Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Moral Sayings of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia

What can we learn by reflecting on Xenophon’s
Cyropaedia, the life of King Cyrus the Great of Persia?
We have already reviewed this biography, which
included many sayings.
We will reflect on additional moral maxims, qualities
of an enlightened monarch, advice for generals, and
a look at divine and romantic love.

Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments. Let us learn and reflect together!
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video. Feel free to follow along in the
PowerPoint script we uploaded to SlideShare.

Xenophon: Cyropaedia, Cyrus, Moral Sayings
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Biography of Cyrus the Great
More Sayings
https://youtu.be/E4BFSIpHHGk
https://youtu.be/Y3ULbvPEmik

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Xenophon’s Cyropedia, his biography of Cyrus the
Great, has many purely moral sayings, including:

Xenophon’s Cyrus the
Great said: “Vice, passing
lightly along her path of
pleasure, wins the hearts
of thousands with her
gifts; but Virtue, toiling up
the steep ascent, has little
skill to snare the souls of
men and draw them after
her, when all the while
their comrades are calling
to them on the easy
downward way.”
Hercules at the Crossroad, Flemish, 1700’s

Xenophon penned a delightful work where Hercules
encounters Lady Virtue and Lady Vice, where Lady
Virtue seeks to guide him on the true path, while
Lady Vice attempts to seduce him.

Xenophon’s Cyrus “never lost an opportunity to
show kindness wherever he could, convinced
that just as it is not easy to love those who hate
us, so it is scarcely possible to feel enmity for
those who love us and wish us well.”
Xenophon’s Cyrus sees a difference “between
modesty and self-control: the modest man will
do nothing shameful in the light of day, but the
man of self-control will do nothing base, not
even in secret.” Those who are self-restrained
“cannot be dragged from the pursuit of virtue
by the pleasure of the moment.”
“Success breeds insolence in many hearts, while
suffering teaches sobriety and fortitude.”
Cyrus the Great of Persia, by Jean Fouquet, 1470

Xenophon’s Sayings: Enlightened Monarchy
Xenophon’s Cyrus warns us that if we
fall to the temptations of the “life of
indolence and luxury, the life of the
degenerate who thinks that labor is the
worst of evils and freedom from toil the
height of happiness, then the day will
come, and speedily, when we shall be
unworthy of ourselves, and with the loss
of honor will come the loss of wealth.”

Xenophon’s young Prince Cyrus discusses obedience
with his father, King Cambyses. Cyrus observes,
“Our laws” lead us to this “double lesson: ‘Rule thou
and be thou ruled.’” Reflecting on this, it “seems
that the real incentive to obedience lies in the
praise and honor that it wins, and the discredit and
chastisement which the disobedient experience.”
His father, King Cambyses, responds: “That, my son,
is obedience by compulsion.” Better is the
“obedience of the will.” Men “will obey with joy the
man whom they believe is wiser than themselves,”
just as the sick patient listens to his doctor. “But if
men think that obedience will lead them to disaster,
then nothing, neither penalties, nor persuasion, nor
gifts, will rouse them.”
Harpagus bring infant Cyrus to shepherd,
by Sebastiano Ricci, painted 1708

Xenophon’s Cyrus notes,
when “we require good
workers and comrades in
any task, it is better and
pleasanter to encourage
them by kind speeches
and kindly acts than to
drive them by pains and
penalties.”

Xenophon’s Cyrus observes that
many believe that “the ruler
should only differ from his subjects
by the splendor of his banquets,
the wealth of gold in his coffers,
the length and depth of his
slumbers, and his freedom from
trouble and pain. But my views are
different: I hold that the ruler
should be marked out from other
men, not by taking life easily, but
by his forethought and his wisdom
and his eagerness for work.”
Cyrus restores the treasures of the temple, by Thomas de Keyser, 1660

Xenophon reminds us that the
actions of monarchs reveal their
true character. His Cyrus
observes, “A man may hate
injustice and lies, but if no one
offers him vast wealth or
unbridled power or impregnable
fortresses or lovely children, he
dies before he can show what
manner of man he is.”

A wealthy allied noble ponders why
the Persian army is less rapacious
and more disciplined that most
ancient armies: “While we have
more goblets and more gold, more
apparel and more wealth than you,
yet we ourselves are not worth as
much. We are always trying to
increase what we possess, but you
seem to set your hearts on
perfecting your own souls.”

Was Xenophon’s Cyrus the source of
Benjamin Franklin’s response to the
question of what sort of government
the delegates of the Constitutional
Convention had created: “A republic, if
you can keep it.”
Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great observes,
“It is a great work to found an empire,
but a far greater work to keep it. To
seize it may the fruit of daring and
daring only, but to hold it is impossible
without self-restraint and self-
command and endless care.”
Portrait of Benjamin Franklin, by David Martin, 1767

Cyrus’ Sayings On Military Affairs
Xenophon’s Cyrus says, “A
man has no right to pray he
might win a cavalry charge if
he had never learned how to
ride; or triumph over master-
bowmen if he could not draw
a bow, or bring a ship safe
home to harbor if he did not
know how to steer; or be
rewarded with a plenteous
harvest if he had not so much
as sown gain into the ground;
or come home safe from
battle if he took no
precautions whatsoever.”

Cyrus the Great never
forgot that logistics was
key to winning battles. His
soldiers needed ample
meals more than
courageous pep-talks to
fight well. “Bear this
maxim before all others,
never put off the
collecting of supplies until
the day of need, make the
season of your abundance
provide against the time
of dearth.”
Cyrus, King of Persia, from Four Illustrious Rulers of Antiquity, 1590’s

Cyrus continues,
Thus, “you will be
free from blame from
your soldiers, you will
be more respected,”
“your troops will
then follow you with
greater readiness, as
long as they have all
they need,” “and
your words will carry
greater weight.”
Cyrus, King of Persia, from Four Illustrious Rulers of Antiquity, 1590’s

The effective general must be seen
as a comrade by his troops,
sharing in their successes, sharing
in their miseries. Xenophon’s
Cyrus says, “In war, if the
campaign is in summer, the
general must willingly share in the
sun and heat, and in winter the
cold and the frost, and in all labors
for toil and fatigue. This will make
him beloved to his followers.”
"Cyrus Defeats Spargapises", designs by Michiel Coxie,
woven at workshop of Albert Auwercx, late 1600’s

Cyrus’ father, King Cambyses,
advises him that “you must
plot, and you must plan,
whatever the size of his force
and your own, to catch his
men in disorder when yours
are well arrayed, unarmed
when yours are armed,
asleep when yours are awake,
and you must wait until he is
visible to you, and you are
invisible to him.”
Lion Hunt of
Ashurbanipal,
Assyrian
palace relief,
Nineveh ,
645–635 BC,
British
Museum

Xenophon’s Cyrus reminds us that in a warrior
culture, courage is virtue. “There can be no
defense stronger than a man’s own gallantry.
Courage should be our companion all our days.
For if virtue leave us, nothing else whatever
can go well with us.”
Often the armies of the enemy far
outnumbered his own. Xenophon’s Cyrus once
told an ally, “if victory falls to those with the
largest numbers, your fears for us are justified,
and we are indeed in fearful danger.” “But if
battles are decided by the qualities of those
who fight, then, I say, take heart and you will
never fail. You will find far more stomach for
the fight among our ranks than theirs.”

Xenophon’s Cyrus on Divine & Carnal Love

Xenophon includes an interesting story embedded in the larger
narrative. In one of the battles, the forces of Cyrus captured a
stunningly beautiful veiled and shy lady with her maidens who
was the wife of an ambassador who was out of town when his
wife was captured. When she is first captured, Xenophon does
not tell us her name, she is like any other captured princess.
We learned in our study of the Iliad and the Torah that it was
common for soldiers to force captured maidens to become
concubines, or sex-slaves. But Cyrus the Great is a compassionate
general, he assigns his trusted officer Araspas the Mede to
protect her until her husband returns.

https://youtu.be/bGHHD7XTvr0
Araspas initially says he has self-
control, “for love is voluntary, and each
man loves whom he chooses to love.”

Cyrus then asks, “If love be
voluntary, why cannot a man
cease to love when he
wishes? I have seen men in
love who have wept in
agony, who were slaves to
the one they loved, though
before the fever took them,
they thought slavery was the
worst of evils.”
Allegory of love, Gerard van Honthorst, 1600's

Months pass, and “Araspas fell
passionately in love with his prisoner,
begging her to be his lover. She
refused, faithful to her husband who
was far away,” but she was reluctant
to complain to Cyrus. But when
“Araspas began to threaten her,
saying that if she would not yield, he
would have his will of her by force,”
she then complained to Cyrus.
When Cyrus sent for him, “Araspas
burst into tears of misery and shame,
and was half dead at the thought of
what Cyrus would do.”
Allegory of love: Happy union, by Paolo Veronese, 1575

But Cyrus reassured him, “Be comforted, we
are told that the gods themselves are
subject to desire, and I could tell you what
love has forced some men to undergo, men
who seemed most lofty and most wise.” He
offered to send his friend on an intelligence
mission so he would not be tempted by the
beautiful Pantheia, whose name Xenophon
reveals, upholding her dignity. Cyrus asks
him if he can leave this beauty.
Jupiter & Semele, by François Perrier, 1600's

Araspas responds to Cyrus, “I see now we
have two souls. This is the lesson of
philosophy that I have learned from the
wicked sophist Love. If we had but a
single soul, how could she be at once evil
and good? How could she be both noble
and base?” “It is clear that we have two
souls, and when the beautiful soul
prevails, all fair things are wrought, and
when the evil soul has the mastery, she
lays her hand to shame and wickedness.
But today my good soul conquers because
she has you to help her.” Heloise & Abelard, Jean-Baptiste Goyet, 1829.

