Xenophon's historical perspectives.

Abstract

The Hellenica of Xenophon has consistently been impugned in this century as a source for the historical knowledge of the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC. The chief grounds for the negative evaluation of Xenophon's historical work is his supposed pro-Spartan bias and his inability to penetrate to the true well-springs of events. Much of the scholarly attention invariably centers on the deficiencies of the Hellenica, or those moments which are distorted or omitted. This dissertation, however, is a positive historiographic treatment; it aims at examining what is in the text of Xenophon's history, not what has been left out. The primary focus of the thesis is on large organizing structures or perspectives found within the narrative. The first chapter concerns the methodological problems associated with studying a work composed at different periods in Xenophon's life. In chapter two I show how the Ten Thous and work as a model for panhellenic action, and demonstrate in particular how Xenophon reveals Agesilaus' campaign in Asia to be a disappointment. The third chapter considers the role of piety in the Hellenica; here I discuss how the impiety of the Spartans is used to explain their fall. In chapter four I discuss the speeches and digressions of Book 6 of the Hellenica, and show how they make the battle of Leuctra representative of Sparta's failure in general. Throughout the work comparative references are drawn from Herodotus, Thucydides, Isocrates, and Xenophon's own, non-historical writing. In the course of tracing the effect of these large-scale themes, the following conclusions are reached: (1) Xenophon is capable of, and excercises, sustained criticism of Spartan foreign policy, and (2) the Hellenica betrays signs of careful and meaningful ordering.