The Death of Socrates (
French:
La Mort de Socrate) is an oil on canvas painted by French painter
Jacques-Louis David in 1787. The painting focuses on a classical subject like many of his
works from that decade, in this case the story of the execution of
Socrates as told by
Plato in his
Phaedo.
In this story, Socrates has been convicted of corrupting the youth of
Athens and introducing strange gods, and has been sentenced to die by
drinking
poison hemlock. Socrates uses his death as a final lesson for his pupils rather than fleeing when the opportunity arises, and faces it calmly. The
Phaedo depicts the death of
Socrates and is also Plato's fourth and last
dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days, which is also detailed in
Euthyphro,
Apology, and
Crito.
