Description and Objectives

Half of this class will explore Xenophon’s Anabasis, in which 10,000 Greek mercenaries lose their leader and must escape from the Persian King against whom they fought in battle. The second half of the semester will focus on Xenophon’s perspectives of his teacher, Socrates.

Textbooks

Teacher will provide materials.

Course Requirements

We will work through episodes weekly, reviewing at the end of each week the salient themes and connecting them to one another as we construct a view of Xenophon, Socrates, and the Greek situation after the Peloponnesian War.

Successful Students

Students will be expected to re-read each night and are encouraged to translate first into Latin to preserve word order and imitate the rhetorical choices of Xenophon more closely.