Xenophon Flashcards
1
Q
Background
A
- friend of Socrates
- fought with the Spartan king Agesilaus, at Coroneia in Boeotia; moved to Athens but was then exiled; given estate at Scillus (in Elis near Olympia)
2
Q
Thucydides and Xenophon
A
-Thucydides breaks off the summer of 411 and Xenophon resumes in the autumn of that year
3
Q
The Expedition of Cyrus (Anabasis)
A
- not sure when written/composed, maybe around the 390s, or before 371? Confusion mostly because of Isocrates Panegyricus, which people suspect Xenophon was reacting to, or other way around
- long tradition of ‘home-coming’ stories (nostoi), oldest and most famous being the Odyssey, and Xenophon engages with that text throughout his own narrative
- “Irony is very important in the Anabasis: it is essentially an ironic text. So it is thateven the very structure of the text is ironic. Although a ‘home-coming’ story, the army doesn’t in fact ‘return-home’ but stays in Asia to fight with the Spartans. Even Xenophon, who appears here to ‘go home’ eventually fights with Agesilaus is Asia (Agesiluas eventually took up the Spartan command in 396)”
- “Xenophon represents himself also as the “good leader”, who not only treats that troops well, and understands their needs, but who uses clever stratagems to overcome their adversaries. Is there an implied comparison with Odysseus?”
4
Q
Panhellenism
A
- “Panhellenism is certainly an important thematic in the Anabasis, and this is probably a more accurate interpretation than the claim often made that Xenophon himself was a Panhellenist. He certainly made significant use of Panhellenic themes in the Anabasis, but often also plays ironically with them, or undercuts them. The Anabasis belongs to the sequence of ‘war against Asia’, but not necessarily in a straight forward way. Thinking through his ironic us of Panhellenic themes may help us understand his relationship to Isocrates. Xenophon engages with a number of Panhellenic themes”
- the luxury of Asia is an important them in Panhellenic discourse, and while considered important within Xenophon’s work, it is undercut by the idea the it may seduce the Greeks, ie. The Lotus-eaters
5
Q
Other Themes
A
- “it is sometimes said that Xenophon paves the way for Alexander’s invasion of Asia, by showing how weak the Persian empire was. Some of these ‘weaknesses’ however were already evident in Herodotus’ account, or even in Thucydides.”
- “The theme of ‘free Greeks’ and ‘enslaved barbarians’ became important in the fifth century, but in regard to Herodotus and other fifth century writers across all genres (this is behind Aristotle’s theories on the ‘slave by nature’ since [in theory] Greeks did not enslave other Greeks, the enslavement of barbarians was justified because that was what they were fitted for, by environment and by constitution). Ironically, and importantly, however, Cyrus the Great was supposed to have brought the Persians ‘freedom’”
- also brings in talk about religion, as in Herodotus, and the reading of omens etc. “There was a current and running debate in the late fifth-century/fourth century about the important of universal and divine law as opposed to written law/law of the polis. This debate is behind, most obviously, Sophocles’ Antigone, and others.”
6
Q
Order vs. Disorder
A
- “The unity of the army, and Greek unity in general, is fundamental to the Anabasis and to Xenophon’s though in general. Unity can only be achieved if there is also order. Disorder lead to weakness and defeat.”
- “The importance of orderliness is clear from the outset. Cyrus and the Cilician queen are impressed by the orderliness of the Greek army, but Cyrus is defeated at Cunaxa because the advance of his army (apart from the Greek contingent) was scattered and disorderly.”
- from Xenophon “discipline makes for survival and lack of discipline has often in the past been responsible for loss of life…”
- “the theme of orderliness, cohesiveness and unity was not new to the Anabasis, or indeed to Xenophon. Herodotus had already made the point that disunity brings weakness.”
7
Q
A History of My Times (the Hellenika)
A
- date of composition unknown, probably not written while he was in Athens
- resumes Thucydides narrative
- focus on Spartan affairs and Spartan history
