Xenophon

This is because while Xenophon does not outrightly state his opinions on the power of a tyrant unlike Plato’s rendition of Socrates, instead he focuses his entire text on glorifying the events in which a tyrant overtakes those surrounding him until what surrounds him is no longer populations to conquer but rather mountains and oceans. Xenophon’s focus on Cyrus’ success in overpowering every populations within reach supports Xenophon’s indirect claim that Cyrus is forcefully powerful. When marching upon Assyria, Cyrus has no fear. Xenophon recounts that "with the calvary they made raids and captured vast and varied booty. And after this, while changing their camp, having what they required in abundance, and ravaging the country, they awaited the enemy" (III.3.23). This scene illustrates Cyrus’ ability to remain calm at the face of war. His peace comes from an internal assurance that there is nothing for him to fear as he has vanquished countless cities in the past(I.1.4). By sheer might and military prowess alone, Cyrus…

advisors. In essence, Cyrus portrays all the traits that the Greeks find lacking in their own leaders. Cyrus “excelled in ruling human beings” (1.1.6). Throughout ‘Education of Cyrus’, the reader can see how Cyrus practices the techne of being a leader, by applying Socrates’s teachings on virtue, temperance and power. Cyrus is able to combine self-control and knowledge in pursuit of his empire, while providing a moral compass for those he meets. Xenophon’s meticulous rendering and great…

Xenophon captures the Greek world at the end of its oligarchic glory. His work, affectionately referred as “fussy” highlights the essential pieces that brought the decline of the hoplite warfare and an end to its ethos. The definition of autonomia changed following the beginning of the fourth century B.C.E. The role of the citizens no longer encapsulated the wellbeing of the community, but rather their wellbeing through the community. The question of the day became “what can my polis do for…

In the written work Oeconomicus, Xenophon, a Greek philosopher, integrates the roles of women and men inside and outside the home to show their differences and how this leads to an effective partnership. In this piece, Xenophon achieves this goal by writing a dialect between Ischomachus and Socrates where Socrates is looking to Ischomachus for advice on how to train a woman in her role as a wife and mother. The author expresses positions assigned by both God and man. He also explains his ideas…

The Gallic Wars and Xenophon’s Anabasis are both about the respective author’s heroic military adventures. Both were written to win the hearts of readers and give the author credibility after political backlash. However, since Caesar and Xenophon are from different cultures, in different situations, and have different end games. Because of this, the authors use different narrative styles to tell their story and different methods to make themselves look as heroic as possible. Both narratives are…

In Athens, democracy was generally not viewed as a good form of government because giving power to all meant giving power to the ignorant and uneducated lower-class people. In Pseudo-Xenophon: Constitution of the Athenians (431 BCE), an unknown Athenian commonly referred to as Pseudo-Xenophon shares his thoughts about democracy. The Athenian tells the reader than the higher class citizens are respectable and the lower classes are ignorant and uneducated, making the working class unfit to lead.…

The Apologies of Plato and Xenophon have many differing aspects that greatly impact their retellings of Socrates’ trial. In particular, the two interpretations of Socrates’ daimon alter the two works in many ways. Not only does it change Socrates’ defense itself it also changes how Socrates views death. Therefore, the most important difference between the Apologies of Plato and Xenophon is in how the two works view Socrates’ daimon. In Plato the daimon is viewed as a voice which “…ἀεὶ…

roles, it is useful to look over the Socratic dialogue, “Xenophon-Perfect Wife”. The purpose of this dialogue is to make people think, and work toward an ideal about a women’s role in society. This dialogue was written in ancient Greece during 360 BCE. The author, Xenophon, was a student of Socrates. Socrates’ ideas and teachings were about knowing yourself and always questioning everything (Hughes 83). Those ideas apply to this dialogue because it tells the roles of women, and women learning…

Athena. Some loved it, some did not. While many sources documented the city in a variety of aspects, we looked at two, the Periclean Funeral Oration, as well as Pseudo-Xenophon on the Athenian Constitution. While both pose some extraordinary looks into the society, and government that was Athens, it’s hard to know to what degree of accuracy they have been written.…

The evidence to be discussed is that of Xenophon from his work The Economics, however there is no record of when it was produced. Xenophon was born in to a wealthy Athenian family in C.430BC and lived until 354BC. He participated in campaigns but was exiles from Athens in 394BC after fighting against them along side the Spartans. This therefore could affect his attitudes towards Athens however it is still an important piece of evidence concerning social history. In these particular verses…