Xenophon, Greek historian

Xenophon (/ˈzɛnəfən/; Greek: Ξενοφῶν, Xenophōn, Greek pronunciation: [ksenopʰɔ̂ːn]; c. 430 – 354 BC), son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates. He is known for his writings on the history of his own times, the 4th century BC, preserving the sayings of Socrates, and descriptions of life in ancient Greece and the Persian Empire.

Life and writings

Early years

Xenophon’s birth date is uncertain, but most scholars agree that he was born around 430 BC near the city of Athens.^[1] Xenophon was born into the ranks of the upper classes, thus granting him access to certain privileges of the aristocracy of ancient Attica. While a young man, Xenophon participated in the expedition led by Cyrus the Younger against his older brother, king Artaxerxes II of Persia, in 401 BC. Xenophon writes that he had asked the veteran Socrates for advice on whether to go with Cyrus, and that Socrates referred him to the divinely inspired Delphic oracle. Xenophon’s query to the oracle, however, was not whether or not to accept Cyrus’ invitation, but “to which of the gods he must pray and do sacrifice, so that he might best accomplish his intended journey and return in safety, with good fortune”. The oracle answered his question and told him to which gods to pray and sacrifice. When Xenophon returned to Athens and told Socrates of the oracle’s advice, Socrates chastised him for asking so disingenuous a question.

Route of Xenophon and the Ten Thousand

Under the pretext of fighting Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap of Ionia, Cyrus assembled a massive army composed of native Persian soldiers, but also a large number of Greeks. Prior to waging war against Artaxerxes, Cyrus proposed that the enemy was the Pisidians, and so the Greeks were unaware that they were to battle against the larger army of King Artaxerxes II. At Tarsus the soldiers became aware of Cyrus’s plans to depose the king, and as a result, refused to continue. However, Clearchus, a Spartan general, convinced the Greeks to continue with the expedition. The army of Cyrus met the army of Artaxerxes II in the Battle of Cunaxa. Despite effective fighting by the Greeks, Cyrus was killed in the battle. Shortly thereafter, Clearchus was invited to a peace conference, where, alongside four other generals and many captains, he was betrayed and executed. The mercenaries, known as the Ten Thousand, found themselves without leadership far from the sea, deep in hostile territory near the heart of Mesopotamia. They elected new leaders, including Xenophon himself, and fought their way north through hostile Persians and Medes to Trapezus on the coast of the Black Sea. They then made their way westward back to Greece. Once there, they helped Seuthes II make himself king of Thrace, before being recruited into the army of the Spartan general Thibron.

Xenophon’s book Anabasis (Greek: ἀνάβασις, literally “going up”^[2]) is his record of the entire expedition against the Persians and the journey home. The Anabasis was used as a field guide by Alexander the Greatduring the early phases of his expedition into Persia.

Exile and death

Xenophon was later exiled from Athens, most likely because he fought under the Spartan king Agesilaus IIagainst Athens at Coronea. However, there may have been contributory causes, such as his support for Socrates, as well as the fact that he had taken service with the Persians. The Spartans gave him property at Scillus, near Olympia in Elis, where he composed the Anabasis. However, because his son Gryllus fought and died for Athens at the Battle of Mantinea while Xenophon was still alive, Xenophon’s banishment may have been revoked. Xenophon died in either Corinth or Athens. His date of death is uncertain; historians only know that he survived his patron Agesilaus II, for whom he wrote an encomium. Xenophon had a fond love of Athens but didn’t believe in its political morals, which leads some to believe that he was an oligarch, or even a laconist.^[3]

Legacy

Diogenes Laertius states that Xenophon was sometimes known as the “Attic Muse” for the sweetness of his diction. Xenophon is often cited for promoting sympathetic training and humane treatment of horses in his “On Horsemanship“.

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 Shaftesbury, Winckelmann, Machiavelli, and John Adams.

Ponting cites Xenophon as one of the first thinkers to argue that the ordered world must have been conceived by a god or gods.^[4] Xenophon’s Memorabilia poses the argument that all animals are “only produced and nourished for the sake of humans”.^[4] Though he spent much of his life in Athens, Xenophon’s involvement in Spartan politics (he was a close associate of King Agesilaus II) has led to him being closely associated with the city.

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