Xenophon was born an Athenian, the son of Gryllus. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Nothing is known of his wife, Philesia, except her name. The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. Xenophon of Athens was a Greek historian, philosopher, and soldier. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Mark, Joshua J.. The strength of Cyrus in holding the empire together is praiseworthy according to Xenophon. Xenophon was away on his Persian campaign during the trial and death of Socrates. He was a pupil of Socrates. Rereading a famous passage in which the Ten Thousand first glimpse the sea, one is struck by the disproportion between its remembered impact and its brevity and indirect approach. Xenophon the Athenian was born 431 B.C. A History of My Times - Xenophon - Google Books Gaius Stertinius Xenophon (c. 10 BC - 54 AD), often referred to in ancient literature as simply Xenophon, was a physician who served the Roman Emperor, Claudius, the fourth member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Born around 430 BCE and dying around 354 BCE, Xenophon did indeed become a "follower" of Socrates. Mark, J. J. The Polity of the Lacedaemonians talks about the laws and . In 394 BC, Agesilaus' army returned to Greece taking the route of the Persian invasion eighty years earlier and fought in the Battle of Coronea. Today, Xenophon is best known for his historical works. From the Greek word "xenos" meaning foreign/strange and the word elment "phone/phone" meaning voice. He is remembered today as one of the greatest writers of ancient Greece, whose Anabasis has inspired many other works including modern-day films. [30] It has been conjectured that this was Cyrus's first wife, which lends credibility to the Cyropaedia's statement (8.5.19) that Cyaxares II gave his daughter in marriage to Cyrus soon (but not immediately) after the fall of the city, with the kingdom of Media as her dowry. 430-ca. 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 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]. Omissions? [37] Xenophon uses this interpretation as justification for Socrates' arrogant stance and conventional failure. After his return to Greece, Xenophon joined the forces of the Spartan general Thimbron (d. 391 BCE), who was replaced after his failure to capture Larissa by the general Dercylidas c. 399 BCE, a much more experienced leader who took Larissa and eight other cities from the Persians until command was taken by the Spartan king Agesilaus. Xenophon is primarily remembered for his suspected involvement and collaboration in the murder of Claudius by poison. Corrections? Homotmoi were highly and thoroughly educated and thus became the core of the soldiery as heavy infantry. The dialogues representing Socrates as a youth and young man took place, if they took place at all, before Plato was born and when he was a small child. Life and Times Xenophon was born during the early years of the Peloponnesian War, in the outlying deme of Athens called Erchia. There were three factors in Xenophon's life that likely led to him becoming the celebrated creator of dressage (or at least the first person to write about it). Nevertheless, much of Xenophon's Socratic writing, especially Apology, concerns that very trial and the defence Socrates put forward. While it is reported that he tried to emulate Socrates throughout his life, he seems to have done so in his own unique way. Xenophon: A Biography of the Historian, Poet and Military Strategist We see at first hand the soldiers at leisure, holding athletic competitions amongst themselves. Xenophons life history before 401 is scantily recorded; at that time, prompted by a Boeotian friend, he left postwar Athens, joined the Greek mercenary army of the Achaemenian prince Cyrus the Younger, and became involved in Cyruss rebellion against his brother, the Persian king Artaxerxes II. Xenophanes - Wikipedia He is known for his writings on the history of his own times, preserving the sayings of Socrates, and the life of ancient Greece. In section 4.3 of the Cyropaedia Cyrus makes clear his desire to institute cavalry. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). He believes that the unstable dichotomy of man and horse found in a centaur is indicative of the unstable and unnatural alliance of Persian and Mede formulated by Cyrus. [28] In the entry for year 14 or 15 of his reign (542540 BC), Nabonidus speaks of his enemies as the kings of Egypt, the Medes, and the Arabs. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. At first, this might not have made much difference as Agesilaus was fighting the Persians for the liberation of Ionian Greek Colonies in Asia Minor, but in 395 BCE, the Corinthian War broke out in which an Athenian coalition opposed Sparta in response to its policies regarding two regions in Greece, Locris and Phocis. Xenophon (Ancient Greek , Modern Greek ; ca. 281321. The Carduchians were "a fierce, war-loving race, who had never been conquered. One night, Xenophon formed a body of archers and light cavalry. Nothing is known of Xenophon's mother or whether he had any siblings. Xenophon is recognized as one of the greatest writers of antiquity. The author, often called in English the "Old Oligarch" or Pseudo-Xenophon,[34] detests the democracy of Athens and the poorer classes, but he argues that the Periclean institutions are well designed for their deplorable purposes. The Symposium outlines the character of Socrates as he and his companions discuss what attribute they take pride in. Life Xenophon - Wiktionary "[29] A more extensive list of considerations related to the credibility of the Cyropaedia's picture of the relationship between the Medes and Persians is found on the Cyropaedia page. He did this by endowing a fictional version of the boyhood of Cyrus the Great, founder of the first Persian Empire, with the qualities of what Xenophon considered the ideal ruler. And again, Xenophon was not present at the trial of Socrates, having been on campaign in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. At his farm in Scillus, he wrote Anabasis, the Socratic works, and others, and it seems to have been the most peaceful and comfortable time of his life. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Mini Bio (1) Greek historian and man of letters, he was the son of a well-born Athenian named Gryllus. Thus he puts into the latter's mouth what he would have thought him to say. His father, Gryllus, owned an estate there and was well off but, unlike other wealthy Athenians, played no part in the political life of the city. Despite being born an Athenian citizen, Xenophon came to be associated with Sparta, the traditional opponent of Athens. After facing the court at Sparta, Thimbron is banished. O'Flannery, Jennifer. Xenophon (c.430-354 BCE) was an Athenian-born Greek and not a contemporary of Cyrus the Great (c.600-530 BCE). Public Administration Quarterly. . 