ABSTRACT
Xenophon wrote the Hellenica in accordance with how he made sense of the events of his age; if he believed that the gods had a role in shaping history, this belief ought not to invalidate his account. Historical writing and belief in a powerful divine apparatus capable of ‘changing’ the course of human events do not seem to be compatible concepts. Diogenes Laertius ends his brief biography of Xenophon as follows: ‘he was pious, fond of sacrificing, capable at discerning sacred matters and extremely devoted to Socrates’. From this parting capsule summary of Xenophon’s character left with two clear impressions: Xenophon was evidently a devout traditionalist in religious matters and at the same time found inspiration in the person of Socrates. Plato’s Socrates never makes such arguments; indeed, he eschews for the most part all discussions that do not concern human conduct, and especially those which are devoted to cosmological matters.
