Hemlock, also known as Conium maculatum, is one of the most recognized herbal botanicals in ancient medicine. Ancient populations were very aware of hemlock and its poisonous nature[5]. Its uses ranged from curing aching joints and symptoms similar to arthritis to being used in lethal amounts to carry out the execution of prisoners. Hemlock is a tall vastly branched plant, sometimes growing up to 10 feet high, with lots of foliage and white flowers giving it an innocent appearance but it has a bitter taste and emits a very unpleasant odor when bruised[4]. The most toxic element of hemlock is coniine, which is a neurotoxin and wreaks havoc on the central nervous system. When used as a medicine hemlock has sedative characteristics along with antispasmodic properties but during the ancient time period Greek physicians used hemlock for a variety of ailments including joint pain[4]. A major issue with the use of hemlock during the ancient period was that it had to be used in extremely small doses and had to be used with extreme caution. The line between the hemlock helping and the hemlock killing was a very thin one. An overdose of hemlock could produce paralysis and eventually lead to death.
    The most famous death caused by hemlock and the name most closely associated with hemlock is Socrates. Socrates was a prominent philosopher who represented a shift in emphasis within Greek philosophy, away from cosmological concerns toward political and ethical matters[1]. Although Socrates was one of the most prominent philosophers of his time not a single work of his has survived. The majority of our knowledge on Socrates comes from the works of Plato who was an understudy of Socrates and wrote many commentaries about Socrates. Plato's work Phaedo describes the death of Socrates from the ingestion of Hemlock.
   

    Imagine being one of the most highly regarded philosophers of your time period living in a time period where new discoveries and theories were happening everyday. You did not worry about how your reasoning and theories upset the leaders of your time; instead you were entirely devoted to finding the pure, unfiltered truth that you thought must be out there.Then suddenly the leaders of your time began to believe that you were corrupting the youth, while you were truly only there to teach them and allow them to come to a better understanding of the world around them. The leaders were so influential that they turned a whole town against you, even some of the pupils you had been teaching for years. I believe this is the type of thinking that Socrates employed as he delved deep into the political, moral, and legal matters of his time and then suddenly felt the hatred and ire of the town leaders. The questions he raised caused the leaders of the Athens to believe he was leading the youth of Athens astray. Socrates's reasoning upset the elder leaders so much that they held a trial to prosecute Socrates on the basis of being "a doer of evil, who corrupts the youth: who does not believe in the gods of the state, but has other new divinities of his own[2]."  A jury of Athenians found Socrates guilty and initially settled on a punishment of thirty minai, but the leaders of Athens continued to push for the death of Socrates and forced a vote from the Athenians for a stiffer sentence. He was finally sentenced to execution at the age of 71.  The following excerpt from Plato's Euthyphro,Apology,Crito,Phaedo describes the death of Socrates.