Xenophon the Philosopher: E Pluribus Plura

This article argues for a reinterpretation of Xenophon’s corpus by identifying conflicts and contradictions among the anonymous narrators of the Anabasis, Cyropaedia, and Symposium, among other texts. Examining the possibility that certain Xenophontic narrators may be characters independent of each other, this article identifies numerous moments—including philosophical and historical disagreements, chronological problems, and explicit statements—which support identifying at least seven of Xenophon’s ten narrators (excepting those of the treatises) as a character other than Xenophon. It ends by arguing for a reappraisal of Xenophon as an ironic philosopher, rather than as a historiographer.