Xenophon

Greek historian and philosopher

• Born: c. 431 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: Athens, Greece
• Died: c. 354 b.c.e.
• Place of death: Corinth, Greece

Through his writings on subjects ranging from the practical to the philosophical, Xenophon, a pupil of Socrates, sought in the fourth century b.c.e. to instruct and improve Greek society. His works provide the modern reader with a clearer picture of the ancient world.

Early Life

Xenophon (ZEN-oh-fuhn) was born in Athens around 431 b.c.e. His father, Gryllus, was a wealthy Athenian aristocrat. Little is known of Xenophon’s early life, but he would have come of age during the latter years of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 b.c.e.), the great conflict between Athens and Sparta. He probably served in one of the crack Athenian cavalry units.

As a youth, Xenophon became a pupil of Socrates, joining an intellectual circle that included at various times such diverse personalities as Alcibiades and Plato. Socrates’ teaching was frequently conducted out of doors and in an informal manner. No citizen was barred from listening to him or taking part in the discussions, and in a sense his pupils taught themselves. Each student thus developed his own concepts of who Socrates was and what he was saying; therefore, Xenophon should not be faulted because his views of Socrates were not those of Plato, who was gifted with an entirely different quality of mind.

Socrates’ belief in moral purposes and his emphasis on the essential goodness of humankind would have appealed to Xenophon’s sense of conventional morality. He was not a clever or brilliant pupil but a solid, practical person; probably he took some notes during Socrates’ conversations, which would become in later years part of his Apomnēmoneumata (c. 381-355 b.c.e.; Memorabilia of Socrates, 1712) and the Apologia Sōcratous (c. 384 b.c.e.; Apology of Socrates, 1762). The latter work was thought at one time to be by another author, but it is most likely genuine. Another brief work, the Symposion (Symposium, 1710), whose date, like much of Xenophon’s writing, is unknown, places Socrates at an Athenian dinner party, where he discusses a variety of subjects, including the nature of love.

Athens was slipping beyond her golden age as the fifth century waned; Sparta’s triumph and the political infighting between the parties of the right and left had tarnished the Athenian democracy. Socrates was increasingly viewed as a suspicious and even dangerous person, for he asked too many questions.

Xenophon was uncertain as to what career he should pursue. In 401, a friend and professional soldier, Proxenus, suggested that he join a band of mercenaries commanded by Prince Cyrus (Cyrus the Younger), son of King Darius II of Persia, on an expedition against his brother, Artaxerxes II. The lure of adventure, riches, and military glory was strong, but Xenophon hesitated and consulted Socrates, who advised him to seek counsel of the oracle at Delphi.

Xenophon went to Delphi but apparently had already made a decision before his arrival, since he asked Apollo not whether he should take service with the Persians, but how best the journey might be made. Returning home, he bade Socrates farewell, and the old man advised him to do the will of the god. They were never to meet again.

Life’s Work

The high point of Xenophon’s life was his military adventures in the Persian Empire, which he vividly describes in the Kyrou anabasis (between 394 and 371 b.c.e.; Anabasis, 1623). In March, 401, Prince Cyrus led his mixed force of Greeks, Persians, and other troops from the city of Sardis in western Asia Minor to the Euphrates River and on toward Babylon. At Cunaxa on September 3, 401, a battle was fought between his and Artaxerxes’ forces, and Cyrus was killed. Leaderless and isolated in hostile country, the Greeks were further devastated by the murder of their officers, who had been negotiating after the conflict with the Persians, under a flag of truce. Among the slain was Xenophon’s friend Proxenus.

There could be no time for mourning; the ten thousand Greeks who survived elected new commanders, Xenophon being one, and hastily retreated northward into the mountains of Kurdistan and Armenia and fought their way back to the Greek colony of Trapezus on the Black Sea. The March of the Ten Thousand took approximately five months, and Xenophon undoubtedly played a vital role in its success. He kept a journal, which he would use in writing the Anabasis decades later.

