Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1313

Rh XENOPHON. a perishable bodj'-, ind that it dies when it is re- leased from it." The argument of Xenophon bears some resemblance to the argument of Bishop Butler, in his Analogy, where he treats of a future life (chap. i.). There is an English translation of the Cyropaedia, by Maurice Ashley Cowper. The Agpsilaus {' AyrjaiKaos) is a panegyric on Agesilaus II., king of Sparta, the friend of Xe- nophon. That Xenophon wrote such a work is proved by the list of Diogenes, and the testimony of Cicero (^ad Fam. v. 12), who considers it a monument more glorious than all the statues of kings. Some modern critics do not consider the extant work as deserving of high praise, to which it may be replied, that it Avill be difficult to find a panegyric which is. It is a kind of composition in which failure can hardly be avoided. However true it may be, it is apt to be insipid and to appear exaggerated. The Hipparchicus {'iTnrapxi'Kos) is a treatise on tlie duties of a commander of cavalry, and it con- tains many military precepts. One would be in- clined to suppose that it was written at Athens, but this conclusion, like many others from internal evidence, ia not satisfactory, A strain of devotion runs through the treatise ; and on this the author makes the following remark near the end : " Now if any one admire that I have often used the ex- pression ' God willing,' he must know that if he happen to be frequently in a state of danger, he will admire the less ; and if he consider, that when there is war, the hostile parties form their designs against one another, but very seldom know what designs are formed against them severally. But all these things the gods know, and presignify them to whom they please by means of sacrifices, birds, voices, and dreams." The treatise on the Horse ('iTnriK'fi) was written after the Hipparchicus, to which treatise he refers at the end of the treatise on the Horse. " Since," says Xenophon, at the beginning of this treatise, " it happens that I have been accustomed to riding a horse for a long time, I consider that I am well acquainted with horses, and I wish to show my younger friends in what way I think that they may best meddle in the matter of a horse." The treatise is not limited to horsemanship, as regards the rider : it shows how a man is to avoid being cheated in buying a horse, how a horse is to be trained, and the like. In the beginning of the treatise Xenophon refers to a treatise on the same subject by Simon. The 'lirniK-f) was translated into English, and printed by Henry Denham, London, 1584, 4to. The Cynegeticus (Kwriy€riK6s) is a treatise on hunting, an amusement of which Xenophon was very fond ; and on the dog, and the breeding and training of dogs, on the various kinds of game, and the mode of taking them. It is a treatise written by a genuine sportsman, who loved the exercise and the excitement of the chase ; and it may be read with delight by any sportsman who deserves the name. The two treatises on the Spartan and Athenian states (AuKeSaifjioviav IToAtTeio, and 'Adrjuaiuu IloAiTet'a) were not always recognised as genuine works of Xenophon, even by the ancients. They pass, however, under his name, and there is nothing in the internal evidence that appears to throw any doubt on the authorship. The writer clearly prefers Spartan to Athenian institutions. The " Republic XENOPHON. 1301 of Athens " was translated into English by James Morris, 1794, 8vo. A treatise on the Revenues of Athens (n6pot H irepi Upoa-oSuu) is designed to show how the public revenue of Athens may be improved : it treats of the mode of increasing the number of re- sident strangers (jueTOi/cot), by improving their condition at Athens, which improvement would ultimately be beneficial to the revenue, and attract strangers ; and it recommends such facilities to be given to strangers trading to Athens, as would induce them to come to a port where they were not compelled, as in many ports, to take mer- chandise, for want of a good current coin, but where they could take silver as a commodity in exchange, if they preferred it : he then proceeds to discuss the mode of improving the revenue by a better management of the Athenian silver mines, and to show that provision may thus be made for the poorer citizens and other purposes, without levying contributions on the allies and the subject states. This treatise was translated into English by Walter Moyle, 1697, 8vo., and is reprinted in his works. Bdckh, in his Public Economy of Alliens, translated into English by G. C. Lewis, has discussed this treatise of Xenoplion, and the matter of it. In the Memorabilia of Socrates, in four books {^ Atroi.ivi]ixoviVjxaTa ^uiKparovs) Xenophon defends the memory of his master against the charge of irreligion (i. 1 ) and of corrupting the Athenian youth. Socrates is represented as holding a series of conversations, in which he developes and in- culcates moral doctrines in his peculiar feshion. It is entirely a practical work, such as we might expect from the practical nature of Xenophon's mind, and it professes to exhibit Socrates as he taught. It is true that it may exhibit only one side of the Socratic argumentation, and that it does not deal in those subtleties and verbal disputes which occupy so large a space in some of Plato's dialogues. Xenophon was a hearer of Socrates, an admirer of his master, and anxious to defend his memory. The charges against Socrates for which he suffered were {Mem. i. 1 ), that " Socrates was guilty of not believing in the gods which the state believed in, and in introducing other new daemons {Zai^ovia) : he was also guilty of corrupting the youth." Xenophon (c. 1, 2) replies to these two charges specifically ; and he then goes on to show (c. 3) what Socrates' mode of life was. The whole treatise is intended to be an answer to the charge for which Socrates was executed, and it is, therefore, in its nature, not intended to be a com- plete exhibition of Socrates. That it is a genuine picture of the man, is indisputiible, and it is the most valuable memorial that we have of the prac- tical philosophy of Socrates. The Memorabilia will always be undervalued by the lovers of the transcendental, who give to an unintelligible jargon of words the name of philosophy : it comes too near the common understanding {communis sensus) of mankind to be valued by those who would raise themselves above this common understanding, and who have yet to learn that there is not a single notion of philosophy which is not expressed or in- volved by implication in the common language of life. The Memorabilia and the Apology of So- crates {^AiToKoyia ^ccKpaTovs trphs robs diKaaTcis) have been translated into English by Sarah Field- ing. The Apology of Socrates contains the reasons 4o 3