Search results
The death of Socrates in 399 BCE, as reported by Plato in the Phaedo, is usually attributed to poisoning with common hemlock. His progressive centripetal paralysis is characteristic of that poison.
Death of Socrates: a likely case of poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) poisoning. The death of Socrates can be accepted as a limited case report of Conium maculatum poisoning and intriguing scientific questions remain about the toxicity of the coniine alkaloids and the mechanisms of their effects.
The physical symptoms of hemlock poisoning—diarrhoea, vomit, spasms—would be particularly horrifying in the final minutes of a philosopher who aimed to separate his mind from even the most innocent of actions, such as the relief of release from leg irons (Phaedo 60b), rejecting such deeds as a base activity and not an act of the mind or soul.
The death of Socrates in 399 BCE, as reported by Plato in the Phaedo, is usually attributed to poisoning with common hemlock. His progressive centripetal paralysis is characteristic of that poison.
2 sty 2024 · Death of Socrates: a likely case of poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) poisoning. The death of Socrates can be accepted as a limited case report of Conium maculatum poisoning and intriguing scientific questions remain about the toxicity of the coniine alkaloids and the mechanisms of their effects.
1 sty 2019 · In this study, we review the ancient and modern literature on Socrates’ execution, the use of poisonous hemlock and opium plants, and an assessment of his peaceful death with recent information on the subject.
1 sty 2019 · Poison-hemlock (Conium maculatum) and Nicotiana spp. including N. tabacum and N. glauca contain toxic and teratogenic piperidine alkaloids.
