Poisonous hemlock grows in damp areas along tree lines in the shade. The plant can grow up to three meters tall and looks similar to other wild flowering species such as Queen Anne’s Lace. Poisonous hemlock, however, has unmistakable purple splotches along its stem. Purple is to bad avoided at all costs. After bouts of rainy weather, the hemlock flourishes. Both the UK and the US have had issues with invasions of hemlock which can lead to livestock poisoning and death. The USDA warns, “Sheep may be poisoned by eating as little as 100 to 500 gm of green leaves. Cattle that eat 300 to 500 gm may be poisoned. Signs usually appear within an hour after an animal eats the plant. Animals die from respiratory paralysis in 2 to 3 hours.” Humans are no different. The poison can enter the body by ingestion and even mere physical contact with the skin.
Every part of the hemlock plant is poisonous. We cannot say for sure if Socrates drank the juice of the root, stem, or leaf, but we know that any of them would have done the job. The plant is far more potent fresh than dried. Hemlock contains Coniine, Methyl-coniine, and Succus conii. These chemicals are active in the body in a similar manner to nicotine, although with a decidedly worse effect. The toxins block signals in the nervous system which lead to the cessation of breathing and consequently suffocation. The poison will also lead to salivation, twitching, pupil dilation, and an increased heart rate which eventually decreases to, you guessed it, 0 beats per minute. There is no cure aside from artificial ventilation. No one in Ancient Greece had a chance against such a poison, very few have a chance today.
The Greeks were not the only ones to make a toxic tea out of the hemlock plant or use it for other purposes. Archaeological remains in Scotland suggest a hemlock concoction was used as an anesthetic in medical procedures. European monks may have made pastes with the plant to smear on genitals in order to prevent sinful lust. On the Ancient Greek island of Kos, anyone over 60 would drink hemlock in order to relieve society of the burden of their old age. Today, the more skilled and perhaps adventurous kind of homeopath might use the plant to nurse swelling, pain, fatigue, or headache.
For all the right reasons, hemlock is not a common beverage, but it is a notorious one thanks to the West’s greatest thinker. As Socrates was dying he said to his friend, “Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt?” Asclepius, son of the god Apollo, was known for his ability to bring the dead back to life. We may know that there is hardly any cure for a drink of hemlock, but Socrates may have had his supernatural hopes just before the poison took its final toll. Today, the dangers of the plant and the toxic tea it can make lives on, all the more relevant in the memory of Socrates.
