Speusippus’ Letter to Philip Epistula Socratica 30 Hercher, ed. Bickermann and Sykutris 1928 A complete translation of this text is offered here, since frequent reference will be made to it in the following chapter. [1] Antipater, the bearer of this letter, is a Magnesian by birth, but he has been writing his Greek History at Athens for some time, and he… Read more
Chapter 5. Preaching and Patronage: The Intellectual and the King Do the encounters of fourth-century intellectuals with the field of political power require us to change the terms of our analysis from “scholastic politics” to politics simpliciter? Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, and numerous other Academics and Isocrateans had close dealings with powerful rulers in the Greek world. Yet our evidence for these episodes shows that it was inevitably… Read more
Conclusion: Isocrateanism in the Renaissance The controversies and contests of the Isocratean period left their mark, directly and indirectly, on later European culture. In the immediate, Hellenistic, wake of this period, we may well wonder whether the names “Isocrates,” “Plato,” and “Aristotle” still carried with them traces of their significance in the highly interested struggles—sometimes collaborative, sometimes polemical—of earlier fourth-century intellectuals. For how many Hellenistic Greek readers… Read more
Bibliography Aalders H. Wzn., G. J. D. 1978. “Die Meropes des Theopomp.” Historia 27:317–327. Abernathy, C. L. 2003. Akribeia: Isocrates and the Politics of Persuasion. MA thesis, University of Virginia. Acosta-Hughes, B., and S. A. Stephens. 2011. Callimachus in Context: From Plato to the Augustan Poets. Cambridge. Alexiou, E. 2007. “Rhetorik, Philosophie und Politik:… Read more
Acknowledgements The following study is to some extent the result of a long interest in ancient leadership and the emotions. Thus I owe a debt of gratitude to many more friends and mentors than I have space to mention here, including to Dick Gerberding, who converted me to Classics from a budding career in physics, and to Stephen Sandridge, who from my early adolescence showed a Cambyses-like… Read more
Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] The Narrative The Education of Cyrus or Cyropaedia (c. Read more
Chapter 1. Philanthrôpia and Philotîmia as Reciprocal Fondness I begin this study of Cyrus’ three superlative character traits with an early and seemingly simple passage in the Cyropaedia. Xenophon describes how the twelve-year-old Cyrus wins over his Medan contemporaries (hêlikotai), then their fathers, and then his grandfather, Astyages. Both the love of humanity (philanthrôpia) and the love of being honored (philotîmia) explain Cyrus’ behavior. As we proceed… Read more
Chapter 2. Curiosity, Aptitude, and Intense Awareness As we have seen, Cyrus’ philanthrôpia and philotîmia are intimately connected. How does Cyrus’ philomatheia (love of learning) fit in? Our investigation will entail a survey of Xenophon’s treatments of learning elsewhere, especially in the Oeconomicus, Memorabilia, and Anabasis, but we will begin with the Cyropaedia. Aside from Xenophon’s summary statement on Cyrus’ three superlative traits, philomatheia first appears in… Read more
Chapter 3. On the Fundamentality of Philanthrôpia, Philomatheia, and Philotîmia To determine the fundamentality of Cyrus’ superlative love of humanity, learning, and being honored, I mean to ask the following: to what extent are these three traits either the cause of other leadership traits or the foundation for them to be developed? Our starting point is Xenophon’s summary statement of Cyrus’ character where he says that Cyrus… Read more
Chapter 4. Six Problemswith Loving Humanity It is one thing to observe how a leader is portrayed with fundamental and derivative traits; it is still more important to determine how well these traits actually translate into effective leadership. In the next three chapters we consider the implications of Cyrus’ philanthrôpia, philomatheia, and philotîmia and their fundamentality for fourteen problems inherent in these characteristics. In doing so, we… Read more
