Vitae philosophorum

Diogenes Laertius

Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.

Some say that he did not even shed tears, but exclaimed, I knew my son was mortal. Aristotle mentions that there were innumerable authors of epitaphs and eulogies upon Gryllus, who wrote, in part at least, to gratify his father. Hermippus too, in his Life of Theophrastus, affirms that even Isocrates wrote an encomium on Gryllus. Timon, however, jeers at Xenophon in the lines[*](Fr. 26 D.):

A feeble pair or triad of works, or even a greater number, such as would come from Xenophon or the might of Aeschines, that not unpersuasive writer.

Such was his life. He flourished in the fourth year of the 94th Olympiad,[*](401-400 b.c.) and he took part in the expedition of Cyrus in the archonship of Xenaenetus in the year before the death of Socrates.

He died, according to Ctesiclides[*](Ctesiclides is known to us from Athenaeus, who cites his Chronology, vi. 272 c, x. 445 d. it may seem rash to intrude him here; but cf. iv. 5, where a similar error is certain.) of Athens in his list of archons and Olympic victors, in the first year of the 105th Olympiad, in the archonship of Callidemides,[*](360-359 b.c.) the year in which Philip, the son of Amyntas, came to the throne of Macedon. He died at Corinth, as is stated by Demetrius of Magnesia, obviously at an advanced age. He was a worthy man in general, particularly fond of horses and hunting, an able tactician as is clear from his writings,

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pious, fond of sacrificing, and an expert in augury from the victims; and he made Socrates his exact model.

He wrote some forty books in all, though the division into books is not always the same, namely:

  • The Anabasis, with a preface to each separate book but not one to the whole work.
  • Cyropaedia.
  • Hellenica.
  • Memorabilia.
  • Symposium.
  • Oeconomicus.
  • On Horsemanship.
  • On Hunting.
  • On the Duty of a Cavalry General.
  • A Defence of Socrates.
  • On Revenues.
  • Hieron or Of Tyranny.
  • Agesilaus.
  • The Constitutions of Athens and Sparta.
    • Demetrius of Magnesia denies that the last of these works is by Xenophon. There is a tradition that he made Thucydides famous by publishing his history, which was unknown, and which he might have appropriated to his own use. By the sweetness of his narrative he earned the name of the Attic Muse. Hence he and Plato were jealous of each other, as will be stated in the chapter on Plato.

    There is an epigram of mine on him also[*](Anth. Pal. vii. 97.):

      Up the steep path to fame toiled Xenophon
    1. In that long march of glorious memories;
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    2. In deeds of Greece, how bright his lesson shone!
    3. How fair was wisdom seen in Socrates![*](Or in plain prose: Not only for Cyrus’s sake did Xenophon go up to Persia, but because he sought the path which leads to the abode of Zeus. For, having shown that the great deeds of Greece are the outcome of his training, he recalled what a beautiful thing was the wisdom of Socrates.)
    There is another on the circumstances of his death[*](Anth. Pal. vii. 98.):
    Albeit the countrymen of Cranaus and Cecrops condemned thee, Xenophon, to exile on account of thy friendship for Cyrus, yet hospitable Corinth welcomed thee, so well content with the delights of that city wast thou, and there didst resolve to take up thy rest.

    In other authorities I find the statement that he flourished, along with the other Socratics, in the 89th Olympiad,[*](This would be 424-420 b.c., a date obviously absurd as the floruit for either Xenophon or Plato.) and Istrus affirms that he was banished by a decree of Eubulus and recalled by a decree of the same man.

    There have been seven Xenophons: the first our subject himself; the second an Athenian, brother of Pythostratus, who wrote the Theseid, and himself the author, amongst other works, of a biography of Epaminondas and Pelopidas; the third a physician of Cos; the fourth the author of a history of Hannibal; the fifth an authority on legendary marvels; the sixth a sculptor, of Paros; the seventh a poet of the Old Comedy.