Cyrus Among the Centaurs

What is it about?

The aim of this chapter is to examine Xenophon´s criticism of Persian imperial expansion and its instability as a political unit. I argue that Xenophon, through Cyropaedia, might be criticising Cyrus´ unawareness of both the political consequences of introducing technological changes in his army, as well as the ethical transformations necessary to expand the territory of the Persian Empire in an unprecedented way. In addition, I consider that it is extremely hard to split Xenophon´s account of Cyrus´ leadership from his criticism of imperial expansionism. Accordingly, in the first section, I will characterise Cyrus´ pastoral power through the metaphor of the shepherd-king. In order to do this, I will delve into the main features of this figure regarding the problem of political domination and obedience and make a distinction between Xenophon´s description of Cyrus´ pastoral rulership and the Thrasymachean model of leadership and rulership based on subjects' exploitation and unconsent government. In the second section, resorting to Chrysantas´ speech in Cyropaedia, I will argue that occasionalism and exceptionalism have shaped Cyrus´ imperialist project. Core to my argument will be to analyse the mythical image of Centaurs introduced by Chrysantas in Cyropaedia as well as the ethical outcome of the anthropological, technological, and political experiment that I call here ´pseudocentaurism´. The latter, in turn, I argue, surpasses the context of a military reform programme and stretches over Cyrus´ exceptional leadership characteristics. Lastly, in the conclusions, I will underline that Xenophon´s Cyropaedia may be understood not only as a critical analysis of Cyrus´ unawareness of the ethical and political consequences of introducing technological innovations to achieve an Empire, but also a pioneering philosophical reflection on the conflict between political stability and technological change.

Featured Image

Photo by Krzysztof on Unsplash

Photo by Krzysztof on Unsplash