pages: 12,95 USD when you start free, 18,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Euthyphro in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Euthyphro
by Plato
Facing a charge of impiety in Athens, Socrates asks a religious expert what makes an act holy.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Euthyphro is a short dialogue by Plato, written in the early fourth century BC, a few years after the trial and death of his teacher Socrates. It has two speakers and one place, the porch of the King Archon in Athens, where legal cases about religion were first heard.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A son prosecutes his own father
The dialogue opens with surprise. Euthyphro asks why Socrates, who spends his days in the Lyceum, is hanging about the King Archon's porch. Socrates explains that Meletus has indicted him for impiety, and that he is accused of inventing new gods and corrupting the young. Then he asks Euthyphro about his own business there.
Euthyphro's answer is shocking to anyone who hears it. He is prosecuting his father for murder. The story is this. A hired worker on the family farm on the island of Naxos got drunk and killed one of the household slaves. Euthyphro's father tied the man up, threw him in a ditch, and sent to Athens to ask a religious interpreter what to do. By the time the answer came, the worker had died of cold and hunger.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Euthyphro
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy just the printed book?
Yes. The paperback costs 11,95 USD on its own. Start free and you pay the cost of printing: 5,95 USD for this paperback, and any other book at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Plato's Euthyphro about?
It is a dialogue in which Socrates asks a religious expert named Euthyphro to say what piety is. Each definition Euthyphro offers fails under questioning, and the talk leads to a basic question about how the gods relate to goodness.
What is the Euthyphro dilemma?
It asks whether the holy is loved by the gods because it is holy, or is holy because the gods love it. Later thinkers use it to ask whether morality depends on God's commands or exists independently.
Who is Euthyphro in the dialogue?
He is an Athenian who claims deep knowledge of religion and the will of the gods. He is on his way to prosecute his own father for a death on the family farm, which most people think shocking.
More by Plato
All 28 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
