To be pedantic, Socrates wasn't really "forced" to drink hemlock. He could easily have avoided that fate. He could have argued forcefully for his innocence, and

To be pedantic, Socrates wasn't really "forced" to drink hemlock. He could easily have avoided that fate. He could have argued forcefully for his innocence, and easily won - he could argue rings around the Sophists, and everyone knew it. Instead, he argued that society itself was wrong. He could then have begged for mercy. Instead, he told them to do their worst, and live down to what he thought they were. The jury voted for death by a wider margin than they voted for guilt! ("I didn't feel personally attacked... yet still downvoted") And of course, Socrates' real crime was saying true but uncomfortable things. All told, it's a pretty good analogy. It's not about the suicide, it's about society's reaction to uncomfortable truth, and what happens when you say the truth even knowing you'll be punished for it.