[Xenophon] how's the reading going?

[Tim Albright (albrigt)]

My Fellow Xenophonistas,

 

Couple of quick thoughts.  I agree with other comments that Xen. is a
little harder to warm up to than, say, Thucydides.  I will have to give
it a another read through before our call next week.  That said, I found
the trial/defense of the Athenian Generals (end of Book 1) was as
gripping as other histories and Alcibiades always spices things up (when
the going gets tough, he sails to his own castle in the Chersonese for
crying out loud!).  I also think Xen. Slips in a little moral
editorializing the same way other historians do.  For example,
1.6.12-18, where Kallikratidas declares that "not one of the Hellenes
would be enslaved if he had anything to do with it..".  Of course, he
then sells the "Athenians who made up the garrison and all the prisoners
who were slaves."

 

Lysander and the beginning of Book 2 are also pretty gripping in my
opinion.  I look forward to the discussions.  One other note: I learned
a trick from Mark Casey (I think) when we were reading Herodotus.   If
you're really interested in tracking a character like Alcibiades or
Agesilaos, go to the VERY detailed Index.  We started this with Croesus,
King of Lydia, who was so protean in the Histories.  The Index is so
detailed that you can just about read the entries as a story and follow
the character development.  For that matter, read the entries under
alliances/allies if you want to see what a wicked web they wove.  This
addition also has the awesome, short bios in Appendix M, but I still
recommend you peruse the Index.  It really helped me/us understand
Croesus's complexities and I see the same thing unfolding here.  Thank
goodness for the Bob Strassler and the Landmarks.  Really, if there were
a Pulitzer for presenting difficult texts to general audiences, he and
the Landmark team would win it.

 

I have not had time to look at the other, fragmentary histories in
Appendices O and P.  Anybody else?

 

Cheers and happy reading!

 

Tim

 

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