The Death Of Socrates By Jacques-Louis David

214 Words1 Pages
The information known about the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, came through the works of one of his students, Plato. Plato was a well known ancient Greek philosopher also; but unlike Socrates, Plato chose to write down his ideas instead of talking about them. The historical image, The Death of Socrates, was painted by the artist Jacques-Louis David during the 18th century. The painting expresses the story behind the execution of the Western philosopher, Socrates (469-399 BCE). Socrates was a founder of ancient Greek philosophy who was sentenced by Athenian law to drink the poison, hemlock, for corrupting the Athenian youth through teachings and new beliefs. In the painting, Socrates is seen willingly accepting the poison hemlock. Socrates