Socrates drinks hemlock despite the fact that he could have chosen exile for himself. I do not know of any other philosopher having such a big impact on the modern society and the way a state is managed except for Socrates. And of course Plato was a disciple of Socrates.

It was 399 BC a trial was underway. Little did the people of the era know that it would change the course of history forever. It was decided that the trial would be an open trial and all the people of the city would be the witness to it. A jury consisting of 500 people sat on the wooden benches. The accusers and the defendant were given 3 hours each to plead their case before the Jury. In a history’s biggest Irony the accusers were the disciples of Socrates himself, Alcibiades and Critias, to whom Socrates had taught the way to speak logically, were to present the case against him.

As Socrates rose it was all too clear that he did not want to save himself, he defended his ideas in a way that his last words have become the part of human history.

When he was taken to jail, he forbade the people to cry at his death and said that it was for the same reason that he had stopped the ladies from attending the trial. He asked, how would he be executed and was told that he would have to drink a bowl full of hemlock.

Socrates never for a split second refused to drink the poison and died a fitting death that became as big a legend as his life was.

Socrates Drinks Hemlock