In Memorabilia, or Memoirs of Socrates, and in Oeconomicus, a dialogue about household management, we see the philosopher through Xenophon’s eyes. Here, and in the accompanying Symposium, we also obtain insight on life in Athens. The volume concludes with Xenophon’s Apology, an interesting complement to Plato’s account of Socrates’s defense at his trial.
Ostensibly an account of a dinner party in the summer of 421 BCE, Xenophon’s Symposium is a vibrant picture of an Athenian evening of quiet entertainment and conversation. Among the guests Socrates is the central figure, and—as in Plato’s Symposium—love is the main subject of debate. But the style here is more relaxed and less artful than in Plato’s philosophical dialogue, yielding an engaging portrait of Socrates and of Athenian social life.
The Loeb Classical Library® edition of Xenophon is comprised of seven volumes:
Hellenica (in two volumes), a history of Greek affairs from 411 to 362, begins as a continuation of Thucydides’s account.
Xenophon’s Anabasis is a true story of remarkable adventures.
Volume IV of the Loeb Xenophon edition collects four works on Socrates.
The Cyropaedia (in two volumes), a historical romance on the education of Cyrus (the Elder), reflects Xenophon’s ideas about rulers and government.
The last of the seven volumes collects Hiero, a dialogue on government; Agesilaus, in praise of that king; Constitution of Lacedaemon (on the Spartan system); Ways and Means (on the finances of Athens); Manual for a Cavalry Commander; a good manual of Horsemanship; and a lively Hunting with Hounds. The Constitution of the Athenians, though clearly not by Xenophon, is an interesting document on politics at Athens.
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