politburo diktat 2.0

This chapter marks Xenophon’s entrance into a leading role in the story. Heretofore, he was just a hanger-on, a camp follower.

The night after the generals were captured and officers killed by the Persians, the Greeks were very distressed, as they realized how far from home they were, how many enemies were all around, etc. Most of them went went to bed hungry, and in an important detail, many of them did not even stack their weapons in the central storage area, but just flopped down wherever they happened to be.

Like many others, Xenophon could not sleep, worried that he would never see his country and family again.

Here the narrative digresses, and (always referring to himself in the third person) Xenophon describes how his friend Proxenus approached him to join the expedition. Xenophon sought the advice of Socrates, the famous Athenian philosopher, who advised him to seek the advice of the oracle at Delphi (Apollo). At the time, Cyrus was seen as a friend of Athens’ rival Sparta, and Socrates was concerned how it would look to the Athenians if Xenophon threw in with Cyrus. So he instructed to consult the god at Delphi. Xenophon interpreted this his own way, and did not (as Socrates has recommended) ask the oracle if his participation was a good idea, but asked which gods he should sacrifice to, to ensure his success. When confronted with this maneuver, Socrates was annoyed, but told Xenophon to go ahead, and perform the sacrifices as instructed by Apollo.

He set out and caught up with Cyrus and Proxenus in Sardis, just as they were setting out. Xenophon then takes pains to explain that he knew nothing of the real goals of the expedition when it started:

Reportedly the campaign was against the Pisidians. It was in this way, then, that Xenophon came to go on the expedition, quite deceived about its purpose–not, however, by Proxenus, for he did not know that the attack was directed against the King, nor did anyone else among the Greeks with the exception of Clearchus; but by the time they reached Cilicia, it seemed clear to everybody that the expedition was really against the King. Then, although the Greeks were fearful of the journey and unwilling to go on, most of them did, nevertheless, out of shame before one another and before Cyrus, continue the march. And Xenophon was one of this number.

But Xenophon got a little sleep, and a dream came to him; he dreamt that his father’s house was struck by lightning, setting everything ablaze. He woke up in a fright, but thought that the dream could be interpreted two ways, either Zeus was bringing light to him, or Zeus the King was hemming him in on all sides. In either case, Xenophon realized that the dispirited Greeks were taking no steps to protect themselves from the King’s onslaught, sure to come in the morning. And their torture and eventual death would follow.

He called together Proxenus’ captains and dramatically pointed this out. “After all, the King cut off the head and hand of his own brother, and them impaled his dead body! What is he likely to do to us, who have no protector, and who invaded his country in order to take away his kingship and reduce him to slavery or death?” He continues that the Greeks behaved honorably during the truce, never plundering the readily available provisions that were around them. And now, that the Persians have broken the truce, they (the Greeks) are no longer bound by it. All the goods around them are now available to be taken by the winner of their struggle. And the Greeks can count on the support of the gods, and are physically and psychologically stronger than the barbarians.

He concluded with an exhortation to Proxenus’ captains to take the lead and show themselves to be the best of the Greek officers.

Translation comment:

ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ βροντῆς γενομένης σκηπτὸς πεσεῖν εἰς τὴν πατρῴαν οἰκίαν, or “It seemed to him that a lightning bolt, coming out of a thundercp, struck his father’s house.”

The word ἔδοξεν, “it seemed,” is one of the most common Greek verbs. But overly literal translation, to English speakers, is not the best. In the context of this being a dream, a better translation would be “He dreamt that …”