Dear Paul:
What specific works of Xenophon are you planning on reading? Will this
be your first encounter with Xenophon? Coincidentally, I have recently
been thinking about re-reading the Education of Cyrus, it having been
several years since I last read it. If you were planning on (or interested
in) reading the Education, perhaps we could undertake a slow reading or some
similar reading/discussion of that work on this list. It has been pretty
dead here for years!
While on the topic of the Education/Cyropaedia - and in specific
response to your request for recommended sources - I would recommend
'Xenophon's Prince: Republic and Empire in the Cyropaedia,' by Christopher
Nadon (University of California Press - 2001). This is a fine commentary to
the 'Cyropaedia' itself, however, it is pretty obvious that much of this
author's own journey and interpretation through the Cyropaedia is influenced
by the significance he places on the presence of Xenophon's Cyrus in
Machiavelli (NOTE: This is a theme that had always interested me, even
before I came across the Nadon book. In fact, my own personal introduction
to Xenophon's Cyrus was prompted by first pondering him in Machiavelli's
Prince). Thus, a re-reading of Machiavelli's Prince (or at least
familiarity with the Prince) is probably a good precursor to reading the
Cyropaedia and Christopher Nadon's book.
Regarding other works of Xenophon with which I am familiar, there is the
Memorabilia and other Socratic writings. Leo Strauss has offered some
thoughtful commentaries on these works. Speaking of Strauss and Xenophon,
there is also Strauss's 'On Tyranny,' which I believe dates from the mid
1940s and includes an interpretation and commentary on Xenophon's Hiero.
I have also previously read the Anabasis and the Hellenica, however,
this was many years ago and those two works did not intrigue me nearly as
much as the Cyropaedia and the Memorabilia.
Finally, and by way of a disclaimer, please be aware that I am neither a
professor nor a college student (my college and post-graduate years having
concluded back in the late 1980s). I am merely an amatuer partisan of
reading and pondering certain thinkers within the bounds of my leisure time!
Regards,
Travis Thompson
P.S. - I have previously read two translations of the Xenophon's
Education of Cyrus. One translation was put out by Penguin Classics (or
some similar outfit). The other translation is by a Wayne Ambler (2001,
Cornell University Press). Between the two I would pick the Ambler
translation.

_____

From: xenophon@yahoogroups.com [mailto:xenophon@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of undarrenworld
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 6:49 AM
To: xenophon@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [xenophon] starting to read xenophon



Dear colleagues,
Im starting to read Xenophon, what primary and secondary sources yan
you recommend please for me to study about him?

This slowread method is interresting, thanks for help.
http://www.freelanc <http://www.freelance-academy.org/slowread.htm>
e-academy.org/slowread.htm

Im working on Leo Strauss thought and I also read Xenophon, so any
little help is welcome.

All the ebst coleagues and thanks in advance for (little)help.

Paul Daley, student






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