Everything about Cyropaedia totally explained
Cyropaedia (from Greek
Kúrou paideía "The education of Cyrus") is a "partly fictional biography" of
Cyrus the Great, written by the
Athenian gentleman-soldier
Xenophon.
Content
In substance, the
Cyropaedia is "a political romance, describing the education of the ideal ruler, trained to rule as a benevolent despot over his admiring and willing subjects."
Although it's "generally agreed" that Xenophon "did not intend
Cyropaedia as history,"
Legacy
The book was considered a classic in antiquity: the ancients believed that Xenophon composed it in response to the
Republic of
Plato, or vice versa, and Plato's
Laws seems to allude to the
Cyropaedia. Scipio Africanus is said to have carried a copy with him at all times.
The
Cyropaedia was "re-discovered" in the
Renaissance as a practical treatise on political virtue and social organization. In his preface to
The Faerie Queene,
Edmund Spenser remarked: "Xenophon's
Cyropaedia is to be preferred to Plato, for it demonstrates exquisite depth of monarchial judgement. Cyrus' formation of commonwealth is such as it should be, and government by example is much more profitable and gracious than government by rule."
Similar sentiments have been expressed in the modern-age. Many of the
Founding Fathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from the
Cyropaedia, and
Thomas Jefferson had two personal copies of the book, "which was a mandatory read for statesmen alongside
Machiavelli's
The Prince." In modern times, its reputation has declined; it has been described as "surely one of the most tedious books to have survived from the ancient world."
[Further Information]
Get more info on 'Cyropaedia'.
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