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). son of Menephylus, Olympic victor: Paus. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. And as he did not know, he said, "Follow me, then, and learn." This homespun aspect of Socrates is not altogether missing from Plato's writings, but in Xenophon it seems to have absorbed almost everything else. World History Encyclopedia. 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. 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. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Both Herodotus (1.123,214) and Xenophon (1.5.1,2,4, 8.5.20) present Cyrus as about 40 years old when his forces captured Babylon. Therefore you are at once able to judge for yourselves the reason why we are not at fault now, although we were then."[22]. In the initial campaign against the Lydians, Babylonians and their allies, the Medians were led by Cyaxares and the Persians by Cyrus, who was crown prince of the Persians, since his father was still alive (4.5.17). Dodge says of Xenophon's generalship, "Xenophon is the father of the system of retreat, the originator of all that appertains to the science of rear-guard fighting. In his early years, Xenophon apparently belonged to the circle around Socrates. Xenophon - Peloponnesian War, Battle of Mantinea, Panhellenism, and Xenophon produced a large body of work, all of which survives to the present day. Fourth, charges of ingenuousness have been partly fueled by Xenophons style. Xenophon , (born 431, Attica, Greecedied shortly before 350 bc, Attica), Greek historian. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. Anabasis (translated as Up Country, The Expedition of Cyrus, The March Up Country, or March of the Ten Thousand) is Xenophon's narrative of the 401 BCE expedition in support of the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger against Cyrus' brother Artaxerxes II (r. 404-358 BCE) for control of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE). Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company: 1890. pp. He died in 354 B.C. Cyropaedia: What Did Xenophon Write About Cyrus the Great? - TheCollector The Cyropaedia, sometimes spelled Cyropedia, is a partly fictional biography [2] of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. 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. Xenophon was an Athenian born about 425 B.C. For the majority of time in the past two millennia, Xenophon was recognized as a philosopher. 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. The historian Diogenes Laertius (l. c. 3rd century CE) claims Xenophon wrote over 40 books, including an important treatise on training dogs. World History Encyclopedia. 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. Also in 398, the Spartan ephors officially cleared the Ten Thousand of any previous wrongdoing (the Ten Thousand were likely a part of the investigation of Thimbron's failure at Larissa) and fully integrated the Ten Thousand into Dercylidas' army. Xenophon, (born c. 430 bce, Attica, Greecedied shortly before 350, Attica), Greek historian and philosopher whose numerous surviving works are valuable for their depiction of late Classical Greece. In 398 BC, Xenophon was likely a part of the Greek force capturing the city of Lampsacus. Quick Facts Also Known As: Xenophon of Athens Died At Age: 76 Family: father: Gryllus Born Country: Greece Quotes By Xenophon Historians Died on: 354 BC place of death: Thrace City: Athens, Greece Recommended Lists: Greek People Philosophers Greek Men Childhood & Early Life Xenophon was born to Gryllus in Athens. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Although Laertius is understood as an often-unreliable source, in this he seems to be correct, as Xenophon is mentioned by others as a prolific writer. Xenophon | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Led by Dercylidas, Xenophon and the Greek army march to Aeolis and capture nine cities in 8 days including Larissa, Hamaxitus, and Kolonai. Xenophon was born around 430 BC, in the deme Erchia of Athens. 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. We meet a world marked by the particular forms of Greek religion: vows and sacrifices are frequently made to the gods, seers are constantly consulted, a sneeze is thought to be a favorable omenXenophon's account tells us much about the character of Greek soldiers and Greek political life, but it also offers insight into a broader human experience. Waterfield comments on the significance of Anabasis as well as Xenophon's other works: The [Anabasis] has been admired as much as the march it describes. The Greek historian, essayist, and military expert Xenophon (ca. He lived in Scillus, district of Elis, near Olympia, where he had a farm and wrote his works until 371 BCE when his land was taken by the Elians and he moved to Corinth, where he died c. 354 BCE of natural causes. In his early life he was a pupil of Socrates; but the turning point in his career came when he decided to serve in the Greek contingent raised by Cyrus against Artaxerxes in 401. [3] [a] Laertius says that Xenophanes is said to have flourished during the 60th Olympiad (540-537 BC), [b] and modern scholars generally place his birth some time around 570-560 BC. He joined the army as a junior officer, but after Cyrus was killed he was given command of the retreat. Hellenica is a seven-book account of 411-362 in two distinct (perhaps chronologically widely separated) sections: the first (Book I and Book II through chapter 3, line 10) "completes" Thucydides (in largely un-Thucydidean fashion) by covering the last years of the Peloponnesian War (i.e., 411-404); the second (the remainder) recounts the long-term results . Yet, unlike Plato, who stayed in Athens and founded a philosophical academy, Xenophon chose a more active life, political and military . He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from Athens. In 396 BC, the newly appointed Spartan king, Agesilaus arrived at Ephesus and assumed the command of the army from Dercylidas. The former is set during the trial of Socrates, essentially defending Socrates' loss and death, while the latter explains his moral principles and that he was not a corrupter of the youth. By showing that only someone who is almost beyond human could conduct such an enterprise as empire, Xenophon indirectly censures imperial design.
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