Xenophon Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

A citizen of classical Athens from the deme of Erchia, Xenophon (c. 428–354 BCE), son of Gryllus, was a political philosopher and an active participant in the affairs of ancient Hellas. Generally neglected by scholars of politics for many years, Xenophon’s writings have been the focus of renewed scholarly attention during the past two generations. This rekindled interest is both driven and justified by the wealth of political insight preserved in his texts.

It is recorded that Xenophon, while a young man, encountered the Greek philosopher Socrates and was persuaded to keep company with him as his pupil, investigating with him what sorts of things led to the nobility and goodness of men. Xenophon’s Socratic education was the most formative experience of his life and is the crucial reason why he is significant to scholars of politics. This education inspired Xenophon to write several texts chronicling Socrates’ life and activity, texts that complement Plato’s account of this first political philosopher and reflect Xenophon’s own engagement with Socratic questions.

In Oeconomicus, Xenophon presents Socrates’ conversation with Ischomachus, a gentleman farmer devoted to the life of civic virtue. Through the speeches of this text—speeches that represent the conversation Socrates had on the day he made his “turn” to study human issues—Xenophon gives an account of the Socratic examination of virtue that reveals marked differences between the philosopher and the citizen. In Xenophon’s Symposium, Socrates is shown participating in a lighthearted drinking party during which the attendants discuss the serious subject of the concept of goodness. The purpose of the Apology of Socrates to the Jury, Xenophon’s work based on a portion of Socrates’ defense speech at the famous trial at which he stood accused of corrupting youth and dishonoring the ancestral gods, is to account for the reasons why Socrates was seen to be a boastful or arrogant speaker. Finally, in Memorabilia, Xenophon recounts a number of his own recollections about the life and deeds of Socrates, recollections that appear random but in fact deal with major themes such as piety, justice, and education. If Plato’s dialogues seek to render Socrates in the most pleasing light, then the Memorabilia may be said to present him warts and all.

Xenophon the practical statesman emerges in the Anabasis of Cyrus, which relates the march of a small group of Hellenic mercenaries from the coast of Asia Minor to the heart of the Persian Empire and then back again to Hellas. After setting out in support of Cyrus the Younger in his quest to usurp power from his brother, the Great King, the troops must make the arduous journey home after Cyrus falls in battle in 401 BCE. It is Xenophon, himself a member of the mercenary force, who provides the leadership necessary to bring his men home safely. Political leadership is the chief theme also of The Education of Cyrus, a text about a different Cyrus, the great founder of Persia, on whose life, education, and virtue Xenophon expounds.

Bibliography:

Bruell, Christopher. “Xenophon.” In History of Political Philosophy, edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, 90–117. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Higgins,William Edward. Xenophon the Athenian: The Problem of the Individual and the Society of the Polis. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977.
Pangle,Thomas L. “Socrates in the Context of Xenophon’s Political Writings.” In The Socratic Movement, edited by Paul A.Vander Waerdt, 127–150. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1994.
Strauss, Leo. Xenophon’s Socrates. South Bend, Ind.: St. Augustine’s, 2004.
Xenophon in Seven Volumes. Translated by Edgar C. Marchant and Otis J.Todd. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968.

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