Xenophon's Anabasis

Offers a novel reading of one of the ancient world’s most famous and celebrated texts

• Provides interdisciplinary treatment drawing mainly but not only on historiographical and literary perspectives
• Considers the concept of 'literary apologia' and the strategies that support it in Anabasis
• Highlights the interconnectedness of Xenophon's writings
• Offers a reexamination of Xenophon's exile from Athens
• Underscores the author's apologetic Tendenz by highlighting the multiple apologetic strands in the text, most importantly those for Socrates and for Xenophon himself as the historical figure lying behind the character 'Xenophon' in the story

Xenophon’s Anabasis has engaged and entertained readers from antiquity to the present day. Through his telling of the story of Cyrus the Younger’s attempt on the Persian throne and its aftermath, Xenophon integrates many of the prominent themes and concerns in his writings, including leadership, panhellenism, Sparta and apologia.

Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, Brennan offers a fresh reading of the text which originates in a broad-ranging consideration of Xenophon’s aims in writing the book some thirty years after the event. The central argument brings the presence of Socrates into relief and demonstrates how the author, representing himself in the story as a model pupil of the philosopher, perpetuates Socratic teachings and values through ‘Xenophon’s’ leadership. Ultimately, Anabasis is revealed to be a ‘Socratic history’, a narrative rooted in a historical event or period and in which the author embeds a reflection of the philosopher and his values.