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What poison did Socrates swallow upon being sentenced to death?
Abstract. The death of Socrates in 399 BCE, as reported by Plato in the Phaedo, is usually attributed to poisoning with common hemlock.
What poison did Plato use?
poison hemlock
He was sentenced to death and forced to drink an infusion of poison hemlock (Conium maculatum). According to accounts written by Plato.
How did Plato describe death by hemlock poisoning?
Hemlock poisoning, they claimed, would have produced a far nastier and more violent end. Because Plato wished to portray the philosophic idea of the soul departing peacefully from the body, he needed to envision a quiet, dignified unfolding of symptoms.
What is hemlock used for?
Despite serious safety concerns, hemlock leaves, root, and seeds are used to make medicine. It is used for breathing problems including bronchitis, whooping cough, and asthma; and for painful conditions including teething in children, swollen and painful joints, and cramps. Hemlock is also used for anxiety and mania.
Who took poison hemlock?
Socrates
Introduction: The Man who Drank the Hemlock. ‘The more I read about Socrates, the less I wonder that they poisoned him. ‘ Why should we still care about a man who did little in his life except talk, and who drank poison in an Athenian prison in 399 BC – over 2,400 years ago?
Why was Socrates called hemlock?
When his blood touched the plant, it turned forever toxic. However, the most infamous poisoning by hemlock is attributed to the Greek philosopher Socrates, who chose a hemlock drink as his preferred means of death—most sources say that he drank it mixed with water or as a tea.
Who drinks hemlock?
Faced with the two choices, the jury selected death for Socrates. The philosopher was taken to the near-by jail where his sentence would be carried out. Athenian law prescribed death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock. Socrates would be his own executioner.
Did Socrates really drink hemlock?
In 399 BCE the Athenian democracy charged the philosopher Socrates with impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates was found guilty by a jury of 501 Athenians and was forced to drink hemlock.
Who drank the poison hemlock and why?
Faced with the two choices, the jury selected death for Socrates. The philosopher was taken to the near-by jail where his sentence would be carried out. Athenian law prescribed death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock. Socrates would be his own executioner.