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Euthyphro
A political figure who has no dialogue in the text but is mentioned in passing as the character who is charging Socrates with corrupting the youths of Athens with ideas that are “impious” towards the Athenian gods. It is implied through the dialogue that the powerful people in Athens, Euthyphro and Meletus included, lack a clear concept of “piety,” and therefore are likely unjustified in placing Socrates on trial.
Meletus Quotes in Euthyphro
The Euthyphro quotes below are all either spoken by Meletus or refer to Meletus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Euthyphro Quotes
EUTHYPHRO: […] He seems to me to start out by harming the very heart of the city by attempting to wrong you. Tell me, what does he say you do to corrupt the young?
SOCRATES: Strange things, to hear him tell it, for he says that 1 am a maker of gods, and on the ground that I create new gods while not believing in the old gods, he has indicted me for their sake, as he puts it.
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SOCRATES: If you had no clear knowledge of piety and impiety you would never have ventured to prosecute your old father for murder on behalf of a servant. For fear of the gods you would have been afraid to take the risk lest you should not be acting rightly, and would have been ashamed before men, but now I know well that you believe you have clear knowledge of piety and impiety. So tell me, my good Euthyphro, and do not hide what you think it is.
EUTHYPHRO: Some other time, Socrates, for I am in a hurry now, and it is time for me to go.
SOCRATES: What a thing to do, my friend!
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Meletus Character Timeline in Euthyphro
The timeline below shows where the character Meletus appears in Euthyphro. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Euthyphro
...explains that he is in fact the person being charged, by a young newcomer named Meletus. Socrates explains that Meletus is indicting him for impious behavior, alleging that he has corrupted...
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...that he can counsel Socrates on the nature of piety to such an extent that Meletus would be the one ending up on trial.
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...Euthyphro had shared his “wisdom,” Socrates might be able to use this wisdom to escape Meletus’ indictment by showing that with this new “wisdom” he would no longer be “careless and...
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