The Death of Socrates: Reconsidered

On philosophy’s creation myth

Socrates is often considered the father of Western philosophy. He taught Plato and influenced Aristotle, pioneering aspects of intellectual instruction and philosophical inquiry. No writings in his name survive. Instead, the life of Socrates is held to demonstrate greatness. Plato viewed his mentor as the ideal philosopher, a model of how a thinker should act and live. The memory of the man surpasses his works.

An essential part of this memory is the manner in which Socrates died. He did so by drinking hemlock at the command of the Athenian polis. In the celebrated painting by Jacques-Louis David, Socrates reaches for the poison-containing vessel with determination, a finger elevated as he makes one last forceful intervention. His body, which, in life, was old and featured a pronounced paunch, is idealied and muscular. His gaze is steely and resolved. His followers despair, mourning a great man in advance.

This is one of the great images of Western art and it surmounts a perception of Socrates which is central to the West’s intellectual tradition. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle represent a secular trinity, three men whose influence on thought from medicine to politics, from metaphysics to literary theory, has been incalculable.