|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Xenophon's World
| Article
# : |
20578 |
|
|
Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
|
| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1992 |
4,317 Words |
| Author
: |
John Bremer
John Bremer, a Cambridge philosopher and educator, writes
mostly on Plato. |
Through one of the many narrow streets of ancient Athens a very handsome--but nevertheless modest and unassuming--young man was returning home with produce from the market. An ugly, bug-eyed man of about sixty coming toward him with the gait of a pelican raised his staff across the path, barring the way. He questioned the young man about where he might obtain various market wares and was given respectful answers, as was appropriate from a younger man. Seemingly satisfied with the replies, the ugly one then asked where men might obtain honor and virtue. To this question the young man admitted he had no answer; the older man said simply, "Then follow me, and learn."
The date was about 410 B.C., the beautiful young man was Xenophon, and his questioner was Socrates.
Xenophon the Athenian, the son of Gryllus, was born c. 428 B.C. into a wealthy and well-connected family, but he grew up in turbulent times. Perhaps all times have turbulence, and the fifth-century Athenians had their fair share of it, although they had enjoyed a period of relative calm and peace for twenty years before Xenophon was born, under the leadership of Pericles (b. 495 B.C.) who dominated Athenian politics from about 463 until his death in 429 B.C.
The Persian Wars
Over the preceding centuries, the Greeks--or the Hellenes, as they called themselves--had grown in numbers, prospered, expanded, and, over a long period of time, met the boundaries of other peoples. They had settled in Ionia, along the coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and this brought them in contact with the Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great, who ruled from 559 to 529 B.C. Cyrus defeated Croesus of Lydia (546 B.C.), who had subjugated many of the Ionian cities, and as a result, according to the historian Herodotus, there occurred the first formal clash between the Persians and the Greeks. Cyrus was a wise and good monarch and was held by some Greeks to be the model of the upright ruler, but he died in a most bloody manner, fighting the Massagetae, a Scythian tribe. We shall return to him later.
Cyrus was succeeded by his son, Cambyses, who conquered the Egyptians but seems to have gone mad; it is reported that "he killed their god Apis with his own hand," presumably meaning the monarch or priest representing the god. He died in 522 at Ecbatana.
In the absence of an heir, the throne was seized by Darius,
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
