Xenophon, Anabasis [The March Up-country ]

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

The

Anabasis

is one of the most interesting and best known of the texts that have come down to us from antiquity. Telling the story of a Persian prince, Cyrus the Younger, who hired an army of Greek mercenaries to march against his brother, it describes the expedition’s progress from Sardis in western Asia Minor (modern Turkey) to Babylonia (modern Iraq) and, following Cyrus’s death, the long journey homeward of the Greeks. Their sighting of the Black Sea in the course of the retreat, marked by the soldiers’ shout, “The Sea! The Sea!”, remains one of the most moving and celebrated moments in Western literature.

The book’s author, Xenophon the Athenian, was a participant on the march and his eyewitness reporting provides much of the colour and drama that are defining elements of

4187 words

Citation: Brennan, Shane. "Anabasis". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 May 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6644, accessed 29 March 2024.]

6644 Anabasis 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.