Never miss a new book by Xenophon!

#Reading #Literature #AncientHistory #History #Xenophon #CapitalismRuinsEverything

– Général #Lysandre, tu veux en fait dominer #Athènes toi-même !
– Oh mais non même pô vrai !
– Peuh ! Écoute, je suis jaloux comme un pou. Alors, aux dires de #Xénophon, je vais intervenir dans tous tes plans et y semer la pagaille et la zizanie. Tiens, je m'impose dans ton armée grâce au soutien des éphores ! Tiens, je mène sur les démocrates du #Pirée des attaques toutes pourries pour faire style ! Tiens, je les bats dans un engagement mais je négocie secrètement avec eux !
– Raaaah !

@hist_myth https://mastodon.top/@hist_myth/113936610952027121

DJ: All right now, for all you boppers out there in the big city, all you street people with an ear for the action, I've been asked to relay a request from the Grammercy Riffs. It's a special for the Warriors, that real live bunch from Coney, and I do mean the Warriors. Here's a hit with them in mind.

#Xenophon #Warriors

Been reading a collection of Xenophon’s shorter writings.

I’m rather amused by his list of suitable dog names.

Psychē — Soul
Thumos — Spirit
Porpax — Shield Handle
Sturax — Spear Spike
Lonchē — Lance
Lochos — Ambush
Hēba — Youth
Gētheus — Delight
Chara — Joy
Leusōn — Looker
Augō — Sunlight
Polus — March
Phroura — Lookout
Phulax — Guard
Taxis — Order
Xiphon — Sword
Phonax — Bloodlust
Phlegōn — Fiery

1/2

#Xenophon #Greek #History #Philosophy #Dogs #AncientGreek #Classical #Reading

Xenophon is Still Sad

An anonymous Tumblr account called Xenophon is Sad used to collect quotes where researchers disrespected or erased Xenophon the Athenian adventurer. Although Xenophon was a friend of Socrates and an extremely successful writer in many genres, his words leave many academics cold. The Tumblr has not been updated since 2021 but I found two more quotes which belong on it.

(In Xenophon’s Memorabilia the armourer) Pistias boasts of the quality of his cuirasses because they fit the body so closely and because they are so beautiful. Socrates asks how Pistias can well serve a client who has an ugly body. Pistias is confused but doesn’t see a problem. Xenophon himself, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, may not get the joke either, but the significant underlying assumption is that Pistias’ clients want him to make them look more beautiful.

Stewart Flory, 2011 https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2011/2011.02.23

Obviously the strongest analogue for GenAI is Xenophon; trained on Thucydides’ text with access to data on contemporary events, resulting in something that looks superficially history-ish but doesn’t in fact offer a coherent, consistent or trustworthy account of anything…

Neville Morley, 2024 https://thesphinxblog.com/2024/08/25/song-for-whoever/

I like George Cawkwell who saw Xenophon as using simple language to mask subtle ideas about what was and was not worth talking about. Xenophon is also interested in a wide variety of people and aspects of society, such as the economics that let a worker in Athens specialize in making soles for women’s boots while a worker in the mountains of Arcadia makes all kinds of footwear between farm work (not to mention the professional companion in the Memorabilia!)

I doubt anyone will read me for as long as they read Xenophon or Thucydides, but in the meantime shares, recommendations, and donations are appreciated!

(scheduled 28 August 2024)

#ancient #historiography #Xenophon #XenophonIsSad

#Xenophon, in his work "Anabasis," describes passing by the ruins of a large abandoned city during the retreat of the Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries in 401 BC. While Xenophon did not identify the ruins as #Nineveh, many historians have long believed that what he saw were indeed the remains of this ancient Assyrian capital.

#history https://youtu.be/iUOKgjMY8so?si=DZPLhl0OuqiBhHXL

Socrates: ‘Don't you think that self-indulgence debars people from wisdom, which is the greatest good, and drives them into the opposite state? Don't you think that, by dragging them off in pursuit of pleasure, it prevents them from studying and apprehending their real interests; and that it often confuses their perception of good and bad and makes them choose the worse instead of the better?'

Euthydemus: 'That does happen.'

Memoirs of Socrates
#socrates #xenophon