Xenophon’s Anabasis: The Persian Expedition, an Ancient Greek Adventure Story

What can we learn by reflecting on Xenophon’s Anabasis, the Persian Expedition? The Anabasis is Xenophon’s remarkable eyewitness account of the Greek mercenary army hired by Cyrus the Younger. Cyrus was challenging his brother Artaxerxes for the throne of Persia. Although the Ten Thousand Greek hoplites won the battle militarily, this win was wasted when a spear ran through their patron Cyrus, killing him in battle. Stranded behind enemy lines, the Greek army of Ten Thousand had to march for many miles and many months through enemy territory before they reached the Greek colonies on the shores of the Black Sea. For more interesting videos, please click to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ReflectionsMPH/?sub_confirmation=1 Shortcut: https://www.youtube.com/@ReflectionsMPH Script for this video: https://www.slideshare.net/BruceStrom1/xenophons-anabasis-the-persian-expedition-an-ancient-adventure-story © Copyright 2023 This blog includes footnotes and Amazon book links: https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/xenophons-anabasis-the-persian-expedition-an-ancient-adventure-story/ We also reflect on: • How King Darius appointed Cyrus to administer provinces in Ionia. • How Cyrus provided funds to help Lysander and the Spartans win the Peloponnesian Wars. • Plutarch’s Greek Lives for notable biographical sketches. • How Cyrus and the Greeks fought Darius near the Euphrates River, near Babylon at the Battle of Cunaxa. • Similarities between Cyrus the Younger and Cyrus the Great in Cyropaedia. • How Tissaphernes double-crossed the Greeks, murdering general Clearchus. • How Socrates warned Xenophon against joining Cyrus’ mercenary army. • How the Greeks crossed Armenia and other Persian lands. • When the Greeks reached the Black Sea, they yelled, ‘Thalatta! Thalatta! The sea! The sea!” Please support our efforts, be a patron, at: https://www.patreon.com/seekingvirtueandwisdom Patrons can participate in online Zoom discussions of draft presentations we prepare for future YouTube videos. As Socrates teaches us, the examined life is a life worth living. We would be fools if we did not desire to learn from our multitude of friends whose words live in the works of the classics that have survived from past centuries and millennia. The Stoic and moral philosophers of Greece and Rome saw philosophy as an evangelical enterprise, seeking to spread the joy of living a godly life for its own sake. Our projects include: Studying the teachings of the ancient and modern stoic and moral philosophers on how to better lead a godly life. Studying ancient and modern history to learn moral lessons and learn how we can successfully live a life of faith in trying times, including civil rights and social gospel history. Studying issues of morality in the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish traditions. Everyone should join and participate in their local church. However, my internet persona is purposefully obscure so that I can be respectful of all genuine Judeo-Christian traditions, I do not wish to be disrespectfully polemical. This is original content based on research by Bruce Strom and his blogs. Images in the Public Domain, many from Wikipedia, some from the National Archives, are selected to provide illustration. When images of the actual topic or event are not available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration. All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. The ancient world was a warrior culture out of necessity, to learn from the distant past we should not only judge them from our modern perspective but also from their own ancient perspective on their own terms.