Jun 28, 2021
[Socrate’s Poisonning]
"Socrates was not alone in dying from the hemlock cup, which was a regular method of executing those condemned to death by the law in the ancient world. A certain humanity in the use of this method of execution can be seen in the practice of mixing opium with the draught of hemlock to reduce the malefactor's agony. It appears from Plato's description of Socrates's death -- which is as exact as that of a modern physiologist -- that opium had also been added to the philosopher's cup of hemlock, for the symptoms differ slightly from those of pure hemlock poisoning."
[G. Schenk, the Book of Poisons]