Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1787

The Death of Socrates

Jacques-Louis David · 1787

A Neoclassical painting by Jacques-Louis David showing Socrates calmly reaching for the cup of hemlock while still teaching his grieving followers.

This painting depicts Socrates' final moments, reaching for the poison that ended his life after his trial.

Ask Socrates about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Neoclassical painting of a prison cell with a bare-chested older bearded man seated on a bed, pointing upward and reaching for a cup held by a standing young man in red. Companions sit and stand around him, several showing grief; a chained figure sits at left and an open doorway shows a distant figure.
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates, 1787. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting was made by Jacques-Louis David in 1787, based on the story of Socrates' execution as told in Plato's Phaedo. It shows Socrates condemned to die by drinking poison hemlock, surrounded by his grieving companions, including Crito and Plato.

Why it matters

Painted during the Enlightenment, the work turned Socrates into a symbol of rational self-control and devotion to truth in the face of death. David took artistic liberties, simplifying the scene and changing the ages of figures like Plato, showing how later eras reshaped Socrates' story to fit their own values. The painting reveals as much about 18th-century French ideals as about ancient Athens.

Look closer

  • Why does Socrates appear calm while everyone around him shows distress?
  • What has the artist changed or idealised compared to the ancient written accounts?
  • Why might an 18th-century French patron have wanted this scene painted?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Socrates on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Socrates sources

Meet the AI Socrates →
Book

Secondary source

Apology

Plato · c. 395 BC

Line engraving in a multi-line border showing a bust of a bearded man with curly hair and a furrowed brow, on a plinth. The label below reads SOCRATE. Lower right reads Landon direx.Painting

Secondary source

Line Engraving of Socrates by Landon

Charles Paul Landon

Cover of a 1925 Italian paperback, Platone, Dialoghi III, Critone, tan cardboard with red double border. Handwritten inscription at top, red handwritten marking near bottom. Publisher Vallecchi Editore Firenze.Book

Secondary source

Crito

Plato · c. 400 BC

Engraving of a bearded, balding bust of Socrates in an arched niche, set on a stone pedestal. Inscription below reads 'SOCRATES SOPHRONISCI FILIUS ATHENIESIS', with credits 'P.P. Rubens delin.' and 'P. Pontius sculpsit, 1638'.Painting

Secondary source

Socrates Engraving after Rubens by Pontius

Peter Paul Rubens · 1638

Black-and-white photograph of a white marble bust of a bearded man, shown from the front and slightly turned, with deep-set eyes, a curly beard and hair, against a dark background. The image is a glass lantern slide with labels reading Socrate and Université de Louvain.Photograph

Secondary source

Roman Marble Bust of Socrates

between 1839 and 1939

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Socrates now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions