Oeconomicus

Oeconomicus
Author: Sarah B. Pomeroy
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 408
Release: 1994
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The Oeconomicus is unique in Greek literature in combining a discussion of the proper management of an oikos ('family', 'household', or 'estate') and didactic material on agriculture within a Socratic dialogue. It is one of the richest primary sources for the social, economic, and intellectual history of classical Athens. It contains valuable information and raises questions of perennial interest on marriage; the innate moral, physical, and mental qualities of men and women; the functioning of domestic and public economies; rural and urban life; Greek slavery; popular religion; the role of education, and many other topics. Despite the current widespread interest in the subjects discussed in the Oeconomicus, this text has been largely ignored, and only a few European dissertations - none in English - have been written on it. In this book Professor Pomeroy provides a new translation to complement the Oxford Classical Text, as well as a comprehensive Introduction and Commentary, making the book readily accessible to those both with and without a knowledge of Greek. She covers a wide range of subjects, including agriculture, philosophy, and social, military, intellectual, and economic history. It should be of special interest to scholars and students of classics, history, and philosophy, as well as women's studies.

The Cambridge Companion to Xenophon

The Cambridge Companion to Xenophon
Author: Michael A. Flower
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 545
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107050065

Introduces Xenophon's writings and their importance for Western culture, while explaining the main scholarly controversies.

Allegories of Farming from Greece and Rome

Allegories of Farming from Greece and Rome
Author: Leah Kronenberg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2009-05-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139488635

In this book Professor Kronenberg shows that Xenophon's Oeconomicus, Varro's De Re Rustica and Virgil's Georgics are not simply works on farming but belong to a tradition of philosophical satire which uses allegory and irony to question the meaning of morality. These works metaphorically connect farming and its related arts to political life; but instead of presenting farming in its traditional guise as a positive symbol, they use it to model the deficiencies of the active life, which in turn is juxtaposed to a preferred contemplative way of life. Although these three texts are not usually treated together, this book convincingly connects them with an original and provocative interpretation of their allegorical use of farming. It also fills an important gap in our understanding of the literary influences on the Georgics by showing that it is shaped not just by its poetic predecessors but by philosophical dialogue.

The Shorter Socratic Writings

The Shorter Socratic Writings
Author: Xenophon
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2006
Genre: Philosophers
ISBN: 9780801472985

This book presents translations of three dialogues Xenophon devoted to the life and thought of his teacher, Socrates. Each is accompanied by notes and an interpretative essay that will introduce new readers to Xenophon and foster further reflection in those familiar with his writing. "Apology of Socrates to the Jury" shows how Socrates conducted himself when he was tried on the capital charge of not believing in the city's gods and corrupting the young. Although Socrates did not secure his own acquittal, he profoundly impressed some listeners who then helped to shape the public perception of philosophy as a noble, if highly idiosyncratic, way of life. In "Oeconomicus," Xenophon relates the conversation Socrates had on the day he turned from the study of natural philosophy to that of moral and political matters. "Oeconomicus" is concerned most directly with the character and purpose of Socrates' political philosophy. Xenophon provides entertaining portraits of Socrates' circle of friends in the "Symposium." In the process, he conveys the source of every individual's pride in himself, thus defining for each a conception of human excellence or virtue. The dialogue concludes with Socrates' beautiful speech on love (eros) and its proper place in the good or happy life.

The Economist

The Economist
Author: Xenophon
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 90
Release: 2018-01-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 3732620816

Reproduction of the original.

The Oeconomicus

The Oeconomicus
Author: Xenophon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 236
Release: 1925
Genre: Agricultural geography
ISBN:

Xenophon’s Socratic Works

Xenophon’s Socratic Works
Author: David M. Johnson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2021-04-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000382257

Xenophon’s Socratic Works demonstrates that Xenophon, a student of Socrates, military man, and man of letters, is an indispensable source for our understanding of the life and philosophy of Socrates. David M. Johnson restores Xenophon’s most ambitious Socratic work, the Memorabilia (Socratic Recollections), to its original literary context, enabling readers to experience it as Xenophon’s original audience would have, rather than as a pale imitation of Platonic dialogue. He shows that the Memorabilia, together with Xenophon’s Apology, provides us with our best evidence for the trial of Socrates, and a comprehensive and convincing refutation of the historical charges against Socrates. Johnson’s account of Socrates’ moral psychology shows how Xenophon’s emphasis on control of the passions can be reconciled with the intellectualism normally attributed to Socrates. Chapters on Xenophon’s Symposium and Oeconomicus (Estate Manager) reveal how Xenophon used all the literary tools of Socratic dialogue to defend Socratic sexual morality (Symposium) and debate the merits and limits of conventional elite values (Oeconomicus). Throughout the book, Johnson argues that Xenophon’s portrait of Socrates is rich and coherent, and largely compatible with the better-known portrait of Socrates in Plato. Xenophon aimed not to provide a rival portrait of Socrates, Johnson shows, but to supplement and clarify what others had said about Socrates. Xenophon’s Socratic Works, thus, provides readers with a far firmer basis for reconstruction of the trial of Socrates, a key moment in the history of Athenian democracy, and for our understanding of Socrates’ seminal impact on Greek philosophy. This volume introduces Xenophon’s Socratic works to a wide range of readers, from undergraduate students encountering Socrates or ancient philosophy for the first time to scholars with interests in Socrates or ancient philosophy more broadly. It is also an important resource for readers interested in Socratic dialogue as a literary form, the trial of Socrates, Greek sexual morality (the central topic of Xenophon’s Symposium), or Greek social history (for which the Oeconomicus is a key text).

Conversations of Socrates

Conversations of Socrates
Author: Xenophon
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 661
Release: 2004-02-05
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0141915447

After the execution of Socrates in 399 BC, a number of his followers wrote dialogues featuring him as the protagonist and, in so doing, transformed the great philosopher into a legendary figure. Xenophon's portrait is the only one other than Plato's to survive, and while it offers a very personal interpretation of Socratic thought, it also reveals much about the man and his philosophical views. In 'Socrates' Defence' Xenophon defends his mentor against charges of arrogance made at his trial, while the 'Memoirs of Socrates' also starts with an impassioned plea for the rehabilitation of a wronged reputation. Along with 'The Estate-Manager', a practical economic treatise, and 'The Dinner-Party', a sparkling exploration of love, Xenophon's dialogues offer fascinating insights into the Socratic world and into the intellectual atmosphere and daily life of ancient Greece.

Socrates Founding Political Philosophy in Xenophon's "Economist", "Symposium", and "Apology"

Socrates Founding Political Philosophy in Xenophon's
Author: Thomas L. Pangle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2020-04-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 022664247X

The oeuvre of the Greek historian Xenophon, whose works stand with those of Plato as essential accounts of the teachings of Socrates, has seen a new surge of attention after decades in the shadows. And no one has done more in recent years to spearhead the revival than Thomas L. Pangle. Here, Pangle provides a sequel to his study of Xenophon’s longest account of Socrates, the Memorabilia, expanding the scope of inquiry through an incisive treatment of Xenophon’s shorter Socratic dialogues, the Economist, the Symposium, and the Apology of Socrates to the Jury. What Pangle reveals is that these three depictions of Socrates complement and, in fact, serve to complete the Memorabilia in meaningful ways. Unlike the Socrates of Plato, Xenophon’s Socrates is more complicated and human, an individual working out the problem of what it means to live well and virtuously. While the Memorabilia defends Socrates by stressing his likeness to conventionally respectable gentlemen, Xenophon’s remaining Socratic texts offer a more nuanced characterization by highlighting how Socrates also diverges from conventions of gentlemanliness in his virtues, behaviors, and peculiar views of quotidian life and governmental rule. One question threads through the three writings: Which way of life best promotes human existence, politics, and economics—that of the Socratic political philosopher with his philosophic virtues or that of the gentleman with his familial, civic, and moral virtues? In uncovering the nuances of Xenophon’s approach to the issue in the Economist, Symposium, and Apology, Pangle’s book cements the significance of these writings for the field and their value for shaping a fuller conception of just who Socrates was and what he taught.