Piety: The Dialogues of Plato - Essay Example

Piety: The Dialogues of PlatoThe approach taken by the writer to Plato's reading of Aeschylus’ play is quite enlightened and helps to bring together a broader understand of both the play and the dialogs of Plato. The statements presented by the writer are good representatives of the actual dialogs since as mentioned, the approach to piety is ambiguous at best and one can not say with certainty what would be pious actions and what could be considered evil. For example, the defiance of Prometheus can be seen as both pious and impious depending on which viewpoint is taken by a reader.

The second question about the search for a definition of piety is more important since it concerns the application of philosophy to our daily lives. The characters of the dialog seem justified in their search for piety since they have been presented with moral dilemmas which require an understanding of what being pious and righteous actually entails. However, it does seem far fetched to search for the same level of piety in our own lives which have been complicated by far too many issues as those which were faced by ancient role models.

It seems that terms like ethical and unethical behavior could be more applicable to our own search for what is pious and what is impious. The religious connotations of piety can not be denied since one of the characters in the dialog is accused of worshipping false gods. Piety is also given in a religious context when we study the symbolic relationship between Prometheus, Io and Zeus. However, for our daily lives, it is difficult to imagine that Zeus would hurl lightning bolts at us if we were not impious.

On the other hand, if we are unethical in our behavior or actions, society can punish us with sanctions which can extend to forfeiture of our lives (especially in the state of Texas).Therefore, from the dialogs and Aeschylus’ play, the impression which one gets is that a search for an explicit definition of piety is nothing more than a waste of time since no definition can be used for all times for all societies in all conditions. The notion of piety is said to be different in the minds of gods so the attainment of piety can not be an easy task.

Even something as simple as ‘do the right thing’ can have many interpretations and implications which can lead a person to doubt his/her actions and words on a continual basis. In conclusion, The pop culture question of ‘what would Jesus do?’ or any other recommendation which could help us become more pious would not help to the extent demanded by Plato in terms of universal applicability therefore, we have to accept piety from the dictates of society. In both the play and the dialogs, might is shown to be right and the only result of defiance is destruction and the status of an unsung hero.

Neither of these situations can be acceptable to a realist or anyone who hopes to make something out of their lives.Works CitedPlato. The Dialogues of Plato, Volume 1: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Gorgias, Menexenus, Translated by Allen, E. New York: Yale University Press, 1984.Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound Translated by Scully, J. and Herington, C. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.