12/21/2023 0 Comments Stronghold kingdoms banqueting guide![]() Xenophon describes his life in 401 BC and 400 BC in the memoir Anabasis. Personally invited by Proxenus of Beotia ( Anabasis 3.1.9), one of the captains in Cyrus's mercenary army, Xenophon sailed to Ephesus to meet Cyrus the Younger and participate in Cyrus's military campaign against Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap of Ionia. Detailed account of Xenophon's life starts 401 BC. Detailed accounts of events in Hellenica suggest that Xenophon personally witnessed the Return of Alcibiades in 407 BC, the Trial of the Generals in 406 BC, and the overthrow of the Thirty Tyrants in 403 BC. Xenophon's father, Gryllus, was a member of a wealthy equestrian family. 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". Several centuries later, Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero described Xenophon's mastery of Greek composition in Orator with the following words: "the muses were said to speak with the voice of Xenophon". In the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Laërtius observed that Xenophon was known as the "Attic Muse" because of the sweetness of his diction. Xenophon's works span multiple genres and are written in plain Attic Greek, which is why they have often been used in translation exercises for contemporary students of the Ancient Greek language. Xenophon is recognized as one of the greatest writers of antiquity. Much of what is known today about the Spartan society comes from Xenophon's works – the royal biography of the Spartan king Agesilaus and the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians. Experience as a mercenary and a military leader, service under Spartan commanders in Ionia, Asia Minor, Persia and elsewhere, exile from Athens, and friendship with King Agesilaus II endeared Xenophon to the Spartans. The Hellenica continues directly from the final sentence of Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War covering the last seven years of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) and the subsequent forty-two years (404 BC–362 BC) ending with the Second Battle of Mantinea.ĭespite being born an Athenian citizen, Xenophon came to be associated with Sparta, the traditional opponent of Athens. Today, Xenophon is best known for his historical works. 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. For the majority of time in the past two millennia, Xenophon was recognized as a philosopher. Reading Xenophon's Memorabilia inspired Zeno of Citium to change his life and start the Stoic school of philosophy.įor at least two millennia, Xenophon's many talents fueled the debate of whether to place Xenophon with generals, historians or philosophers. Ī student and a friend of Socrates, Xenophon recounted several Socratic dialogues – Symposium, Oeconomicus, Hiero, a tribute to Socrates – Memorabilia, and a chronicle of the philosopher's trial in 399 BC – Apology of Socrates to the Jury. Anabasis and Cyropaedia inspired Alexander the Great and other Greeks to conquer Babylon and the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BC. On the topic of campaigns in Asia Minor and in Babylon, Xenophon wrote Cyropaedia outlining both military and political methods used by Cyrus the Great to conquer the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. Anabasis is a unique first-hand, humble, and self-reflective account of a military leader's experience in antiquity. Xenophon's Anabasis recounts his adventures with the Ten Thousand while in the service of Cyrus the Younger, Cyrus's failed campaign to claim the Persian throne from Artaxerxes II of Persia, and the return of Greek mercenaries after Cyrus's death in the Battle of Cunaxa. Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations, and was among the first to describe strategic flanking maneuvers and feints in combat. As the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "the centuries since have devised nothing to surpass the genius of this warrior". At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of the Achaemenid Empire, the Ten Thousand, that marched on and came close to capturing Babylon in 401 BC. 430 – probably 355 or 354 BC ) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. ![]() Xenophon of Athens ( / ˈ z ɛ n ə f ən, z i-, - f ɒ n/ Ancient Greek: Ξενοφῶν c. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |