The Politics Of Viewing In Xenophon S Historical Narratives

This book considers cultural identity and power relations in early fourth-century BCE Greece through a reading of Xenophon's historical narratives, the Hellenica, Anabasis and Cyropaedia. These texts depict conflicts between Greek states, conflicts between Greeks and non-Greeks, and relations between the elite individual and society. In all three texts, politically significant moments are imagined in visual terms. We witness spectacles of Spartan military victory, vistas of Asian landscape or displays of Persian imperial pomp, and historical protagonists are presented as spectators viewing and responding to events. Through this visual form of narration, the reader is encouraged imaginatively to place themselves in the position of the historical protagonists. In viewing events from different perspectives, and therefore occupying multiple, often conflicting political positions, the reader not only experiences the problems faced by historical actors, but becomes engaged in the political conflicts acted out in the narratives. The reader is prompted to take pleasure in the sight of Panhellenic achievement, but also to witness the divisions and conflicts between Greeks on class and ethnic lines. Similarly the reader is invited to identify with spectacular Greek and non-Greek figures of power as emblems of Greek imperial potential, but also to see through the eyes of those communities subjugated at their hands. The depiction of spectacles and spectators draws the reader into an active participation in the ideological contradictions of their time, in a period when Panhellenic aspiration co-existed with hegemonic competition between Greek states, and when Greeks could be both beneficiaries and victims of imperialism.

"This book considers problems of cultural identity and power in the context of the competing imperialisms of the early 4th century BC through a reading of Xenophon's works of narrative history, the Hellenica , Anabasis and Cyropaedia . These texts deal with highly contentious subject matter: the representation of conflicts between Greek states, conflicts between Greeks and non-Greeks, especially Persia, and relations between the elite individual and society. In all three texts, politically significant moments are imagined in highly visual terms. We are shown spectacles of Spartan military victory, vistas of Asian landscape or displays of Persian imperial pomp, and historical protagonists are presented as spectators viewing and responding to events. Through this visual form of narration, which is also used, with slightly different emphasis, by Xenophon's historiographical predecessors Herodotus and Thucydides, the reader is encouraged imaginatively to place themself in the position of the historical protagonists. Through being allowed to view events from different perspectives, and therefore to occupy multiple, often conflicting political positions in close sequence or even simultaneously, the reader not only experiences the problems faced by historical actors, but becomes engaged in the political conflicts acted out in the narratives. The depiction of spectacles and spectators draws the reader into an active participation in the ideological contradictions of their time, in a period when Panhellenic aspiration co-existed with hegemonic competition between Greek states, and when Greeks could be both beneficiaries and victims of imperialism. Through offering an often contradictory and conflictual reading experience, Xenophon's Hellenica , Anabasis and Cyropaedia both reveal and enact conflicts within elite Greek political self-consciousness in the late Classical period"--

DigiCat presents to you this meticulously edited collection of Xenophon's historical works, formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Content: Anabasis Cyropaedia Hellenica Agesilaus Polity of the Lacedaemonians Polity of the Athenians Anabasis is Xenophon's most famous book. The seven-tome book of the Anabasis describes The March of the Ten Thousand and their return to Greece. Xenophon accompanied the Ten Thousand, a large army of Greek mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger, who intended to seize the throne of Persia from his brother, Artaxerxes II. The narration of the journey is Xenophon's best known work, and "one of the great adventures in human history". Hellenica is one of the most important primary sources for the History of the Peloponnesian War and the war's aftermath. Many consider this a very personal work, written by Xenophon in retirement on his Spartan estate, intended primarily for circulation among his friends, for people who knew the main protagonists and events, often because they had participated in them. It covers the events in Greece from 411 to 362 BC, and is considered to be the continuation of the History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides. Cyropaedia is a biography of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Achaemenid Empire and the first Persian Empire. It is "a political romance, describing the education of the ideal ruler, trained to rule as a benevolent despot over his admiring and willing subjects." Aspects of it would become a model for medieval writers of the genre known as mirrors for princes. In turn it was a strong influence upon the most well-known but atypical of these, Machiavelli's The Prince.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The First Four Books of Xenophon's Anabasis" by Xenophon. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Offers a novel reading of one of the ancient world's most famous and celebrated texts.

Xenophon's Anabasis, or The Expedition of Cyrus, is one of the most exciting historical narratives--as well as the most important autobiographical work--to have survived from ancient Greece. It tells the story of Cyrus, a young and charismatic Persian prince, who in 401 BC enlisted more than ten thousand Greek mercenaries in an attempt to seize the vast Persian empire for himself. Cyrus was killed in a great battle, most of the Greek commanders subsequently fell victim to treachery, and an Athenian aristocrat by the name of Xenophon found himself in the unexpected position of taking charge and leading the Greeks from the vicinity of Babylon in modern Iraq back to the Greek cities in Turkey. This book both places the Anabasis in its historical and literary context and, by employing a variety of critical methods, opens up for the reader different ways of interpreting its major themes. Interrelated chapters investigate Xenophon's self-representation as a model leader, his possible didactic and apologetic purposes for writing, the generic expectations of his contemporary audience, the factual accuracy of the Anabasis, and the ways in which the gods are depicted as intervening in human affairs. This book unveils the literary artistry and narrative strategies that have gone into shaping one of the greatest survival stories of all time.

To ancient and classical scholars, the writings and adventures of Xenophon remain a staple in the development of historical writing. Yet, unlike most Greek authors, Xenophon's ambitions produced a profound and everlasting turning point in the very essence of historiography. This is because those very writings and adventures appeared as one of the first forms of autobiographical historical narratives. Where Herodotus was the father of history, and Thucydides the father of military history, Xenophon was the father of philosophical autobiographies that provided first hand insight into history as it developed. Xenophon's early life exhibited various influences that catered to the development of his methodology, particularly those during the Peloponnesian War. Xenophon's general impression of the Spartan versus Athenian opposition in addition to his close relationship to the famed philosopher Socrates compelled him to produce philosophical personal narratives that focused on war and politics. This theme is consistent throughout his many books, including the famed Hellenica and Anabasis. While the idea of objective versus subjective writing remains an issue, these findings showed that Xenophon was an important historian because he wrote about life from a personal yet academic view, integrated philosophy into historiography, and thus altered historical writing and political thinking simultaneously.

Introduces Xenophon's writings and their importance for Western culture, while explaining the main scholarly controversies.