- Object type: Sculpture
- Formal Title: Sokrates (469-399 BC)
- Creator: unknown
- Date Created: 380-360 BC
- Origin: Greece
- Current Location: British Museum
This is a Roman copy of a lost Greek bust, the latter dated to about 380 BC.
Sokrates, or Socrates as he is best known today, was a philosopher on topics including the law. He proudly maintained a sloppy appearance and a simple lifestyle, which added to his mystique and made him a very popular figure in Athens, especially with the youth.
He became the scapegoat of a failed insurrection. He was tried by his peers and because of his stoic and courageous defiance or the charges against him, he was sentenced to death in one of the most famous trials of all time.
His death was an odd one and seems to fit the man and his legacy: he was sentenced to drink a poisonous herbal mixture extracted from hemlock, which he did, in 399 BC. In Greece, drinking a "cup of hemlock" was one of the state-sanctioned means of capital punishment.
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