Xenophon

As presented by Xenophon, Socrates is a man who knows he is the smartest guy in the room but disguises it from those who don’t know him well. When asked at the symposium to join in telling the party what he is best at or proudest of, Socrates answers, not philosophy, but pimping, by which he seems to mean introducing people to one another. He always has more than one item on his agenda. When he discusses farming in the Oeconomicus, he is interested not only in how to run a farm but also in the nature of what it means to be a gentleman and the nature of goodness.
His interrogators seldom understand his irony. In the Apology, when he is asked why he chooses death over some of the other punishments he might ask for, he says that he wants to die before he has to put up with the pains of old age. Kill me now because old age sucks is not a serious argument, but Socrates is the only one in the room who seems to know that.
Bisexual eroticism also stands out in Xenophon’s version of the Symposium. Most of the guests, including Socrates, seem equally turned on by boys and girls, but in the end, everyone except Socrates goes home to play with their wives and girlfriends. Socrates is not anxious to go home to Xantippe, his difficult wife. He heads out into the night alone.
I wish I had read these pieces when I first encountered Socrates in Plato.… (more)

The Ancient Greek term anabasis is ambiguous enough that translators often let it stand. Here are some possibilities: march up country, ascent, and literally, expedition up from. In translating Xenophon’s title, Wayne Ambler opts for The Anabasis of Cyrus, which does not clear up the issue.
Xenophon, a military leader, historian, and friend of Socrates, left Athens to join a Spartan mercenary expedition to aid Cyrus the Younger in his effort to overthrow his brother Artaxerxes. Xenophon took command after Cyrus was killed and the Greek leaders were assassinated. With his force of 10,000 hoplites, he fought his way from Babylon to the Black Sea and through Turkey,
Xenophon appears as a character in the narrative. In chronicling his journey, he describes the leadership styles of his enemies and allies. He led from the front and used argument and consensus more often than threats of force to keep his troops in line.
After the death of Cyrus, the Greek army often lived off the land; you would not have wanted to be a villager in their path. In the mountains, villagers jumped from cliffs to avoid them. Xenophon reports with equal coolness, acts of courage, nobility, and brutality.
The Anabasis is a landmark work of military history that deserves to be read alongside those of Thucydides, Caesar, and Herodotus.… (more)