Comments on the Euthyphro

using the G.M.A. Grube translation (Plato, Five Dialogues, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, Hackett Publishing Company, 1981, pp. 6-22)

The Euthyphro, Εὐθύφρων, is one of the short dialogues by which Plato commemorated Socrates's technique and manner in questioning people. The structure of the dialogue, which is typical for Plato's Socratic dialogues, is reflected in the following table of contents. Note the difference between the three standard questions of Socrates and the many proposed answers, with occasional digressions, in response to the third one. The identifying numbers given for the text are not the page numbers of the Hackett edition but the numbers and letters in the margin, which are standard for all editions of Plato.

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Comments on the Euthyphro; Note 1

One of the accounts of the origin of Aphrodite is that she was born from the foam as Ouranos's genitals fell into the sea off Cyprus -- tourists are still shown the spot (otherwise, Aphrodite is one of Zeus's many bastards -- becoming the mother of many illegitimate children herself).

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Comments on the Euthyphro; Note 2

Kronos was later regarded as the god of Time because of a pun on his name, which resembles the Greek word for "time," χρόνος, khrónos. We still see Kronos as "Father Time" every New Year's, usually with a baby to represent the new year, and also usually still equipped with his scythe! Perhaps this should remind us of Bhagavad Gita 11:32,

"I am all-powerful Time which destroys all things." The scythe may not just be for genitals.

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