Jacques-Louis David (1748 – 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. “all of philosophy is training for death.” Jacques-Louis David The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Socrates’s death is described at the end of Plato’s “Phaedo,” which states that after drinking the poison, he walked around until his legs felt numb. He had an opportunity to escape, and there was an expectation that he would leave Athens in exile and not die, but he refused that option. Socrates turned down pleas to attempt an escape from prison. In 399 BC, Socrates was found guilty, and as punishment was sentenced to death by the drinking of a mixture containing poison hemlock. Socrates defended his role by continuing to argue for the truth until the end. These prominent Athenians turned against him and sought revenge by accusing of wrongdoing. Socrates’s search for the truth and wisdom had made some prominent Athenians, who he had publicly questioned, look foolish. Plato’s dialogues are among the most comprehensive reports of Socrates to survive, though it is unclear the degree to which Plato represented Socrates’s exact views. He left no original writing of his teachings and is known chiefly through the accounts of his students, such as Plato and Xenophon. Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. The only two serene men, Socrates and Plato, are shown in a contrasting bluish and white. The shades of red become more vibrant and culminate in the dark red robe of the man holding the cup of poison. Jacques-Louis David uses the color of the robes to highlight the level of emotional distress display by the various people in this painting. Socrates uses his death as the last lesson for his pupils, by not fleeing when he was given the opportunity, but facing death calmly. Socrates has been convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing strange gods and has been sentenced to die by drinking poison hemlock. This famous painting depicts the execution of Socrates, as told by Plato. It is Plato, his most famous student, and he is shown slumped over and looking in his lap. Another man clutches Socrates’s thigh, begging him not to take the poison.Īn elderly man sits at the end of the bed. He is surrounded by his students and loyal followers, who are all showing emotional distress. The young man handing him the cup looks the other way, with his face in his hand. His right hand extended over a cup, the left hand is gesturing in the air.

“The Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David depicts the famous philosopher as the stoic older man in a white robe sitting upright on a bed. “The Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David

Plato on the death of socrates