Xenophon

Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian of the Ten Thousand

At age 30, the Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries, who had fought for Cyrus the Younger's attempt to take the Achaemenid Empire, elected him as one of their leaders during their retreat.^[1]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Born

c. 430 BC

Birthplace

Athens

Died

Probably 354 or 355 BC (aged c. 74 or 75)

Place of death

likely Corinth

Parents

Gryllus

Spouse

Philesia

Children

Gryllus and Diodorus

Occupation

Military leader
mercenary
philosopher
historian
writer

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Xenophon was born around 430 BC in the Athenian deme of Erchia, the son of Gryllus, into a wealthy but politically inactive family.^[2] Dodge notes that Xenophon "is the father of the system of retreat" and "reduced its management to a perfect method".^[3] After the Elians confiscated his estate, Xenophon moved to Corinth and lived there until his death in 354 BC.^[4] Xenophon sought Socrates' counsel about joining Cyrus the Younger's campaign, and Socrates directed him to the Pythia.^[5][6]

Because he fought for the Spartans, Athens sent Xenophon into exile.^[4]

What the cited sources add

Diogenes Laërtius reports that Xenophon was a man of rare modesty and extremely handsome.^[7] The GreekReporter.com account notes that Robert C. Lewis, an academic and Vietnam war veteran, has noted the contemporary relevance of Xenophon's work.^[8] Syeda's Military History Matters article states that Xenophon may qualify as an ancient prototype of the contemporary war reporter.^[6] The same article quotes Irish historian John Bagnell Bury saying Xenophon would have made his fortune as a war correspondent.^[6]

Syeda writes that Alexander the Great is known to have consulted Xenophon's work in preparation for his expedition into Asia.^[6] Demetrius of Magnesia reported that when Xenophon went into exile, his wife Philesia and his two sons Gryllus and Diodorus went with him.^[7]

References

Wikipedia, "Xenophon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Alexander: A History of the Origin and Growth of the Art of War from Earliest Times to the Battle of Ipsus, B.C. 301, Vol. 1, Houghton M (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Xenophon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Strassler et al., xvii ( ); Tuplin 2012, p. 1580: "Xenophon, son of Gryllus, from the Athenian deme of Erchia, born into a rich but politcally inactive family around 430 BC"; Sacks Murray 1995, p. 268: "Born into a rich, aristocratic family at Athens [...] he married an Athenian woman, Philesia, and had two sons, Gryllus (named for Xenophon's father) and Diodorus"; Sacks Murray 1995, p. 268: "Born into a rich, aristocratic family at Athens [...] he married an Athenian woman, Philesia, and had two sons, Gryllus (named for Xenophon's father) and en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Xenophon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dodge, pp. 105–106 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Xenophon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Diogenes Laërtius, "Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Xenophon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ἀνάβασις , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus; Ambler, "The Anabasis of Cyrus", Cornell University Press, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Syeda, "War Reporters: Xenophon Military History Matters", www.military-history.org, 2019-02-14. facts only, no text reused. military-history.org
Diogenes Laërtius, "Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers". facts only, no text reused. en.wikisource.org
Gale, "Ancient Greek Military Strategies Still Used Today", GreekReporter.com, 2025-07-08. facts only, no text reused. greekreporter.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Xenophon (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.