The linkage Socrates was forging between piety and justice finally comes to the fore when he suggests that piety is a part of the just. Euthyphro shapes this into a new and different account of piety: it is that part of the just concerning the care of the gods. Socrates responds by asking what "care" could mean in relation to the gods. It could not benefit them, because literally the gods cannot be made any better. Nor is care service to the gods, since it does not help them achieve their end. Euthyphro does have a response to this objection, however. He states that when one does what pleases the gods, one furthers social order, both in public and in private. In that case, piety could be seen as furthering the ends of the gods.
