Yet, unlike Plato, who stayed in Athens and founded a philosophical academy, Xenophon chose a more active life, political and military . Xenophon was away on his Persian campaign during the trial and death of Socrates. Many homotmoi found this unfair because their military training was no better than the commoners, only their education, and hand-to-hand combat was less a matter of skill than strength and bravery. [21] The level of detail with which Xenophon describes Thimbron's campaign in Hellenica suggests first hand knowledge. He was born into an aristocratic family around 430 BCE in Athens to a certain Gryllus, but the exact date is not known. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Every day, these cavalry, finding no opposition from the Ten Thousand, moved cautiously closer and closer. The Polity of the Lacedaemonians talks about the laws and . Whether his service to Sparta caused or reflected his formal exile from Athens remains a matter of some dispute, but exiled he certainly was. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company: 1890. pp. Xenophon also wrote a memorial to the life of Socrates. Cyropaedia: What Did Xenophon Write About Cyrus the Great? - TheCollector Dercylidas proposed the new terms of truce to Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus and the three parties submitted the truce proposal to Sparta and the Persian king for ratification. Although his birth is not recorded it is agreed by many scholars that he was born in 431 B.C1. One of the main plots of the Symposium is about the type of loving relationship (noble or base) a rich aristocrat will be able to establish with a young boy (present at the banquet alongside his own father). Xenophon's standing as a political philosopher has been defended in recent times by Leo Strauss, who devoted a considerable part of his philosophic analysis to the works of Xenophon, returning to the high judgment of Xenophon as a thinker expressed by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Michel de Montaigne, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Niccol Machiavelli, Francis Bacon, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams. Transactions of the American Philological Association. The Colchians, seeing they were being outflanked, divided their army to check the Greek deployment, opening a gap in their line through which Xenophon rushed in his reserves, scoring a brilliant Greek victory.[19]. cclx.) Xenophon's father, Gryllus, was a member of a wealthy equestrian family. On the other hand, the passage seems to be critical of democracy, or at least sympathetic to aristocrats within democracy, for the homotmoi (aristocracy/oligarchs) are devalued upon the empowerment of the commoners (demos). (Book II.6.48). The strength of Cyrus in holding the empire together is praiseworthy according to Xenophon. Xenophon (4), son of Grylus Life Xenophon, the son of Gryllus, was born at Athens during the early years of the Peloponnesian War into a family of knights; he died either in Athens or Corinth . He reduced its management to a perfect method. Xenophon was an Athenian gentleman born in the early 420s BC. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/xenophon/. Xenophon is recognized as one of the greatest writers of antiquity. Xenophon describes Dercylidas as a significantly more experienced commander than Thimbron. Other works, although not without precedent in genre, are unusual in various ways; this is true of the idiosyncratic contemporary history of Hellenica (Greek History) and the fictive history of Cyropaedia (Education of Cyrus); the second-order, philosophically nontechnical response to (or exploitation of) Socratic literature found in Memorabilia, Symposium (Drinking Party), Oeconomicus (Household Management), and Apology; and the novel form of encomiastic biography exemplified by Agesilaus. After heavy mountain fighting in which Xenophon showed the calm and patience needed for the situation, the Greeks made their way to the northern foothills of the mountains at the Centrites River, only to find a major Persian force blocking the route north. He is best known for his Anabasis (The March Up Country) detailing the retreat of the Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries after the defeat of Cyrus the Younger (d. 401 BCE) as well as for his works on Socrates. The great majority of his works were probably written during the last 15 to 20 years of his life, but their chronology has not been decisively established. By contrast, Plato does not go so far as to claim that Socrates actually desired death but seems to argue that Socrates was attempting to demonstrate a higher moral standard and teach a lesson. In the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Lartius observed that Xenophon was known as the "Attic Muse" because of the sweetness of his diction. Reading Xenophon's Memorabilia inspired Zeno of Citium to change his life and start the Stoic school of