Socrates Drank the Conium

Socrates Drank the Conium, known also as Socrates, was a Greek rock band that formed in 1969 and achieved success in the 1970s. Influenced by heavy blues and rock bands like The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream, the band melded the unorthodox time signatures and orchestration of progressive rock and the intensity of blues and hard rock music, creating a unique sound that distinguished them from other Greek rock acts of that period. Outside Greece, Socrates is best known for Phos, their 1976 landmark collaboration album with Vangelis.

The group has gone through many lineup changes, but the two core members remained: guitarist Yannis Spathas and bassist/singer Antonis Tourkogiorgis. Spathas died in 2019, aged 68. Nikos Antipas died on January 31, 2022, from complications related to stroke, aged 68.