XENOPHON was a disciple of Socrates, on intimate terms with his master, and in his “Memorabilia” we have reports of the conversations of the great philosopher which are less embellished, perhaps, than the similar reports of Plato. This is by no means certain, however, as it was a part of the literary art of the Athens of the time to use the known opinions of a master to the best possible advantage, without any special regard to his own forms of expression. We see the same habit illustrated in the freedom with which the classical historians from Thucydides to Tacitus constructed previously unreported orations to suit the characters and express the views of their statesmen and soldiers, with whom they were dealing.

  Xenophon, who was born at Athens about 430 B.C., was a historian and essayist of distinguished merit. His “Anabasis” and “Cyropædia” are always likely to remain favorite text-books because of their pure and simple style, though the latter is evidently a romance in the mode of Sir Thomas More’s “Utopia” rather than an authentic account of Persian methods in education. Xenophon died about 350 B.C. Among his minor works are “Symposium,” “Hiero,” and “Œconomics.”