The Death of Socrates

In this powerful painting by Jacques-Louis David in 1787, a tremendous amount of emotion is shown in the faces of everyone depicted.  As Socrates is sitting on the bed, he receives attention from a few of the people present, but for others the scene is too hard to bear.  The artist did a great job in showing detail in each person’s face.  This tactic lets the viewer understand the severity of the situation and have their own emotion for Socrates and the others involved.  Socrates has a valorous look on his face as he points up to the sky, referring to the heavens.  Through immense detail, the artist allows the viewer to become engaged with the painting.

Socrates lived from 469 -399 BCE, and is one of the most renowned philosophers, even though his writing is ancient.  There are a few records of Socrates’ life written by Aristophanes, Xenophon, and Plato that still remain.  Aristophanes, who was a playwright, directed a play in which the character Socrates ran a Think-O-Rama where men studied the natural world as it was.  His character also made fun of Athenian gods by providing naturalistic explanations for things that were only thought of as supernatural.  Plato, being one of Socrates' students at the age of 25, provides modern day historians with the most information to draw upon. Throughout Socrates career as a Philosopher, he believed in the natural world and found it intriguing to try to explain it.  We see this train of thought in the works of Plato, predominantly his cave analogy.  However the work of Socrates came to an end in the summer of 399 with his trial and execution.  According to a document written by Meletus, Socrates was charged with the capital crime of irreverence: “Failure to show due piety toward the gods of Athens.”  Following the trial when Socrates was found guilty of finding the Athenian gods irreverent, he was sentenced to execution.  He could have easily escaped into exile, but persevered for what he knew was right and stood up for the Athenian people.  A few days following the trial, he courageously drank hemlock plant and passed away. Before his death, he points to the heavens, as if he is blaming his death on the gods that he found irreverent. (Nails, Debra) If Socrates would have simply given in and gone into exile, his everlasting point would not exist today.