Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Xenophon.Xenophon, an aristocratic Athenian, was one of the most celebrated writers of the ancient world. Born in around 430 BC, he was a friend and pupil of the great philosopher Socrates. In his twenties he took part in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Persian king Artaxerxes II, and played a key role in guiding the surviving Greek troops - known as the Ten Thousand - back to safety. It was a dangerous journey from deep inside hostile territory, and lasted more than a year. Xenophon's gripping account of this military campaign, the Anabasis, is one of the masterpieces of Greek literature.Xenophon went on to write a history of the Peloponnesian War and its aftermath. But he was not just a historian, and his other works include books about household management, hunting and his mentor Socrates. His advice on the education and behaviour of princes had a significant influence in Renaissance Italy, and his treatise on horsemanship is still widely read today.With:Paul CartledgeA.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge UniversityEdith HallProfessor of Classics and Drama at Royal Holloway, University of LondonSimon GoldhillProfessor in Greek Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge and Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at King's College.Producer: Thomas Morris.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
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| 0:49.2 | Hello in 401 b.C. and I'm your Greek mercenaries found themselves stranded more than a thousand miles from home, |
| 0:55.4 | deep in hostile territory and with their generals dead. |
| 0:58.4 | This band of soldiers has become known as the 10,000 and a two-year journey to safety is one of the most celebrated tales of ancient |
| 1:04.8 | history. Among the 10,000 was an Athenian called Xenophon who later wrote a book about his experiences. |
| 1:10.5 | His lively account of this disastrous military campaign, the Anabasist, was soon |
| 1:14.8 | acknowledged as a masterpiece. Today, Xenophon is remembered for an output which included not |
| 1:19.0 | only a personal memoir, but history, politics and even practical subject and his book on horsemanship |
| 1:24.7 | is still in print two and a half thousand years after it was written. With me to |
| 1:28.6 | discuss the life and work of Xenophonar Paul Cartilage, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University. |
| 1:35.4 | Edith Hall, Professor of Classics and English at Royal Holloway University of London, and Simon |
| 1:39.9 | Goldhill, Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Kings College. |
| 1:45.0 | Paul Cartley, Senefan was born about 4.30 BC. |
| 1:48.6 | Could you give us a sketch of what the situation was in Greece at that time? he's born at the beginning of what we typically called the Peloponnesian War. |
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