preview

Themistocles Oedipus In The Persian Expedition

Decent Essays
Open Document

In The Persian Expedition, Xenophon follows the fate of 10,000 Greek mercenaries as they make their long and arduous journey from deep in Persian territory back to Greece, their homeland. In addition to details of the trip, Xenophon discusses some personal qualities of Cyrus and the leaders of his mercenary’s. Themistocles was an Athenian politician from a slightly earlier period who rose to prominence using his cunning, cleverness, persuasion, and deception. Presented favorably by Plutarch in The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives, and critically in The Histories of Herodotus, Themistocles is not discussed by Xenophon. Although he demonstrated the intelligence that Xenophon valued, Themistocles’ deceptive nature, greed, and self-interest …show more content…

“Themistocles never missed an opportunity to make money” (Plutarch, 3.5), and “from the very beginning he was seized with the desire to win the leading place in the state” (Plutarch, 3.3), and Xenophon would not have respected these motivations. Also, another element Xenophon valued in a leader was the ability to endear oneself to one’s followers. Cyrus wanted to make people happy, what Xenophon called “an eager desire to give pleasure, I must confess, more admirable” (Xenophon 1.9). Cyrus successfully endeared himself to his followers, as evidenced by the events of his death: “Cyrus himself fell, and eight of his bravest companions lay on top of him” (Xenophon, 1.8). In contrast, Themistocles was ostracized due to his arrogance and lack of care of his followers. “They made use of the ostracism to humble his great reputation and his authority, as indeed was their habit with any man whose power they regarded as oppressive” (Plutarch, 3.22). In the end, when Themistocles was expected to fight Athens to show allegiance to the Persians who had sheltered him, “It may be that he believed his task was an impossible one, when he measured himself against the other great commanders whom Greece possessed” (Plutarch, 3.31). Fearing that he wouldn’t win, he “decided that his best course was …show more content…

Xenophon’s main reason for disliking Menon was his deceitfulness and dishonest nature: “The shortest road to the achievement of his desires lay he thought through false swearing, lying, and cheating” (Xenophon, 2.6). Xenophon also valued the honesty of Cyrus. “He would tell no lies to anyone” (Xenophon, 1.9). Themistocles was also deceitful and willing to do whatever was necessary to survive, as illustrated by his clever trick in Salamis: “so he cast around for a counter stroke and hit upon his celebrated trick Siccinus”(Plutarch ,3.12). Even when Themistocles did not lie outright, he valued his manipulative powers: “Themistocles told them that he had brought two gods, persuasion and compulsion” (Plutarch, 3.21). He used his cunning to get his way, threatening to lie to get the sailors in trouble if they crossed him: “but partly by entreaties and partly by the threat that he would denounce them to the Athenians and make it appear that they had known all along who he was, but had taken him on board in the first instance for a bribe, he forced them to stand out to sea and reach the coast of Asia” (Plutarch, 3.25). Themistocles, though brilliant and clever, resorted to lying and manipulation when honesty was not productive enough, in contrast to the truth-telling Cyrus, whom Xenophon

Get Access
Related
Get Access