[philwelch]

Socrates was sentenced to death and chose to accept the judgment of the law and drink the poison himself rather than escape (or, I guess, force an executioner to become more directly involved). That hardly counts as suicide.

[jqm]

He could have left. But he decided to take the "honorable" path instead.

Because someone suggests you kill yourself doesn't make it any less killing yourself. This applies to ancient Japan as well. That was my point. The custom of "honorable suicide" wasn't confined to ancient Japan.

[philwelch]

A death sentence isn't exactly a "suggestion", and by "he could have left" you mean "he could have escaped but chose not to". (I believe this is the premise of Crito).

[jqm]

Not to beat a dead horse... but he drank the poison. He wasn't killed, he took his own life. There was an alternative in which he lived, but which he refused.

But all this is getting off the point. Honorable suicide was a custom in more than ancient Japan.

[philwelch]

So where? Because Socrates was sentenced to death; his death was not a suicide.

[jqm]

If you read the accounts escape would have been quite easy. His followers urge Socrates to leave and agree to help him (he had no small amount of supporters). But he says no.

When you kill yourself, even if the government has told you that you have to, it's suicide.

The same argument you are making that it is not a suicide could apply to ancient Japan as well.