Monday, October 20, 2014

Infamous Last Words: Socrates (470?-399 BCE)



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

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