Bøker av Xenophon

This volume contains an introduction discussing Xenophon's views on government in the context of his general political thought and a commentary aimed primarily at students on the Greek text of each of the three works included - the Hiero (On Tyranny), the Constitution of the Spartans, and the pseudonymous Constitution of the Athenians.

One of Socrates' Athenian disciples in his youth, Xenophon (c. 498-354 bc) fought as a mercenary commander in Cyrus the Younger's campaign to seize the Persian throne, and later wrote a wide range of works on history, politics and philosophy. These six treatises offer his informed insights into the nature of leadership. In the dialogue between the poet Simonides and Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, Xenophon provides a consummate consideration of the burdens of being an absolute dictator and the superior happiness of the private man. Elsewhere, his biography of King Agesilaus II of Sparta depicts the author's patron as a model of piety, justice, courage and wisdom, while other texts consider the essential qualities of the cavalry commander, analyse the skills of the horseman and the hunter, and advance a bold economic plan for democratic Athens.

The Anabasis by Xenophon (c. 430-c. 354 BCE) is an eyewitness account of Greek mercenaries' challenging 'March Up-Country' from Babylon back to the coast of Asia Minor under Xenophon's guidance in 401 BCE, after their leader Cyrus the Younger fell in a failed campaign against his brother.

This book presents translations of three dialogues Xenophon devoted to the life and thought of his teacher, Socrates. Each is accompanied by notes and an interpretative essay that will introduce new readers to Xenophon and foster further reflection in...

The "Oeconomicus" is unique in Greek literature in combining a discussion of the proper management of an oikos (family or household) and didactic material on agriculture within a Socratic dialogue. It is a rich primary source for the social, economic and intellectual history of classical Athens.

In The Persian Expedition, Xenophon, a young Athenian noble who sought his destiny abroad, provides an enthralling eyewitness account of the attempt by a Greek mercenary army - the Ten Thousand - to help Prince Cyrus overthrow his brother and take the Persian throne. When the Greeks were then betrayed by their Persian employers, they were forced to march home through hundreds of miles of difficult terrain - adrift in a hostile country and under constant attack from the unforgiving Persians and warlike tribes. In this outstanding description of endurance and individual bravery, Xenophon, one of those chosen to lead the retreating army, provides a vivid narrative of the campaign and its aftermath, and his account remains one of the best pictures we have of Greeks confronting a 'barbarian' world.