As Julius Caesar would later do, Xenophon told his story in the third person. Indeed, for reasons now unknown it was originally published under an assumed name. There is, however, no question of authorship; the writing style is Xenophon’s, and several ancient authors, Plutarch being one, list the Anabasis among his works.

Lively and well written, the Anabasis is filled with details of army life, scenes of the countrysides through which the Greeks were passing, descriptions of strange animals and birds (such as ostriches, which ran too fast for the soldiers to catch), and the savage tribes that harassed the “Ten Thousand” on their long march to the sea. The Anabasis is Xenophon’s most popular work.

The conclusion of these five months of danger and hardship was not as Xenophon had hoped. Denied the opportunity of enrichment and glory serving Prince Cyrus, Xenophon considered founding a colony on the Black Sea. Omens from the gods were unfavorable, however, and the Greeks were now divided in their aims. He and some of his friends were obliged to return to military life, first under the command of a petty Thracian king and then with a force of Spartans who had arrived in Asia Minor to defend the Ionian cities against a new Persian attack. During this latter campaign (399 b.c.e.), Xenophon captured a wealthy Persian family and managed at last to make his fortune with the large ransom paid for their release.

The year 399 also saw the trial, condemnation, and execution of Socrates. Xenophon’s initial reaction to this injustice is not known, but the death of his old teacher must have hastened his rejection of current Athenian democracy. To a professional military man, the order and discipline of the Spartans was more appealing.

During the campaign against the Persians and later in a war among the city-states, which pitted Sparta against Athens and Thebes (395-391 b.c.e.), Xenophon served on the staff of the Spartan king Agesilaus. In return, the Athenians banished him as a traitor. The Spartans then provided him with an estate at Scillus, near Olympia. Now married and with two sons, Xenophon had the leisure to pursue the life of a country gentleman, devoting his energies to hunting and entertaining his friends and guests, writing, and building a shrine to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. It was probably during this period that his practical essays Kynēgetikos (394-371 b.c.e.; On Hunting, 1832), Peri hippikēs (c. 380 b.c.e.; The Art of Riding, 1584), and Hipparchikos (c. 357 b.c.e.; On the Cavalry General, 1832) were composed.

An altogether different sort of work is the Kyrou paideia (after 371? b.c.e.; The Cyropaedia: Or, Education of Cyrus, 1560-1567), a historical novel that treats not only the life and training of Cyrus the Great (not Prince Cyrus of the Anabasis) but also the history of the Persian Empire and Xenophon’s views on what education and government should be. That The Cyropaedia is a complex work is evidenced by the fact that scholars still dispute what Xenophon hoped to accomplish. His contacts with Persians had given him a unique view of non-Greeks, whom many of his countrymen tended to dismiss as barbarians. Xenophon was both better informed and more appreciative of life outside Hellas than were most Greeks.

Local feeling against the Spartans and their allies after Sparta was defeated by Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra (371 b.c.e.) obliged Xenophon and his family to leave Scillus and reside in Corinth. There is some question as to whether Xenophon returned to Athens after his banishment was revoked (369-365 b.c.e.), but his sons were educated there, and the elder, Gryllus, enlisted in the cavalry as his father had done and died fighting for Athens at the Battle of Mantinea in 362.

In 361 or 360, King Agesilaus died, and Xenophon wrote the Logos eis Agēsilaon Basilea (Agesilaus, 1832) as a tribute to him. Another of his major works was probably completed in Corinth at about this time. Ellēnika (411-362 b.c.e.; History of the Affairs of Greece, 1685) was intended to complement and complete Thucydides’ unfinished history of the Peloponnesian War and carry the narrative into contemporary times, ending with the Battle of Mantinea. History of the Affairs of Greece is generally considered to be inferior to its predecessor, however, because of Xenophon’s open expressions of admiration for Sparta and dislike of Thebes.

The Poroi (c. 355-353 b.c.e.; On Ways and Means, 1832) is probably Xenophon’s last work; most scholars believe that he died within five years of its completion. This essay addressing the financial difficulties of Athens in the mid-fourth century offers various remedies to aid in the city’s recovery, including such practical suggestions as ownership by the state of a merchant fleet, more efficient working of the silver mines, and improvement in the status of resident aliens. Xenophon eloquently cites the benefits of peace, suggesting that a board of guardians be established to help maintain peace. In conclusion, he advises the Athenians to consult the gods, an echo of the counsel Socrates had given the young aristocratic cavalryman about to seek his fortune in Persia.

