And yet the name conveys generally the main purpose which Xenophon apparently had in view when writing this work. He wished, not to write history, but to compose a historical romance, in which should be depicted a perfect governor of men. And the perfection of the generalship, administration, and monarchical rule of Cyrus, was meant to be attributed in the first instance to the excellent education[1] which he had received in youth. All is of a piece with this conception. The hero of the book is possessed of Utopian excellence. His virtues are unalloyed by any vice, and his successes by a single reverse. Evidently, then, we have before us one of those novels with a purpose which have been common enough in modern times, and which are generally considered to be rather poor works of art. Xenophon's is the first elaborate production of the kind which remains to us from antiquity, though probably the allegorical sermons of the Sophists (see above, p. 109) were in the same direction.
In giving any account (and much will not be required) of the 'Education of Cyrus,' we must remind the reader that this is not the same Cyrus as he whom Xenophon knew personally, and under whom he marched from Sardis to Cunaxa. The Cyrus of the
- ↑ Some modern translators have tried to find a name which should apply to the whole contents of the book, by calling it 'The Institution of Cyrus,'—the word "institution" being in obsolete English capable of being taken for "education," and also being applicable to the "form of government" described as being introduced by Cyrus. But the word pædeia in Cyropædeia has no such double application.
