When Socrates Was Forced To Commit Suicide Because Of Differences In Views

Illustration (Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - On February 15, 399 BC, the famous philosopher Socrates was sentenced to death in Athens, Greece. Socrates was sentenced to death for committing an unbelievable crime: refusing to recognize gods recognized by the state, introducing new gods, and corrupting the morals of the youth.

The trial took place openly in Athens and was attended by three prosecutors, a jury and a large crowd of spectators. For three hours the prosecutors stated their accusations and for three hours Socrates did his defense.

In the end, each juror was asked to place a small token in one of two jars: one marked 'guilty' and the other 'not guilty'. The jury, consisting of 500 members, found Socrates guilty with 280 votes and 220 votes pleading not guilty.

After a guilty verdict, the jury is asked to decide what kind of sentence is appropriate. The prosecutor Socrates supported the imposition of the death penalty. After some deliberation, Socrates suggested paying a fine but it was deemed too small.

If Socrates suggests exile from Athens, his life may be saved but in the end the jury still chooses to sentence Socrates to death. According to Athenian law at that time, the death penalty was given by drinking a cup of hemlock, a plant whose poison was so deadly that Socrates would later commit suicide.

"We must pray to the gods that our sojourn on earth will continue to be happy beyond the grave," he said before drinking the deadly concoction.

Another reason which leads Socrates to his trial is that it is a little obscure and could not have anything to do with religion. However, Socrates' philosophy and teachings, which were considered anti-democratic, were seen as a threat to the Athenian rulers.

Athens had just emerged from a period of great instability, in which a rebel organization called the Thirty Tyrants had overthrown a democratic government and instituted a brutal reign of terror. The organization expels and executes thousands of innocent citizens and seeks to impose oligarchic rule.

The leader of the Thirty Tyrants, Critias, was a follower of Socrates and was therefore very likely to have Socrates executed. Socrates' death is described in Plato's writing entitled Phaedo. Phaedo is one of the most popular dialogue writings of the Middle Ages. Socrates refuses Crito's request to escape from prison.

Dead

"After drinking the poison, he (Socrates) was ordered to walk around until his legs felt numb. After he lay down, a man placed his hand on Socrates' body and for a moment examined his leg, then pinched his leg hard and asked if he felt it. Socrates said 'no' and then after that, the numbness crept into his thighs and the rest of his upper body. "

"His face showed us that Socrates was cold and stiff. And again the man touched him and said that when he reached his heart, Socrates would die. The cold has now reached the area around the groin and opened his face which has been covered. These are Socrates' last words. ; Crito, we owe Asclepius the chicken. Please, don't forget to pay the debt, "

Asclepius was the Greek god of curing ailments and possibly Socrates' last words meant that death was a cure for him. Socrates and his followers such as Plato and Xenophon extended the aims of philosophy from trying to understand the outside world to trying to observe one's inner values.

His passion for hair-splitting definitions and questions inspired the development of formal logic and systematic ethics from Aristotle's time through the Renaissance and into the modern era. Moreover, Socrates' life exemplifies the hardships and importance of living (and if necessary dying) according to the well-researched convictions of a person.

In his 1791 autobiography, Benjamin Franklin reduced this idea to a single line, "The Humility of the Hat, 'Imitate Jesus and Socrates'".