Xenophon (about 431 BC to 354 BC) produced a very wide range of work during his lifetime: historical, biographical, philosophical, instructional. He never stated a primary purpose for all his works and we can deduce that some of what he was aimed at specific audiences. For some of his works, he states a purpose (see below). For others we can sometimes deduce his intent with a certain degree of confidence, but other times we cannot be sure. The historical works Anabasis and Hellenika are the most problematic for, as John Marincola states in *[The Cambridge Companion to Xenophon][1]*, > Xenophon does not give us much help in interpreting these works. No > major ancient historian is more reticent about the nature and purpose > of his history... As Xenophon read the works of some of those who came before him, he would certainly would have expected (and intended) that what he wrote would be copied and read by others. From the way that Xenophon returns to certain themes (such as leadership) in different works, we can deduce that he was perhaps partly motivated by what interested him and what he saw as important. ---------- Among those where Xenophon gives at least part of his reason are: In **Agesilaus** (King [Agesilaos II][2] of Sparta, ruled c. 398 – c. 360 BC), Xenophon [begins with][3]: > I know how difficult it is to write an appreciation of Agesilaus that > shall be worthy of his virtue and glory. Nevertheless the attempt must > be made. For it would not be seemly that so good a man, just because > of his perfection, should receive no tributes of praise, however > inadequate. This laudatory account of Agesilaos is in contrast to some parts of Hellenika (see below) where Agesilaos is at times criticized. In the Socratic dialogue **Symposium**, Xenophon, through a narrator, [says][4]: > To my mind it is worth while to relate not only the serious acts of > great and good men but also what they do in their lighter moods. I > should like to narrate an experience of mine that gives me this > conviction. In the Socratic dialogue **Apology** his intent was make explicit something about Socrates' defence which [he felt other writers hadn't][5]: > It seems to me fitting to hand down to memory, furthermore, how > Socrates, on being indicted, deliberated on his defence and on his > end. It is true that others have written about this, and that all of > them have reproduced the loftiness of his words,—a fact which proves > that his utterance really was of the character intimated;—but they > have not shown clearly that he had now come to the conclusion that for > him death was more to be desired than life; and hence his lofty > utterance appears rather ill-considered. ---------- Among those works where Xenophon does not *obviously* explain his intent are: **Cyropaedia** (see also the section below on *Anabasis*) This multi-genre text is Xenophon's longest work and focuses on [Cyrus the Great][6] (although much of it is fiction) but it was intended neither as a history or a biography but rather as a treatise on the training of a ruler. [Cyropaedia is][1] > the most enigmatic with regards to the author’s intentions....Xenophon > sets out to narrate certain noteworthy incidents and exceptional deeds > (military and political) from the life of Cyrus the Great.... What he found most admirable and > underlines already in the prologue of this work is the fact that Cyrus > managed to rule a great empire with the willing obedience of his > followers. The Cyropaedia is thus presented as having serious claims > to contribute to the political discourse of Xenophon’s time. It is no > wonder that in antiquity it was considered a response to Plato’s > Republic... Why did Xenophon choose a Persian, Cyrus? Melina Tamiolaki, in [The Cambridge Companion to Xenophon][1] argues that: > At least two reasons can be advanced to explain this choice: firstly, > Xenophon was interested in paradigms of successful empires; obviously > he could not find such paradigms in Greece, which experienced > consecutive failures of empires. Secondly, he must have been impressed > by specific features on which the propaganda about Cyrus insisted, > mainly his qualities as a benevolent despot and his success in gaining > the willing obedience of his followers. Greek leaders ostensibly > lacked these qualities, for the simple reason that the regime of > monarchy that by definition enables and fosters them, was absent in > Greece. Xenophon wished to underline these qualities, but without > implying a suggestion about constitutional change in Greece. In **Hellenika**, a continuation of Thucydides' work on the Peloponnesian War and then beyond, Xenophon does not clearly state a reason. His style reveals that he had clearly read both Herodotus and Thucydides. He begins *Hellenika* with "And after those things, not many days later...". David Thomas, in his introduction to [The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika][7], observes: > Xenophon begins this way, expecting the reader to recognize that he is > picking up roughly where Thucydides left off....Xenophon...is in some > sense claiming to be a historian who can be compared to Thucydides. Thucydides states why he wrote his work. It was [because he thought][8] > "it would be a great war, and more worthy of relation than any other > that had preceded it" Xenophon may have felt the same way, particularly as he simply continues from where Thucydides left off. What else might have given him reason to write *Hellenika* we don't know with any certainty but Thomas suggests that Xenophon wished to put his own 'slant' on events, which might account for the differences between Xenophon's *Hellenika* and the *[Hellenica Oxyrhynchia][9]* (unknown author). **Anabasis** is similarly problematic in terms of motive. perhaps he felt that the march of 10,000 Greeks through the heart of the mighty Persian empire was too good a story not to tell. In *Anabasis*, the theme of [Leaders and Followers][1] is evident, as it was in *Cyropaedia*, and Xenophon's desire to make known his thoughts on what he personally saw as something very important may well have been an important (but not only) reason for writing both *Anabasis* and *Cyropaedia*. [1]: https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/The_Cambridge_Companion_to_Xenophon.html?id=p8XeDQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agesilaus_II [3]: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.%20Ages. [4]: http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&getid=1&query=Xen.%20Symp.%201.1 [5]: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0212 [6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great [7]: https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/The_Landmark_Xenophon_s_Hellenika.html?id=B9OSmQyQqQAC&redir_esc=y [8]: http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-24-3-a-herodotus-and-thucydides-inventing-history [9]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenica_Oxyrhynchia