Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/15

Rh be pushed too far; but in some particulars the relation of the Spartans to the Athenian people might be said to be analogous to that of the Germans to the French in the great Franco-Prussian war. The events contemporaneous with his youth and early manhood must necessarily have had an influence on the mind and character of Xenophon. It was altogether an unhappy time—a period in which the national prestige of Athens was gradually being lost. The effect on the mind of a youthful Athenian would naturally be to prevent his feeling a pride in his country. This is, doubtless, an unfavourable circumstance for any one. In after-life we find Xenophon not absolutely unpatriotic—indeed, in his writings he appears constantly to be devising methods for the improvement of the Athenian resources; but we find him deficient in anything like reverence for Athens. He seems to "sit loose" on his country, and he shows a readiness to denationalise himself, and throw in his fortunes with those of foreign states, which can be best explained by reference to the events and influences of his youth.

In the mean time, Xenophon had shared with his countrymen that awakening of the intellect which especially characterised Athens during the very period of her incipient political decline. It was the time when Athenian poetry and art had reached their acme, and now oratory and debate were being studied and practised with zeal; Greek prose style was being cultivated and developed; and, from the discussions of the Sophists and Socrates, philosophy was receiving a new