Xenophon's Political Realism: The Opening of the Cyropaedia

Abstract

Readers of The Education of Cyrus have long pondered its basic message. In this essay, I argue for the centrality of the first chapter of the work to our understanding of the work as a whole. There, Xenophon indicates that he was led to the study of Cyrus by idealistic hopes engendered by the awe he felt at Cyrus’s accomplishments. Once he had come to understand certain key aspects of Cyrus’s rule, Xenophon ceased to be gripped by those hopes. In this way, the introductory chapter of the Cyropaedia anticipates and encapsulates key teachings of the work as a whole, both about the true character of Cyrus’s excellence at ruling and about Xenophon’s interest in Cyrus. The chapter provides substantial evidence for a realist reading of the Cyropaedia as a corrective to idealistic hopes, particularly the hope that knowledge, if joined with political power, could solve all the problems of political life.