philosophy. Xenophon wrote an extraordinarily wide variety of works besides [the Anabasis]: The Cyropaedia, a pseudo-historical account of the upbringing and leadership of the founder of the Persian empire, Cyrus the Great, after whom the prince Xenophon served was named; the Hellenica, a work on contemporary Greek history; the Apology, a version of the defense speech of his one-time mentor Socrates, as well as other philosophical conversations involving Socrates (Memorabilia, Symposium) and the poet Simonides (Hiero); the treatises On Hunting and On Horsemanship, and others on household management, military leadership, and politics; an encomium of the Spartan king Agesilaus; and an economic pamphlet (Ways and Means). Mini Bio (1) Greek historian and man of letters, he was the son of a well-born Athenian named Gryllus. Argument ensued as to how the spoils would now be split, and Cyrus enforced a meritocracy. Xenophon. A short treatise on the Constitution of the Athenians exists that was once thought to be by Xenophon, but which was probably written when Xenophon was about five years old. Biography - Xenophon Nothing is known of Xenophon's mother or whether he had any siblings. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Greek historian, essayist, and military expert Xenophon (ca. Mark, Joshua J.. He was a pupil of Socrates and became a general during the Persian wars. Gaius Stertinius Xenophon - Wikipedia Written years after the events it recounts, Xenophon's book Anabasis (Greek: , literally "going up")[10] is his record of the expedition of Cyrus and the Greek mercenaries' journey home. Xenophon's admiration for his teacher is clear in writings such as Symposium, Apology, and Memorabilia. He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from Athens. Some historians believe that he also made a trip to Sicily during this period. Xenophon ordered his men to deploy the line extremely thin so as to overlap the enemy, keeping a strong reserve. The opening line reads: It occurred to me one day that Sparta, though among the most thinly populated of states, was evidently the most powerful and most celebrated city in Greece; and I fell to wondering how this could have happened. He was a pupil of Socrates. Despite being born an Athenian citizen, Xenophon came to be associated with Sparta, the traditional opponent of Athens. He was born circa 430 BC, and not much is known of his life up to 401 BC. But Steven Hirsch writes, "Yet there are occasions when it can be confirmed from Oriental evidence that Xenophon is correct where Herodotus is wrong or lacks information. Xenophon served as a mercenary in Cyrus' army, but at the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, Cyrus was killed, and he was left stranded with his troops in enemy territory. Initially, Xenophon and his men had been fighting as mercenaries in the Spartan army, but under Dercylidas, they had been commissioned as soldiers so that, by the time Agesilaus arrived, Xenophon, an Athenian, was an officer in the army of Athens' old rival. Although he was later widely admired as a writer, Xenophon initially won fame as a soldier and, especially, as one of the commanders who led the Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries back to Greece through hostile territory, constant hardship, and daily threats. His later works do not provide much autobiographical information on his youth, but it is known he was an avid hunter and trained his own dogs. ", however, Xenophon asked which of the gods were best prayed to for the desired end of a successful journey and safe return. And when he had answered him, he asked him again where men were made good and virtuous. Anabasis was also later used as a textbook for instruction in Greek in Victorian England and elsewhere because of Xenophon's clear and accessible style. The Symposium outlines the character of Socrates as he and his companions discuss what attribute they take pride in. In 398 BC, Xenophon was likely a part of the Greek force capturing the city of Lampsacus. 2003. This is not to say that he was not a good ruler, but he is depicted as surreal and not subject to the foibles of other men. Posthumously his place in the canon of ancient authors was secure; he was a historian, philosopher, and man of action, a perfect model for the young (a view expressed, for example, by Dion Chrysostom [Dio Cocceianus]) and an object of systematic literary imitation by Arrian. Other archaeological evidence supporting Xenophon's picture of a confederation of Medes and Persians, rather than a subjugation of the Medes by the Persians, comes from the bas-reliefs in the stairway at Persepolis. Xenophon (c.430-354 BCE) was an Athenian-born Greek and not a contemporary of Cyrus the Great (c.600-530 BCE). His output was formally variedthe main categories were long historical or ostensibly historical narratives, Socratic texts, and short technical, biographical, or political treatisesbut these had common