Famous Men of Greece · Ch. XXII · Unit 7: Socrates, Xenophon and Thebes
27. Xenophon
Goal: Your child can retell how Xenophon led ten thousand Greeks home through enemy country.
You'll need
- A map or globe (a free online map works well)
- A notebook or paper and colored pencils
- Your timeline (a long strip of paper on the wall, or a notebook page)
What's in the book
Socrates stops young Xenophon in the street: "Follow me and learn." Later Xenophon joins Cyrus, who hires Greek soldiers to take the Persian throne from his brother Artaxerxes. At Cunaxa Cyrus is killed and the Greek generals are murdered by treachery. Xenophon helps lead the Greeks on a five-month march to the Black Sea, and later writes the Anabasis.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Sardis (in western Turkey), then Babylon (in today's Iraq), then the Black Sea far to the north. Trace the long march up to Babylon and the long march back to the sea.
Read the chapter together
Read pages 196–202 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names.
Narration
Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:
- What three questions did Socrates ask Xenophon?
- Why did Cyrus want Greek soldiers?
- What happened to the Greek generals?
- How did Xenophon help the Greeks that night?
- What dangers did they meet on the way to the sea?
Talk it over
Ask:
1. Why couldn't the young man answer the third question?
2. Xenophon held no office before. Why did the soldiers make him a general?
3. Why does the book say "The retreat was in fact a victory"?
Remember it
"And where can the good and the noble be found?" asked the philosopher.
"Follow me and learn," said the philosopher.
SayXenophon's book is the Anabasis, "March up."
Something extra
In the Anabasis, Xenophon tells how the soldiers shouted "The sea! The sea!" when they first saw the Black Sea. Your child might draw that moment from the hilltop.
Afterwards
Your child writes a short "soldier's diary" entry for one day of the march.
Answers to the book's problems
1. It was not a place you could point to; it was a question about how to live, which is what Socrates taught. 2. He had thought all night and had a plan: choose leaders and stand by one another. His words cheered them. 3. They marched five months through enemy land, found their own food, and lost few men.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.