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Socrates asks Euthyphro what holiness is

set in 399 BCE, Athens, the King Archon's portico. As Plato tells it.

Where and when

set in 399 BCEAthens, the King Archon's portico

2,424 years ago

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Socrates

, Athens, the King Archon's porticoAs Plato tells it

In plain words, ours

Do the gods love what is holy because it is holy? Or is it holy because the gods love it?

Just consider this question:—Is that which is holy loved by the gods because it is holy, or is it holy because it is loved by the gods?

Plato, Euthyphro 10aTranslated by Harold North Fowler (1914)Read the full passage (Plato, Euthyphro 10a, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

As Plato tells it, Socrates meets Euthyphro at the King Archon's portico in Athens and presses him to define holiness. Euthyphro has just said that what all the gods love is holy, and Socrates wants to test that before accepting it.

Checked claim by claim against: the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

The question is now called the Euthyphro dilemma, and the dialogue's unresolved ending led to one of the longest debates in theology and ethics.

Based on Wikipedia: Euthyphro

In reply, Socrates poses what is now called the Euthyphro dilemma

This aporetic ending has led to one of the longest theological and meta-ethical debates in history.

Wikipedia, Euthyphro (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-09-20. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. 423 BCE24 years earlier Aristophanes' Socrates on the gods Also about the gods
  2. 415 BCE16.100000000000023 years earlier Statues of Hermes are smashed across Athens Also about the gods
  3. 404 BCE5 years earlier The Thirty take power in Athens Same years
  4. 403 BCE4 years earlier Democracy returns to Athens, with an amnesty Same years
  5. 399 BCESame year Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death Also in Athens
  6. set in 399 BCEThis momentSocrates asks Euthyphro what holiness is
  7. by 399 BCEBy this year Aspasia on honest matchmaking Also in Athens
  8. set in 399 BCESame year The charge Meletus swore against Socrates Also in Athens
  9. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates and the oracle at Delphi More from Socrates
  10. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates on what makes things beautiful More from Socrates
  11. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates on knowing that he does not know More from Socrates

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

Do you wish this now to be our definition of holiness and unholiness? Euthyphro. What is to hinder, Socrates? Socrates. Nothing, so far as I am concerned, Euthyphro, but consider your own position, whether by adopting this definition you will most easily teach me what you promised. Euthyphro. Well, I should say that what all the gods love is holy and, on the other hand, what they all hate is unholy. Socrates. Then shall we examine this again, Euthyphro, to see if it is correct, or shall we let it go and accept our own statement, and those of others, agreeing that it is so, if anyone merely says that it is? Or ought we to inquire into the correctness of the statement? Euthyphro. We ought to inquire. However, I think this is now correct. Socrates. We shall soon know more about this, my friend.

The quote: Just consider this question:—Is that which is holy loved by the gods because it is holy, or is it holy because it is loved by the gods?

Euthyphro. I don’t know what you mean, Socrates. Socrates. Then I will try to speak more clearly. We speak of being carried and of carrying, of being led and of leading, of being seen and of seeing; and you understand—do you not?—that in all such expressions the two parts differ one from the other in meaning, and how they differ. Euthyphro. I think I understand. Socrates. Then, too, we conceive of a thing being loved and of a thing loving, and the two are different? Euthyphro. Of course. Socrates.

Plato, Euthyphro 9d–10bTranslated by Harold North Fowler (1914)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
set in 399 BCE. Set at the King Archon's portico, where Socrates has come over his indictment, shortly before his trial in 399 BCE.
Whose words
As Plato tells it.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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