Archive for December, 2013
Xenophon’s Cyropaedia and Persian Oral History: Part Three
See also the Blog Page for Parts One and Two Cyrus’ Peaceful Death The vast majority of classical authors concur that Cyrus died in battle against the Central Asian nomads living beyond the northeastern frontier of his empire. The Cyropaedia (8.7.2–28) goes against the grain by ascribing to the conqueror a peaceful death. The common […]
Xenophon’s Cyropaedia and Persian Oral History: Part Two
Cyrus’ Campaign to Armenia Given the nature of our information about Cyrus, great consideration is due to those events about which Herodotus, Ctesias, and Xenophon all agree. Xenophon’s account (2.4.18ff) of the punitive expedition that Cyrus led against the Armenians on behalf of the Medes thus deserves special attention. There is a consensus among the […]
Xenophon’s Cyropaedia and Persian Oral History: Part One
Synopsis: Xenophon’s Cyropaedia is a complicated work, but evidence exists that certain details are likely derived from one or more Iranian oral traditions distinct from those preserved in the works of other classical authors. Xenophon himself admits familiarity with Iranian oral traditions concerning Cyrus, and such traditions may underlie his accounts of Cyrus’ paternal lineage, […]
Recent Comments in this Document
February 4, 2018 at 9:33 am
This is not an exact parallel, but I’m reminded ofXenophon Anabasis 3.4.35 , where it is said that the Persians out on campaign are slow to get off the mark in the event of a night attack because they hobble their horses.
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February 4, 2018 at 9:28 am
See the index to the Loeb, where it is suggested that these Armenian Chaldaeans are a people more correctly known as the Haldi.
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February 4, 2018 at 9:18 am
I wonder if it’s a bit of a stretch to look for parallels with Sparta here, since elders had similar functions in a great many premodern societies.
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February 4, 2018 at 9:08 am
The tone of this interchange reminds me of the dialogue between Pericles and Alcibiades atXenophon Memorabilia 1.2.40-46 . And for a wise, even if not wisecracking, child, how about Gorgo at Herodotus 5.51 ?
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February 4, 2018 at 8:37 am
Surely just because it means ‘whatever makes your bread less dull’!
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February 4, 2018 at 8:31 am
Reza Zarghamee’s blog posts on this site argue very convincingly that, yes, there could have been an Iranian tradition that leapfrogged back past Cambyses’ reign and attributed the conquest of Egypt to Cyrus.
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August 16, 2016 at 4:56 pm
What’s going on with Median ἰσηγορία? Is this a little Xenophontic jibe directed toward Athens, which was famed for that “freedom/license/excessive of speech”?
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August 16, 2016 at 4:15 pm
On this see now Norman’s own Sandridge 2012.
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February 17, 2016 at 8:23 pm
Hale, J. R. 2013. “Not Patriots, Not Farmers, Not Amateurs: Greek Soldiers of Fortune and the Origins of Hoplite Warfare.” In Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano (eds.), Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece. (Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013): 176-193
Luraghi, N. 2006. “Traders, Pirates, Warriors: The Proto-History of Greek Mercenary Soldiers in the Eastern Mediterranean.” Phoenix 60.1/2: 21-47
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February 17, 2016 at 8:19 pm
On Greek soldiers in the service of foreign kings, see also Luraghi 2006 and Hale 2013. On the rhetorical, panhellenist context see especially the speeches of Isocrates.
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