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This Companion, the first dedicated to the philosopher and historian Xenophon of Athens, gives readers a sense of why he has held such a prominent place in literary and political culture from antiquity to the present and has been a favourite author of individuals as diverse as Machiavelli, Thomas Jefferson, and Leo Tolstoy. It also sets out the major problems and issues that are at stake in the study of his writings, while simultaneously pointing the way forward to newer methodologies, issues, and questions. Although Xenophon's historical, philosophical, and technical works are usually studied in isolation because they belong to different modern genres, the emphasis here is on themes that cut across his large and varied body of writings. This volume is accessible to students and general readers, including those previously unfamiliar with Xenophon, and will also be of interest to scholars in various fields.
A selection of important articles on Xenophon which will serve as an introduction to his writings by presenting current debates about the way in which we read them. A specially written introduction by Vivienne J. Gray places the articles in the context of Xenophon's life and works.
Xenophon and the History of his Times examines Xenophon's longer historical works, the Hellenica and the Anabasis. Dillery considers how far these texts reflect the Greek intellectual world of the fourth and fifth centuries B.C., rather than focusing on the traditional question of how accurate they are as histories. Through analysis of the complete corpus of Xenophon's work, and the writings of his contemporaries, Xenophon is shown to be very much a man of his times, concerned with topical issues ranging from panhellenism and utopia to how far the gods controlled human history. This book will be valuable reading for students on ancient history courses and for all those interested in Greek political and philosophical thought.
Introduction: Words and deeds -- Chapter 1: Writing history -- Chapter 2: Remembering Socrates -- Chapter 3: Rethinking the polis -- Chapter 4: Living a good life -- Chapter 5: Thinking through Xenophon -- Conclusion: The stranger's voice.
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Xenophon is usually believed to have written his Hellenica as a general ''history of his own times'' in Greece, and is criticized for his disproportionately close attention to Spartan affairs and his apparent bias in favour of the Spartans. But his treatment of Sparta is much more coherent and purposive than has been noticed; and knowing the cirumstances of his life, we should consider that there were ample reasons of prudence (at least) for him to have written with much circumspection about Sparta and especially about Agesilaus and Agesilaus' friends. This methodical interpretative study of Lysander in the Hellenica as well as of the Polity of the Lacedaemonians demonstrates that Xenophon wrote aobut this city - famous for the communal life of its citizens - with critical and philosophic intent. As a case study in reading classical history, it might signal the need for a complete reevaluation of other historians as well.
First comprehensive commentary on a section of Anabasis in English for a century, reflecting scholarly advances for students and scholars.
This book is a fresh study of the fourth century B.C. Greek adventurer, writer, and student of Socrates, Xenophon. An innovating author of many guises, an important source for the history of his time, a wit and a philosopher, he no longer enjoys the reputation he once did. Suggesting that such a radical de-valuation is more a reflection on nineteenth- and twentieth-century attitudes and scholarship than on the worth of Xenophon, the author in this book attempts to reassert Xenophon's rightful position by offering a close, literary-historical reading of all of Xenophon's writings and by focusing in this process on the alluring reticence and ironic subtlety many have often failed to appreciate...