Ebook: Xenophon's Mirror of Princes: Reading the Reflections

Xenophon is perhaps best known as the leader of the 10,000 on the Anabasis, the famous march of the Greek army thru hostile territory to the Black Sea. However, he was also a prolific author, & in this study Vivienne J. Gray focuses upon the ways in which his literary practices shape images of leadership in his narrative works. She surveys the views on leadership that Xenophon credits to Socrates, & illustrates in detail his construction of leadership models thru the close examination of selected narratives in works such as Anabasis & Cyropaedia. The techniques include the creation of patterned narratives, as well as allusions to the writings of Homer & Herodotus. Gray takes issue with the school of thought that finds hidden subversion beneath Xenophon's surface praise of leaders.
Abbreviations
Introduction
Mirror of princes or flaws in the glass? general remarks
Explicit authorial evaluations in historical writing
Xenophon's adaptations of his literary predecessors: Homer, Herodotus & others
Xenophon's patterned narratives of leadership
Readings of Cyropaedia
The dynamics of friendship
Xenophon's Socratic & other ironies
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index Lecorum
Index Nominum
Topic Index