Infamous Last Words:
According to one Greek account, when the philosopher
Socrates (470?-399 BCE) died his last words were:
“Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius the Physician. Please pay him.”
As you probably already know, the leaders of Athens had
given Socrates a choice: either go into exile or commit suicide. Socrates chose
suicide and, while his friends and students sat with him, he drank a cup
of wine laced with poison hemlock. It was Asclepius who had provided the
hemlock.
The exact words of Socrates, after drinking the poison, were:
“Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please slap him in the face with it.”
This translation seem more in keeping with the great
philosopher.
Infamous Last Words: Socrates
Infamous Last Words: Socrates
