|
|
|
Biography of Xenophon
Name: Xenophon
Birth Date: c. 430 B.C.
Death Date: c. 355 B.C.
Place of Birth: N/A
Nationality: Greek
Gender: Male
Occupations: historian, essayist
Xenophon
The Greek historian, essayist, and military expert Xenophon (ca. 430-ca. 355 BC) was the most popular of the Greek historians. He facilitated the change from the Thucydidean tradition of history to rhetoric.The son of Gryllus of the Athenian deme of Erchia Xenophon was of aristocratic background and means. He studied under Socrates. Married to Philesia, he had two sons, both of whom were educated in Sparta. In 401, despite a warning from Socrates and consultation with the oracle at Delphi, he became involved in the expedition of Cyrus against Artaxerxes at the invitation of Proxenus of Thebes. Xenophon was initially unaware of Cyrus's true purpose, which was to gain the crown of Persia. After Cyrus was killed at the battle of Cunaxa in Babylonia, his troops dispersed; Clearchus and other Greek commanders were treacherously murdered by the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, and Xenophon was elected general.The Spartan general Chirisophus and Xenophon …showed first 150 words…
You are viewing only a small portion of the biography.
Please login or register to access the full copy.
|
|
…showed last 150 words…Xenophon's works were admired in antiquity, he is not an author of high critical ability or of outstanding intellectual or moral caliber. His style was simple and straightforward. A man of action as well as a man of letters, he was a nonprofessional in many subjects but a master of military science. More a popularizer and adapter of other people's works, he was not creative, profound, or even original. Nevertheless, he was a meticulous observer and a fair assessor of character, and his sympathies were broad and real. Further Reading There have been numerous translations of Xenophon's works, but no recent books of a general nature on Xenophon. G. B. Nussbaum, The Ten Thousand: A Study in Social Organization and Action in Xenophon's Anabasis (1967), is a useful study. Xenophon and his works are also discussed in Michael Grant, The Ancient Historians (1970), and Stephen Usher, The Historians of Greece and Rome (1970).
|
|
275 words per page