Scillus and After: The Historian’s Retreat from Xenophon to Toynbee
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Luke Pitcher
Abstract
In this chapter I analyse the way in which Scillus comes to be characterised as the locale in which Xenophon wrote his own histories. Such an idea is unmentioned in the Anabasis. Already in Diogenes Laertius and Cassius Dio, however, we can see it as well entrenched. I argue that later writers are feeling their way towards a standard model for how a historian’s life should unfold. Scillus becomes important as a place of tranquillity in exile, where the historian has the opportunity to put his life-experience to good use. It is telling that, in creating this picture, Xenophon starts to blur into that other exiled Athenian historian, Thucydides. I conclude by demonstrating the enduring grip of this idea, by showing how Arnold Toynbee, in his A Study of History, artfully assimilates the exiles of the two men to each other.
Abstract
In this chapter I analyse the way in which Scillus comes to be characterised as the locale in which Xenophon wrote his own histories. Such an idea is unmentioned in the Anabasis. Already in Diogenes Laertius and Cassius Dio, however, we can see it as well entrenched. I argue that later writers are feeling their way towards a standard model for how a historian’s life should unfold. Scillus becomes important as a place of tranquillity in exile, where the historian has the opportunity to put his life-experience to good use. It is telling that, in creating this picture, Xenophon starts to blur into that other exiled Athenian historian, Thucydides. I conclude by demonstrating the enduring grip of this idea, by showing how Arnold Toynbee, in his A Study of History, artfully assimilates the exiles of the two men to each other.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Abbreviations XIII
- List of Figures XV
- Introduction 1
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Part I: New Readings of Xenophon’s Anabasis
- Starting and Restarting the Anabasis 13
- Killing the King: Cyrus’ Attack on his Brother in Anabasis, and its Reception in Cyropaedia 43
- Xenophon’s Moral Luck: Crisis and Leadership Opportunity in Anabasis 3 63
- The Reception and Interpretation of Xenophon’s Discussion with Socrates in the Anabasis (3.1.4–8) 85
- From the Tigris to the Sea: The Problematic Geography of Anabasis Book 4 105
- A Universalist Moral Compass: Depicting Greeks and Foreigners in Anabasis 5 and 6 131
- Xenophon’s Woes in Thrace: The Very Model of a Modern Mercenary Commander? 157
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Part II: Themes in Xenophon’s Anabasis
- Friendship (φιλία) in Xenophon’s Anabasis 183
- Beyond Xenophon: Other Speakers in Xenophon’s Anabasis 205
- Rumour and Misrepresentation in Xenophon’s Anabasis 233
- Emotions and Narrative in Xenophon’s Anabasis: Leaders Handling Negative Emotions 257
- The Human Body in Xenophon’s Anabasis 287
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Part III: The Reception of Xenophon’s Anabasis from Antiquity to Modern Times
- Anabasis as Monument: Arrian, Xenophontic Space, and Literary Authority 311
- Xenophon and Arrian: Aspects of Leadership in their Anabases 329
- The Anabases of Chariton’s Callirhoe and Heliodorus’ Charicleia 345
- The Siren’s Song: Xenophon’s Anabasis in Byzantium 367
- The Reception of Xenophon’s Anabasis in the 15th and 16th Centuries 395
- The Anabasis Illustrated 423
- Voltaire: Questions on the Anabasis 455
- Scillus and After: The Historian’s Retreat from Xenophon to Toynbee 477
- The Anabasis in Paramount’s Promotion of The Warriors (1979): From the Gang Streets to The New York Times 499
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Envoi
- Teaching the Anabasis in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges and Prospects 523
- List of Contributors 531
- General Index 535
- Index of Key Passages 547
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Abbreviations XIII
- List of Figures XV
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: New Readings of Xenophon’s Anabasis
- Starting and Restarting the Anabasis 13
- Killing the King: Cyrus’ Attack on his Brother in Anabasis, and its Reception in Cyropaedia 43
- Xenophon’s Moral Luck: Crisis and Leadership Opportunity in Anabasis 3 63
- The Reception and Interpretation of Xenophon’s Discussion with Socrates in the Anabasis (3.1.4–8) 85
- From the Tigris to the Sea: The Problematic Geography of Anabasis Book 4 105
- A Universalist Moral Compass: Depicting Greeks and Foreigners in Anabasis 5 and 6 131
- Xenophon’s Woes in Thrace: The Very Model of a Modern Mercenary Commander? 157
-
Part II: Themes in Xenophon’s Anabasis
- Friendship (φιλία) in Xenophon’s Anabasis 183
- Beyond Xenophon: Other Speakers in Xenophon’s Anabasis 205
- Rumour and Misrepresentation in Xenophon’s Anabasis 233
- Emotions and Narrative in Xenophon’s Anabasis: Leaders Handling Negative Emotions 257
- The Human Body in Xenophon’s Anabasis 287
-
Part III: The Reception of Xenophon’s Anabasis from Antiquity to Modern Times
- Anabasis as Monument: Arrian, Xenophontic Space, and Literary Authority 311
- Xenophon and Arrian: Aspects of Leadership in their Anabases 329
- The Anabases of Chariton’s Callirhoe and Heliodorus’ Charicleia 345
- The Siren’s Song: Xenophon’s Anabasis in Byzantium 367
- The Reception of Xenophon’s Anabasis in the 15th and 16th Centuries 395
- The Anabasis Illustrated 423
- Voltaire: Questions on the Anabasis 455
- Scillus and After: The Historian’s Retreat from Xenophon to Toynbee 477
- The Anabasis in Paramount’s Promotion of The Warriors (1979): From the Gang Streets to The New York Times 499
-
Envoi
- Teaching the Anabasis in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges and Prospects 523
- List of Contributors 531
- General Index 535
- Index of Key Passages 547
