# Socrates Drinking the Hemlock: A Few Random Questions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socrates-drinking-the-hemlock-a-few-random-questions/604252>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 27, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socrates-drinking-the-hemlock-a-few-random-questions/604252 "2011-11-27T17:15:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socrates-drinking-the-hemlock-a-few-random-questions/604252/1 "2011-11-27T17:15:38Z")

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I just read the [Wikipedia article on Conium (Hemlock) poisoning vis a vis Socrates’ execution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium#Socrates) and I have a couple of quick questions.

First, any idea on what it would have tasted like? Granted, when you’re drinking poison I doubt its taste is your primary concern, but I’m curious if any accounts of Conium victims have mentioned its taste.

Second, would a Conium victim have likely felt any pain? Plato’s account in the Wikipedia article doesn’t seem to mention Socrates being in any pain, but for all I know Plato could have been glossing over the more unsavory points.

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socrates-drinking-the-hemlock-a-few-random-questions/604252/2 "2011-11-27T17:21:51Z")

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I assume you meant to say “Socrates” in the title.

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**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socrates-drinking-the-hemlock-a-few-random-questions/604252/3 "2011-11-27T17:29:33Z")

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I’m sure Plato would say, “I drank what?”

I thought it might be similar to Hemlock used as tea but I learned those are different species. According to [this](http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=550) conium has a parsnip-like taste and a mouse-like smell. Cause of death is respiratory failure, which doesn’t sound pleasant (though not in traditional terms ‘painful’).

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socrates-drinking-the-hemlock-a-few-random-questions/604252/4 "2011-11-27T17:37:02Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> I assume you meant to say “Socrates” in the title.

Fixed.

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**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socrates-drinking-the-hemlock-a-few-random-questions/604252/5 "2011-11-27T23:02:44Z")

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[This is an article](http://www.nd.edu/~plato/bloch.htm) investigating whether Socrates would really have died the way Plato describes it in the _Phaedo_, ie. quickly and peacefully. The author notes a number of articles by pathologists and classicists who argue that Socrates’ end would actually have been fairly violent and painful, but he himself argues that the description is consistent with what’s likely to have happened. Personally I suspect the “violent and painful” description is more likely, but who knows.