Xenophon was a student of Socrates, and in the Platonic
dialogue, the Phaedrus, Socrates first describes the soul as
a charioteer riding in a chariot pulled by an immortal
divine steed and a mortal steed, corresponding to the
good and evil soul in the Cyropaedia. The divine immortal
steed fights to ascend to virtue, while the mortal steed
pulls us to carnal earth. In this metaphor of the chariots
Plato describes how each of us eternally battle in our soul
between vulgar and divine love in our relationships.

Chariot of
Zeus, from
the 1879
Stories
from the
Greek
Tragedians
by Alfred
Church

The contrast between carnal or romantic love and divine love is
also the main theme of the Symposium. Both Xenophon and
Plato wrote similar dialogues for the Symposium, which means
drinking party. In both dialogues, the guests deliver speeches, in
Plato’s version they deliver speeches on love. The guest list is
different for the two dialogues, but numbered among the guests
for both dialogues are guests who were among the Thirty Tyrants
after the Peloponnesian Wars, and those guests who would be
executed by the Tyrants, leading to the reestablishment of the
democracy. The final speech in both Symposia is a speech by
Socrates on divine love.

Panthea, Cyrus, and Araspas, by Laurent de
La Hyre, 1634
Cyrus sends for the husband of Pantheia,
Abradates, telling him that his wife is safe. He
is so grateful he and his forces joined the
army of Cyrus. Pantheia exclaims to
Abradates, “Bear in mind the great gratitude
we owe to Cyrus, who, when I was his
captive, chosen for his spoil, was too high-
minded to treat me as a slave, or dishonor
me as a free woman. He took me and saved
me for you, as though I had been his
brother’s wife.” This magnanimity prompted
many mighty warriors to pledge their true
loyalty to Cyrus.

This tale of romantic love has a tragic ending,
Abradates is later killed in battle. When Cyrus hears
that Pantheia is seated near his grave with his head
on her knees, he gallops to meet her.

Cyrus tries to comfort
her, “Lady, his end
was the noblest and
fairest that could be:
he died in the hour of
victory.” This was the
warrior’s ardent
desire, that his valor
in battle would be
remembered.
Xenophon tells us,
“Cyrus took his leave
and went.”
The Death of Abradates, by Francesco Hayez, 1800's

Pantheia stabbing herself with a dagger,
after the death of her husband
Abradates, by Peter Paul Rubens, 1638
Pantheia told her nurse, “When I am dead, cover
us with the same cloak.” The nurse tries to stop
her, but “Pantheia drew the scimitar across her
throat, and dropped her head upon her
husband’s breast and died.” “When Cyrus heard
what Pantheia had done, he rushed out in horror
to see if he could save her.” Then her maidens
killed themselves also. “When Cyrus came to that
place of sorrow, he looked with wonder and
reverence on the woman, and wept for her,” “and
saw that all due honor was paid to those who lay
there dead.”
In this story Xenophon is not celebrating the
nobility of suicide, he sees it as a tragedy.

Concluding Saying of Cyrus From Herodotus

Let us conclude with a saying by Cyrus from the
conclusion of Herodotus’ history of the Greco-Persian
Wars.

The Hall of Hundred Columns, Throne Hall, in Persepolis, Persia, Cyrus’ Ceremonial Capitol, SW Iran.
Herodotus concludes with a flashback to the Greeks’ favorite Persian,
Cyrus the Great. One of his officials proposed to him, “Since Zeus has
given empire to the Persians,” “let us leave this small and barren
country,” the Persian homeland, “and take possession of a richer
country.” “Aren’t we masters of many nations and all Asia?”

The Hall of Hundred Columns, Throne Hall, in Persepolis, Persia, Cyrus’ Ceremonial Capitol, SW Iran.
Cyrus the Great replied as great men reply, “Soft countries
breed soft men.” Cyrus and his generation chose to rule from
Persepolis, choosing “to live in a rugged land and rule rather
than cultivating rich plains so they could be slaves to others.”

This translation is readable, though it is wordy, often
we can cut a quarter of the words without changing
the meaning. We discussed the sources in-depth in
our main video on Xenophon’s Cyropaedia. We also
discuss Herodotus and the other Greek historians in
our Book Reviews on Greek History and Philosophy.

Xenophon: Cyropaedia, Cyrus the Great
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Young Cyrus
King Cyrus
More Sayings

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Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Moral Sayings of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia

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