Rhetorical Analysis Of Euthyphro And Socrates

Register to read the introduction… He says that prosecuting those who commit crimes is holy, and not doing so is unholy. He says that the main Greek god, Zeus, imprisoned his father Kronos for castrating his father Uranus. To him this justifies his prosecuting his father. Socrates responds to this statement by using his infamous questioning form to criticizing what is said. He says that this is just an example of a holy act and that there are many other things one can do that are holy. He says there must be a more complete definition of holiness and Euthyphro agrees realizing how shallow an answer that …show more content…
Socrates pounces on this as well. His argument against this one is a little more complicated and I am not sure I have it right. I believe Socrates is saying that how does one know if something is holy just because it was approved of by the gods. Did the gods approve of it because it was holy or is them approving it what makes it holy? This question perplexes Euthyphro and in desperation he just says that Socrates is manipulating his arguments and making them not get anywhere. Socrates replies to this by saying that he is just asking questions and it is Euthyphro's answers that aren't getting anywhere. He then tries to help Euthyphro by asking him if what is holy is always just and if whatever is just is holy. While Euthyphro is pondering this, Socrates goes on to ask is all that is holy is just, are there some instances where things are just plain just and not really holy? Socrates leaves the rest to Euthyphro to decipher how this is. Euthyphro says the justice used looking after the gods is holy and the justice used looking after a man is just plain justice. Socrates says this is good but still questions it. He says that just as a dog is made better by being looked after by a hunter and man is made better by doing things justly, shouldn't looking after the gods make them better and therefore doing something holy makes the gods …show more content…
In other words, praying to the gods gets man what he wants and sacrificing gives the gods what they want, it is a balance. Socrates' response really sets off Euthyphro. He says that the gods do give man a lot, but what do they get for our sacrifices if they are already perfect? Euthyphro says they get gratification from sacrifices. Socrates really puts things into a spin when he says that if it is gratifying, then they must approve of it which puts everything back to where it began. Euthyphro is really frustrated at this point and tells Socrates he has something to do and must leave. Socrates yells after him and is disappointed that nothing said will help him in his trial, and if he knew the definition of true holiness, he could tell the court he was about to lead a better life. The dialogue ends without really explaining anything about a real definition of holiness which in itself is kind of saying something of how Socrates went about things, he left them up for your own interpretation so everyone could think about it, further defining him as a man who thought he knew