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3. On the Fundamentality of Philanthrôpia, Philomatheia, and Philotîmia

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

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4. Six Problems with Loving Humanity

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

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5. Five Problems with Loving to Learn

Chapter 5. Five Problems with Loving to Learn Prima facie the love of learning should be the least problematic of any leadership trait. Obviously all leaders need to know things and pay attention to things in order to help their followers, but this is not all that a love of learning in the context of leadership entails. A love of learning can be distracting: fascinating subjects unrelated… Read more

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6. Three Problems with Wanting To Be Honored

Chapter 6. Three Problems with Wanting To Be Honored The love of being honored is the leadership trait in the ancient Greek world that most resembles high-voltage electricity. As we have seen (pp. 76–77), it is a primary source of Cyrus’ energy and enthusiasm for leadership, but it may also interfere with the wellbeing of the followers. There is no shortage of examples of the tragic consequences of… Read more

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7. Royal Usurpations in Iranian Literary Traditions II: The Evidence of the Šāhnāme

Chapter 7. Royal Usurpations in Iranian Literary Traditions II: The Evidence of the Šāhnāme Up to this point, we have found strong evidence for the composition of the Sasanian inscriptions within the framework of an oral tradition in (1) the appearance of a high formulaic density in the narrative of Kerdīr’s inscriptions, together with the presence of formulaic parallels in two epigraphic corpora that are more than… Read more

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8. Preliminary Conclusions

Chapter 8. Preliminary Conclusions In this study we have argued that the murder of King Bardiya and his helper Gaumāta—both of whom we consider to be historical personalities—gave rise to two distinct narratives, each targeting a specific audience. As a means to cover up the murder of Bardiya and Gaumāta, Darius’ royal chancellery cast one account—the one preserved in the Bisotun inscription, as well as in “diplomatic”… Read more

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Appendix I. Formulaic Analysis of Kerdīr’s Inscriptions

Appendix I. Formulaic Analysis of Kerdīr’s Inscriptions In the present appendix, formulae (or repetitions) that have occurred at least twice, word for word, are underlined; in contrast, formulae that are variations from other encountered word-clusters, and thus represent “varying formulae,” are presented in bold. The present texts merely serve the purposes of formulaic analysis and are not intended to be a critical reproduction of Kerdīr’s inscriptions. … Read more

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Bibliography

Bibliography Sources Classical Authors Ahbel-Rappe, Sara. 2010. Damascius’ Problems and Solutions Concerning First Principles. Oxford. Ambaglio, Delfino. 1980. L’opera storiografica di Ellanico di Lesbo: Introduzione, tra-duzione delle testimonianze e dei frammenti, commento storico. Ricerche di Storiografia Antica 2. Pisa. Arnaud-Lindet, Marie-Pierre. 1990. Orose: Histoires (Contre les Païens), vol. 1: Livres I–III. Collection des universités de France. Read more