The Holy / The Sacred

'The holy' or 'the pious' (to hosion) is the Greek idea of what is sacred, righteous, or owed to the gods. Early Greek poetry such as Hesiod (c. 700 BCE) already wrestles with what humans owe the gods, though it voices this mostly through related words like themis and dike; the term to hosion itself comes into its own in the classical age and becomes famous through Plato's dialogue Euthyphro (early 4th c. BCE), where Socrates presses the question now called the Euthyphro dilemma: is something holy because the gods love it, or do they love it because it is holy? That single question has shaped lasting debates over whether morality depends on divine command or stands on its own.