On a day in 399 BC the philosopher Socrates
stood before a jury of 500 of his fellow
Athenians accused of "refusing to recognize
the gods recognized by the state" and of
"corrupting the youth." If found guilty; his
penalty could be death. The trial took place in
the heart of the city, the jurors seated on
wooden benches surrounded by a crowd of
spectators. Socrates' accusers (three
Athenian citizens) were allotted three hours
to present their case, after which, the
philosopher would have three hours to defend
himself.
Socrates was 70 years old and familiar to
most Athenians. His anti-democratic views
had turned many in the city against him. Two
of his students, Alcibiades and Critias, had
twice briefly overthrown the democratic
government of the city, instituting a reign of
terror in which thousands of citizens were
deprived of their property and either banished
from the city or executed.
After hearing the arguments of both Socrates
and his accusers, the jury was asked to vote
on his guilt. Under Athenian law the jurors
did not deliberate the point. Instead, each
juror registered his judgment by placing a
small disk into an urn marked either "guilty"
or "not guilty." Socrates was found guilty by
a vote of 280 to 220.
The jurors were next asked to determine
Socrates' penalty. His accusers argued for the
death penalty. Socrates was given the
opportunity to suggest his own punishment
and could probably have avoided death by
recommending exile. Instead, the philosopher
initially offered the sarcastic recommendation
that he be rewarded for his actions. When
pressed for a realistic punishment, he
proposed that he be fined a modest sum of
money. 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.
"What must I do?"
Plato was Socrates' most famous student.
Although he was not present at his mentor's
death, he did know those who were there. Plato
describes the scene through the narrative voice
of the fictional character Phaedo.
"When Crito heard, he signaled to the slave
who was standing by. The boy went out, and
returned after a few moments with the man
who was to administer the poison which he
brought ready mixed in a cup. When Socrates
saw him, he said, 'Now, good sir, you
understand these things. What must I do?'
'Just drink it and walk around until your legs
begin to feel heavy, then lie down. It will soon
act.' With that he offered Socrates the cup.
The latter took it quite cheerfully without a
tremor, with no change of color or
expression. He just gave the man his stolid
look, and asked, 'How say you, is it
permissible to pledge this drink to anyone?
May I?'
The answer came, 'We allow reasonable time
in which to drink it.'
'I understand', he said, 'we can and must
pray to the gods that our sojourn on earth
will continue happy beyond the grave. This is
my prayer, and may it come to pass.' With
these words, he stoically drank the potion,
quite readily and cheerfully. Up till this
moment most of us were able with some
decency to hold back our tears, but when we
saw him drinking the poison to the last drop,
we could restrain ourselves no longer. In
spite of myself, the tears came in floods, so
that I covered my face and wept - not for
him, but at my own misfortune at losing such
a man as my friend. Crito, even before me,
rose and went out when he could check his
tears no longer.
Apollodorus was already steadily weeping,
and by drying his eyes, crying again and
sobbing, he affected everyone present except
for Socrates himself.
He said, 'You are strange fellows; what is
wrong with you? I sent the women away for
this very purpose, to stop their creating such
a scene. I have heard that one should die in
silence. So please be quiet and keep control
of yourselves.' These words made us
ashamed, and we stopped crying.
Socrates walked around until he
said that his legs were
becoming heavy, when he lay on
his back, as the attendant
instructed. This fellow felt him,
and then a moment later
examined his feet and legs
again. Squeezing a foot hard, he
asked him if he felt anything.
Socrates said that he did not.
He did the same to his calves
and, going higher, showed us
that he was becoming cold and stiff. Then he
felt him a last time and said that when the
poison reached the heart he would be gone.
As the chill sensation got to his waist,
Socrates uncovered his head (he had put
something over it) and said his last words:
'Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Do pay it.
Don't forget.'
'Of course', said Crito. 'Do you want to say
anything else?'
'There was no reply to this question, but after
a while he gave a slight stir, and the
attendant uncovered him and examined his
eyes. Then Crito saw that he was dead, he
closed his mouth and eyelids.
This was the end of our friend, the best,
wisest and most upright man of any that I
have ever known"
References:
Plato's description appears in: Tredennick,
Hugh (translator)The last days of Socrates :
Euthyphro, The apology, Crito, Phaedo / Plato
(1959); Freeman, Charles, The Greek
Achievement (1999); Stone, I.F., The Trial of
Socrates (1988).
How To Cite This Article:
"The Suicide of Socrates, 399 BC,"
EyeWitness to History,
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2003).
