Plato, Euthyphro, section 4a

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[4a]

Euthyphro
Such a man that they think I am insane because I am prosecuting¹ him.

Socrates
Why? Are you prosecuting one who has wings to fly away with?

Euthyphro
No flying for him at his ripe old age.

Socrates
Who is he?

Euthyphro
My father.

Socrates
Your father, my dear man?

Euthyphro
Certainly.

Socrates
But what is the charge, and what is the suit about?

Euthyphro
Murder, Socrates.

Socrates
Heracles! Surely, Euthyphro, most people do not know where the right lies; for I fancy it is not everyone who can rightly do what you are doing,

1 The Greek word has much the same meaning as the Latin “prosequor,” from which the English 'prosecute' is derived, 'follow,' 'pursue,' and is at the same time the technical term for 'prosecute.'

Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 1 translated by Harold North Fowler; Introduction by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1966.

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