5/24/2023 0 Comments Xenophon conversations of socratesThe generals and common soldiers with whom Xenophon had to deal were not philosophic. How, then, was Xenophon a follower of Socrates? Socrates enjoyed leisurely discussions with philosophic or potentially philosophic men. Apparently against the advice of Socrates, Xenophon became a mercenary, joining a Persian army led by Cyrus the Younger, an experience he would later memorialize in the Anabasis. Yet, unlike Plato, who stayed in Athens and founded a philosophical academy, Xenophon chose a more active life, political and military. It is primarily from the writings of Xenophon and Plato that we learn of the speeches and deeds of Socrates. And as he did not know, he said, ‘Follow me, then, and learn.’ And from this time forth, Xenophon became a follower of Socrates.”īorn around 430 BCE and dying around 354 BCE, Xenophon did indeed become a “follower” of Socrates. And when he had answered him, he asked him again where men were made good and virtuous. “They say that Socrates met him in a narrow lane, and put his stick across it and prevented him from passing by, asking him where all kinds of necessary things were sold. In his Lives of Eminent Philosophers, the Greek biographer Diogenes Laertius reports how Xenophon came to be associated with Socrates.
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