Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/95

Rh what a wide and varied field is covered by the writings of Xenophon, and what a rich mine they constitute of information relative to events, great men, ideas, arts, and manners in Greece at the end of the fifth and through the first half of the fourth century In our present aperçu of Xenophon, it will be impossible for us to attempt to give the contents of the 'Hellenica,' which is a contemporary record of affairs in Greece from the year 411 to the year 362,  To do so would be to epitomise Greek history, which is not the object of this little book. Readers wishing to follow out that part of the subject, can best do so by consulting Mr Grote's great work (vols. ix. and x.), or they will find a summary and criticism (perhaps rather too severe) of the 'Hellenica' of Xenophon in Colonel Mure's 'Critical History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece,' vol. v. p. 265-323. The remaining works in the above list all more or less come within our scope, as bringing this ancient Greek writer and his times directly before us. In the 'Anabasis,' which we have already epitomised, we have a narrative from personal observation comparable in some respects to the 'Commentaries' of Cæsar, or Mr Kinglake's 'Invasion of the Crimea.' In the 'Cyropædeia' (or 'Education of Cyrus') we have the earliest specimen extant of a historical romance. In the 'Memorabilia' (or 'Recollections'), Xenophon plays the part of a Boswell, and gives us the actual conversations of his master Socrates. The 'Agesilaus' is the embodiment of the "hero-worship" of Xenophon for his admired patron the King of Sparta. The Constitutions of Athens