Any of the classic works of Plato are exercises in critical reading, including the searching for key terms. These dialogues are set up as ongoing conversations that are meant to reflect the same key ideas across several of his published works. Much of the close study of the historical Socrates comes from other sources. Socrates has been portrayed as both a literary and historical figure. A good deal of the dialogue analysis focuses on the language itself. One of the most well-known ideas from Socrates is the claim of the "unexamined life." He defines virtues as specific traits of character. These kinds of virtues include piousness and fair-mindedness.
Socrates' ideas of virtues are also tied to states of the psyche or soul. These ideas attempted to define and reflect on what was needed to live a good life. They also define what makes up wisdom. Reading these ideas has long been done to gain a better understanding of virtues.
The dialogues of Socrates also include irony, which students are often tasked with finding examples of in various writings. Socrates often claims to know nothing and ironically turn to others. This also indicates his awareness of other people's view of him.
When Socrates was put on trial, he was tried at the same time as Euthepro for manslaughter out of piety. Euthepro obeyed his father by leaving a servant to perish in a ditch. The thesis of this situation would be to charge the father with murder, and the antithesis serves as an example instead of a definition; it is therefore not the same thing. During his trial, Euthepro was questioned about the gods and claimed to know all about them. He unfortunately could not answer queries about what was considered holy and could not give specific characteristics. Euthepro could quote the gods but didn't understand their true meanings.
Each of the gods have different definitions of what they loved; some hated what others loved. It philosophy, this creates another antithesis. The accompanying synthesis is that only what all the gods love is holy. This begs the question of why things are holy in the first place. So what came first---love or holiness?
In this kind of philosophy study, something is holy when it is loved by the gods. This is similar to the story of Abraham in the Hebrew bible. Holy attributes are separate from the gods themselves, which contradicts previous theses or antitheses. During his trial, Socrates calls up these same holiness questions. Euthepro recognized glib and false views and was open to other kinds of ideas. He also brought up the idea of service to the gods.
Socrates also criticized Euthepro and his ideas of trading skills, prayers, or services for the gods' favor. He claimed the gods were somehow limited and not all-powerful. The trajectory of this dialogue is an important thing to look at while reading closely. As it goes on, it moves towards more abstract definitions and closer to the full definition of piety. Euthepro eventually backs off on his reflections of the psyche and soul.
Socrates always wanted to improve on his own soul. He reflects the Greek belief that the soul could be changed. This idea later became culturally universal over time.