Literary Encyclopedia

Xenophon

  • John David Lewis (Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green State University)

Born in Athens between 431 and 427 BCE, at the start of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (431 to 404 BCE), Xenophon lived a life as tumultuous and full of contrast as his written works. Having grown up during the most flagrant excesses of the Athenian democracy, he was an admirer of Sparta and a critic of rule by the demos. A cavalryman for Athens around 409, he later applied the principles of military command learned during brutal combat to history, biography, education, economics and philosophy. Having left Athens to fight with a mercenary army in Persia, he devoted himself to writing in the sublime style of Plato's Academy. He is the first extant prose writer who demonstrates a clear awareness of his own methods on a wi

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First published 09 March 2001

Citation: Lewis, John David. "Xenophon". The Literary Encyclopedia. 09 March 2001

[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4824, accessed 30 July 2010.]

 

Life, Works and Times

Dates:

  • 450 B.C.E. to 352 B.C.E. (Activity Span)
  • 430 B.C.E. to 352 B.C.E. (Life Span)

Places:

  • Ancient Greece (Birth)
  • Ancient Greece (Primary Activity)

Activities:

  • Biographer (Primary)
  • Essayist (Primary)
  • Historian / Chronicler (Primary)
  • Instructional writer (Primary)
  • Soldier (Primary)
  • Novelist (Other)
  • Rhetorician/ Orator (Other)