Euthyphro is the self satisfied jerk who meets the incarcerated Socrates on the way to charging his own father of murder.  The dialog is about the nature of good and evil.  Euthyphro cannot respond with a general or fundamental definition of piety, only gives examples.  The Euthyphro dilemma is the question of whether piety (the good) is commanded by the gods because it is good, or because it is commanded by the gods.  Leads to the idea of whether there is really a moral good or is it given by God.  Also there is the question of the actual death of the slave, the father had accosted the slave for killing another, tied him up and went to get the authorities but the slave died.  In addition, the accused is Euthyphro’s father for heaven’s sake, who is he to bring charges against his old man.

Parmenides, a pre-Socratic.  Wrote On Nature in poem form, only have fragments.  He disputes Heraclitus who said all things flow, rather nature is timeless and doesn’t change. Also thinks there cannot be non-existence, nothing comes from nothing (which is the basis the ontological argument for God).

Anytus.  A bad dude, one of the accusers of Socrates.  Supported democratic govt (Socrates opposed).  Socrates taught Anytus’ son, who probably was a rotter.  Anytus appears briefly in Meno, espousing the idea that virtue (arete…power, success) is best learned by associating with  men of influence, but Socrates notes that this appear to produce only failures of virtue.

Meno, student of the sophist Gorgias.  Meno asks Socrates if virtue can be taught.  Actually  arete, or excellence or greatness or power etc). Socrates reduces Meno to aporia  (via the business of questioning him on nature of virtue).  He demonstrates that there is innate knowledge (anamnesis) by the “Socratic Method” whereby he questions the “Boy”, one of Meno’s slaves, regarding the doubling of a square.  Or some such—the Boy had more innate knowledge than I have because he lost me not that.  He also goes into epistemology.  There is true belief, but that is not knowledge.  And then there is Meno’s paradox, you cannot search for what you know, because you know it, but you also cannot search for what you don’t know because you don’t know it and don’t know what you are looking for. This is resolved by explaining that you do not have to know something to search for it, you just have to have true beliefs to lead you to knowledge.  Read Meno here.