Abstract
This lesson addresses the issue of piety as a norm, thus reversing the perspective hitherto adopted in the analysis. After exploring the way in which the gods were likely - in the Greek imaginary - to infuse, or even impose, norms on men, we question piety as a norm of behavior for men with regard to the superhuman world. The first part of the investigation focuses on the semantic field ofeusebeia, which refers to what is translated as " piety ". However, it's not until the 6th century B.C. that this family of words appears in the texts that have come down to us. Consequently, we need to identify the elements of language that allow us to circumscribe " piété " before the word actually says the thing, whether in the Homeric epic or in the works of Hesiod. The scope of the semantic field ofeusebeia is then explored, through an examination of the earliest uses of the verb sebomai and the noun sebas, as well as the implications of the use of the prefix eu- that characterizes this word family.