features, as enumerated below. He was a pupil of Socrates. Xenophon | Military Wiki | Fandom Xenophon was born in 430 BCE (though some scholars favor a later date of sometime in the 420s) in Erchia, a suburb of Athens. Roman orator, attorney and teacher of rhetoric Quintilian echoes Cicero in The Orator's Education saying "the Graces themselves seem to have molded his style and the goddess of persuasion sat upon his lips". First, Xenophons work is characterized by novelty. Xenophon was born in Athens in approximately 430 BC. [23] Diogenes writes that Xenophon lived in Corinth until his death in 354 BC, at around the age of 74 or 75. Xenophon was born near the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, which took place from 431 to 405 BCE. Under Dercylidas' proposal, the Persians abandoned claims to independent Greek cities in Ionia and the Spartans withdrew the army, leaving Spartan governors in the Greek cities. The Medes were thus "reduced to subjection" (1.130) and became "slaves" (1.129) to the Persians 20 years before the capture of Babylon in 539 BC. Nothing is known of Xenophon's mother or whether he had any siblings. Great Captains: A Course of Six Lectures on the Art of War. In addressing critics who claim Xenophon's account is largely self-serving, Waterfield notes that he later refers to the book as having been written by one Themistogenes of Syracuse (Hellenica 3.1.2), which appears to have been a pseudonym and suggests he first published Anabasis under this name "to make his rosy account of his own actions more acceptable" (xix). Thus he puts into the latter's mouth what he would have thought him to say. It was written around 370 BC by Xenophon, the Athenian -born soldier, historian, and student of Socrates. He joined the army as a junior officer, but after Cyrus was killed he was given command of the retreat. As a narrative historian Xenophon has a reputation for inaccuracy and incompleteness, but he clearly assumed that people and events from the past were tools for promoting political and ethical improvement. The two writers seem more concerned about answering questions that arose after the trial than about the actual charges. They endured daily hardships on their way home including enemy attacks, lack of provisions, snowstorms, and the constant threat of betrayal by the local guides they were forced to trust. Centaurs were often thought of as creatures of ill repute, which makes even Cyrus' own advisors wary of the label. Herodotus says that Cyrus led a rebellion against his maternal grandfather, Astyages king of Media, and defeated him, thereafter (improbably) keeping Astyages in his court for the remainder of his life (Histories 1.130). Led by Dercylidas, Xenophon and the Greek army march to Aeolis and capture nine cities in 8 days including Larissa, Hamaxitus, and Kolonai. These works include Xenophon's Apology, Memorabilia, Symposium and Oeconomicus. 5" (1905), Abri der Weltliteratur, Seite 46 (Public Domain), He is remembered today as one of the greatest writers of ancient, Retreat of the Ten Thousand, Battle of Cunaxa, Map of Persia and the March of the Ten Thousand. Thank You Xenophon, for Dressage - YourDressage.org Omissions? Anabasis and Cyropaedia inspired Alexander the Great and other Greeks to conquer Babylon and the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BC.[5]. Xenophon of Athens was a Greek historian, philosopher, and soldier. However, Xenophon quickly devised a plan: all goats, cows, sheep and donkeys were slaughtered and their bodies stuffed with hay, laid across the river and sewn up and covered with dirt so as not to be slippery. [31] The Persian hardiness and austerity is combined with the luxuriousness of the Medes, two qualities that cannot coexist. The war pitted the city-states of Athens and Sparta against each other, with Sparta emerging . (Indeed, the manuscript tradition includes Constitution of the Athenians, which is not by Xenophon.) He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from Athens. Xenophon's own works attest to a close relationship with Socrates, and Diogenes Laertius provides a tale, uncorroborated elsewhere, of their first meeting: Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! Updates? The Cyropaedia as a whole lavishes a great deal of praise on the first Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, on account of his virtue and leadership quality, and it was through his greatness that the Persian Empire held together. His minister Chrysantas admires the centaurs for their dual nature, but also warns that the dual nature does not allow centaurs to fully enjoy or act as either one of their aspects in full (4.3.1920). Quintilian in The Orator's Education discusses the most prominent historians, orators and philosophers as examples of eloquence and recognizes Xenophon's historical work, but ultimately places Xenophon next to Plato as a philosopher.
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