PLUTARCH's READING of XENOPHON* Philip Stadter Among the Great Classical Authors, Xenophon Was Especial

chapter one ‘STAYING UP LATE’: PLUTARCH’S READING OF XENOPHON* Philip Stadter Among the great classical authors, Xenophon was especially similar to Plutarch. Both men were philosophers, historians, and essayists, civically involved, but outside active government. Xenophon’s exile cut him of from Athenian political life, as Plutarch’s provincial Greek background did from a Roman career. Both made friends with those in power and both wrote at length about foreign cultures, Xenophon on Sparta and Persia, Plutarch on Rome. Both wrote history with an essentially didactic and ethical pur- pose, and found in historical exempla a pleasing device to reach a wider non-philosophical audience. The manner in which Plutarch appropriated Xenophon’s works as he was writing his own is a particularly signi cant example of how imperial Greek authors related to their classical past. Close study of his citations of or allusions to Xenophon reveals how the classical Athenian’s works were received and understood under the Flavians and Trajan. At the same time we can learn how Plutarch and his cultured readers, both Roman and Greek, rede ned their heritage in asserting their own identity and their new position in a Greco-Roman empire. Xenophon was much admired in the second-century Greek revival.1 Arrian took his works as the models for many of his own, and became known as the new Xenophon, using Xenophon as his own name in some of his works. In the Atticist revival Xenophon was an important stylistic canon, although never as highly regarded as Demosthenes or Plato. However, Dio Chrysostom presents his works as those most useful for the politician: ‘I think he alone of the ancients can satisfy all the requirements of a πολιτικὸς ἀνήρ’ (18.14). His works, Dio asserts, ofer models for every sort of speech, whether military or political, and his persuasive simplicity seems almost * I am grateful for the comments of Roberto Nicolai, Robin Water eld, and Guido Sche- pens on the oral version of this paper, and for the stimulating atmosphere of the Liverpool conference. 1 See Münscher 1920, Tuplin 1993: 22–29, 189–192, and Swain 1996, index s.v. Xenophon. 44 philip stadter enchantment (γοητεία). The treatise On plain speech (περὶ ἀφελοῦς λόγου) attributed to Aelius Aristides considers Xenophon the paragon of the plain style, and cites him over 130 times, referring to six works.2 There is no doubt that Plutarch also appreciated Xenophon’s style, for he includes him among those who write history with force and charm (δύναµις καὶ χάρις) along with Herodotus and Homer and celebrates the joy of reading their accounts. He likes to quote particularly striking phrases, such as that describing Ephesus as ‘war’s workshop’ (πολέµου ἐργαστήριον), and will occasionally refer to the stylistic efectiveness of Xenophon’s presentation.3 Plutarch’s stylistic debt to Xenophon is a topic better suited for another occasion. However, one can observe that while Plutarch did not believe in the somewhat mindless imitation urged in On plain speech,4 he sought and achieved charm and delight in narrative reminiscent of Xenophon. Although his sentences are generally longer and contain more subordinate clauses,5 his artistry and delight in anecdotes, character portrayal, vivid narrative, and unusual word choice recall Xenophon’s. Plutarch’s numerous quotations and allusions indicate his thorough familiarity with Xenophon’s works. He cites or refers to Xenophon by name on some fty occasions, thirty-one of which are in the Moral Essays, four- teen in the Parallel Lives (including nine in the Agesilaus and the accom- panying syncrisis), and ve in Artaxerxes. Within the Moral Essays, Table Talk employs Xenophon most extensively, with eight named references. The range of titles referred to includes all the major works (Hellenica, Anaba- sis, Cyropaedia, and Memorabilia) and many of the shorter ones (Agesilaus, Symposium, Oeconomicus, Cynegeticus, and Spartan Constitution). Memo- rable quotes from Xenophon, drawn from four diferent works, ornament the rst few sentences of no fewer than ve of Plutarch’s Moral Essays, 2 That is, Anabasis, Memorabilia, Cyropaedia, Agesilaus, Symposium, and Cynegeticus. The same passages may be cited repeatedly for diferent purposes. Most of the examples are drawn from the beginnings of works—Ages. 1, Symp. 1, 2, Cyr. 1.1, Mem. 1.1, 1.2, An. 1.1, 1.2— although occasionally other passages are referred to. The work never refers to the Hellenica or to other minor works, except, surprisingly, the Cynegeticus, which is cited four times, three from the rst chapter. Rutherford 1998: 124–153, ofers a translation of Schmid’s 1926 Teubner text. He discusses Xenophon as a canon for the plain style (64–79). 3 Herodotus and Homer: Non posse suaviter 1093B. War’s workshop: Marc. 21.3, from Hell. 3.4.17. Stylistic efectiveness: Artax. 8.1, referring to An. 1.8. 4 De prof. in virt. 79D criticizes those interested only in ‘Attic purity’ (τὸ καθαρόν τε καὶ ᾽Αττικὸν) in Plato and Xenophon. 5 Yaginuma 1992, 4728, notes that in samples of either author, Plutarch’s sentences average 22 words, Xenophon’s 15. Occasional sentences in Plutarch can be very long, 90 words or more..

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