07-06-2013, 07:24 AM
Last summer, an online commentary on Xenophon's Cyropaedia was founded at http://www.cyropaedia.org/ If you have enough Greek to find something in a Greek text, I urge you to have a look. Even if you can just find chapters and verses in a translation, you might find it useful. There is a Greek text, a commentary in the mode of a discussion thread, some essays, and a bibliography.
People interested in the Roman army might think that Xenophon's novel is far from their own interests. They would be mistaken. Cyropaedia contains some of Xenophon's most explicit comments on how to be a good gentleman, and therefore on how to be a good soldier. It was childhood reading of any Roman with a serious education, including Cicero. It is therefore essential reading for anyone interested in war in the ancient world. And it is not a bad story either. The difficulty of untangling real traditions about Cyrus, memories of the Achaemenid empire in the reign of Artaxerxes II, retellings of the sort of things which Socrates said or should have said, discreet commentary on the Spartans, and Xenophon's own ideas only adds to the interest.
The project especially needs comments from people familiar with scholarship in languages other than English. But if you can read and ask questions, you have something to contribute. One of the audiences of this commentary is people who are interested in the classics but don't have many people local to talk to.
People interested in the Roman army might think that Xenophon's novel is far from their own interests. They would be mistaken. Cyropaedia contains some of Xenophon's most explicit comments on how to be a good gentleman, and therefore on how to be a good soldier. It was childhood reading of any Roman with a serious education, including Cicero. It is therefore essential reading for anyone interested in war in the ancient world. And it is not a bad story either. The difficulty of untangling real traditions about Cyrus, memories of the Achaemenid empire in the reign of Artaxerxes II, retellings of the sort of things which Socrates said or should have said, discreet commentary on the Spartans, and Xenophon's own ideas only adds to the interest.
The project especially needs comments from people familiar with scholarship in languages other than English. But if you can read and ask questions, you have something to contribute. One of the audiences of this commentary is people who are interested in the classics but don't have many people local to talk to.
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