Significance

Although Xenophon was a staff officer of considerable talent and wrote several essays relative to his profession, his most lasting achievements were in the field of historical writing. One of the pleasures of Xenophon, quite apart from the readability of his prose, is his variety; he was genuinely interested in many subjects and eager to impart to his audience as much information as possible.

Socrates had taught his students to seek out and learn the good, and this advice is reflected throughout Xenophon’s works, whether he is discussing the management of horses or a household (Oikonomikos, c. 362-361 b.c.e.; Xenophon’s Treatise of Household, 1532), describing constitutions, or exploring the nature of tyranny (Hierōn ē tyrannikos, date unknown; Hiero, 1832). At various times, it has been fashionable among scholars to dwell on Xenophon’s limitations and to compare him unfavorably to Thucydides or Plato. Such comparisons are unwise, however, and further study impresses one with his versatility.

It is of interest that writers discussing Xenophon generally seem to fall naturally into one of two camps: those who concentrate on his military career and his more practical works and those who focus on his more philosophical writings. It is a measure of his complexity, coupled with the plethora of extant writings, that so many scholars have addressed his life and works.

Bibliography

Anderson, J. K. Military Theory and Practice in the Age of Xenophon. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970. The title gives the focus of the work. This lengthy study (more than four hundred pages, including index and bibliography) is enhanced by diagrams of formations and battle plans, as well as nineteen black-and-white plates illustrating military costumes and weapons.

Dillery, John. Xenophon and the History of His Times. New York: Routledge, 1995. An extensive treatment of Xenophon’s historical writing and the times they address. Includes discussions of the Battle of Mantinea, the March of Ten Thousand, and the Spartans in Asia as well as treatment of Xenophon’s philosophies and political and social views. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Higgins, W. E. Xenophon the Athenian: The Problem of the Individual and the Society of the Polis. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977. This study deals with Xenophon as a writer and a pupil of Socrates. The style is pleasant and clear. In addition to the index, the author’s notes are extensive and impressive.

Nadon, Christopher. Xenophon’s Prince: Republic and Empire in the “Cyropaedia.” Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Focuses on Xenophon’s political theory in The Cyropaedia and on the nature of politico-historical writing. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Prevas, John. Xenophon’s March: Into the Lair of the Persian Lion. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2002. An in-depth examination of Cyrus the Younger’s failed expedition against his brother in Persia and the March of the Ten Thousand, as explored through Xenophon’s writing. Includes illustrations, maps, bibliographical references, and an index.

Schmeling, Gareth L. Xenophon of Ephesus. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980. A solid, accessible, basic overview of Xenophon as a writer. Includes biographical information.

Strauss, Leo. On Tyranny. Rev. and expanded ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Xenophon’s Hiero is interpreted in detail, with an analysis of the text as well as a translation. Also included is an essay by another scholar, Alexandre Kojève, not only on Xenophon and his views on tyranny but also on Strauss’s interpretations. This volume is for the serious student of Xenophon.

Strauss, Leo. Xenophon’s Socrates. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1972. In this study, Strauss continues his interpretation of Xenophon as a man who wrote well and with wisdom, an important author who adds to the understanding of his teacher, Socrates. The book contains an appendix and an index and is intended for a scholarly audience.

Strauss, Leo. Xenophon’s Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the “Oeconomicus.” South Bend, Ind.: St. Augustine’s Press, 1998. Xenophon’s Oikonomikos, although in the form of a Socratic dialogue, is sometimes dismissed as an enjoyable essay on estate management, complete with a description of the character of the dutiful wife. Strauss writes that its purpose is misunderstood. As with previous references, this work is intended for the better understanding of Socrates as well as Xenophon. The later edition includes a new, literal translation of the Oikonomikos by Carnes Lord.