The Euthyphro
Euthyphro:
‘I am amused (Geloi=on,
‘Ridiculous’), Socrates (w} Sw&kratej), at your making a distinction (o3ti oi1ei ti
diafe/rein) between one
who is a relation and one who is not a relation (ei1te a0llo/trioj ei1te oi0kei=oj
o9 teqnew&j); for
surely the pollution is the same in either case (i1son ga\r to\ mi/asma gi/gnetai), if you knowingly associate with
the murderer (e0a\n sunh=|j tw~| toiou/tw| suneidw&j) when you ought to clear yourself (kai\ mh\ a0fosioi=j
seauto/n te) and him (kai\ e0kei=non) by proceeding against him (th=| di/kh|
e0peciw&n). The real
question is whether the murdered man has been justly slain (a0ll’ ou0 tou=to
mo/non dei=n fula/ttein, ei1te e0n di/kh| e1kteinen o( ktei/naj ei1te mh/). If justly (kai\ ei0 me\n e0n
di/kh|), then your duty
is to let the matter alone (e0a=n); but if unjustly (ei0 de\ mh/), then even if the murderer lives under the same roof with
you (e0a/nper
o9 ktei/naj sune/stio/j soi gi/gnetai) and eats at the same table (kai\ o9motra/pezoj h]|), proceed against him (e0pecie/nai).
***
Jowett’s
translation get’s the meaning of the Greek very well, I just had to restructure
the Greek text so as to illuminate the connection between Jowett’s English and
Socrates’ Greek. There is just one serious mistake in Jowett’s translation; his
‘then even if the murderer lives under the same roof with you’ stands
for Socrates’ e0a/nper o9 ktei/naj sune/stio/j soi gi/gnetai. Denniston explains that the ‘even if’ meaning
is common in Homer, but that ‘this use is not to be found outside Homer’. He
then quotes the Euthyphro 4b e0pecie/nai, e0a/nper o9 ktei/naj
sune/stio/j soi gi/gnetai kai\ o9motra/pezoj h]|, and says that it ‘means that you must
prosecute homicide if, and only if, he shares house and board with you’.
(The Greek Particles, Second Edition, revised by K.J. Dover, p. 488
(ii).)
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