The Prison of Socrates

Socrates was a critical thinker. He shone with his own humility and encouraged his students to reflect on society and draw conclusions. In doing so, he developed a method of questioning that aimed to reveal the causes and backgrounds of statements and attitudes. Thus, he also scrutinized the wealth of the powerful in the then Athenian democracy and the exercise of power for personal gain rather than for the people. This was a thorn in the side of the powerful democrats, and they organized a show trial in which the old man Socrates was brutally sentenced to death. The masses of the assembly were skillfully incited and manipulated for this verdict. In the prison cell, a cave on Filopappou Hill opposite the Acropolis in Athens, Socrates was forced to drink a poison. Thus, one of the wisest minds was executed through democratic means of the assembly. This approach in Greek democracy would not remain the only crime committed through democratic methods.