ABSTRACT
The philosopher Socrates was sentenced to death by the People’s Assembly of Athens in 399 bc for allegedly seducing young people, and he, convinced of his innocence, calmly accepted this judgment. He has been regarded since then as the prototype for someone who is willing to die the “noble death”—the death in good conscience—of someone who refuses to relinquish their convictions even in the face of utmost violence (van Henten and Avemarie, 2002). In many religious cultures, a person who dies such a heroic death is called a “martyr,” derived from the Greek μάρτυς, “witness;” the Islamic martyr is also a “witness” (Arabic shahid).
