Euthyphro

by

Plato

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Euthyphro makes teaching easy.

Daedalus Symbol Analysis

Daedalus Symbol Icon

Socrates invokes his ancestor Daedalus as a metaphor for Euthyphro’s suggested definitions of the nature of piety. Daedalus who was known for enabling his statues to move. Socrates implies that, like Daedalus’s statues, Euthyphro’s definitions won’t stand “still” for rational scrutiny. Socrates means that Euthyphro’s definitions are slippery, or circular in their logic, and metaphorically move around the argument, collapsing into each other without saying anything concrete or substantive. Euthyphro retorts that Socrates’s reasoning reminds him of Daedalus, but here the implication is that Socrates’ questioning has spun Euthyphro around in a circle, meaning it has confused him. Socrates picks up on this line, responding with witty irony that he has, in fact, embodied Daedalus’s moving statues, since what “moves” are not only ideas that he has created, but other people’s beliefs and ideas, which are evolved by his reasoning.

Daedalus Quotes in Euthyphro

The Euthyphro quotes below all refer to the symbol of Daedalus. 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:
The Nature of Piety Theme Icon
).
Euthyphro Quotes

SOCRATES: It looks as if I was cleverer than Daedalus in using my skill, my friend, insofar as he could only cause to move the things he made himself, but I can make other people’s things move as well as my own.

Related Characters: Socrates (speaker), Euthyphro
Related Symbols: Daedalus
Page Number: 11
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Euthyphro LitChart as a printable PDF.
Euthyphro PDF

Daedalus Symbol Timeline in Euthyphro

The timeline below shows where the symbol Daedalus appears in Euthyphro. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Euthyphro
The Nature of Piety Theme Icon
The Socratic Method Theme Icon
Socrates suggests that Euthyphro is acting like Daedalus (who could make his statues move) because Euthyphro is offering claims that merely move around... (full context)
The Nature of Piety Theme Icon
The Socratic Method Theme Icon
...they are dear to the gods, or loved by the gods. Invoking the metaphor of Daedalus again, Socrates contends that Euthyphro’s suggestions are indeed circular, as they keep “moving around” to... (full context)