ABSTRACT
Let us imagine for a moment a world in which Plato did not exist. Next, let us do away with Aristophanes and Aristotle as well, thereby eliminating the notorious Socratic problem.1 We no longer have to reconcile the very different portraits of Socrates, the man and the philosopher, provided by our four main sources – Plato, Xenophon, Aristophanes, and Aristotle. Erasing Plato will have the added benefit of rescuing Xenophon from the inevitable, invidious comparisons in which he is always a second rate imitator and follower of the great Plato. Who among us would like to compete with Plato? In our hypothetical world, then, only Xenophon remains and Xenophon, as we all know is a simple, transparent, rather pedestrian writer, who provides a clear, straightforward portrait of Socrates.2 If we wish to characterize Socrates all we need to do now is plough through Xenophon’s Socratic works – the Apology, the four books of the Memorabilia, the Oeconomicus, and the Symposium and take a brief look at the few passages where Socrates appears in the Anabasis (3.1.4-7) and Hellenica (1.7.15).3 We will then be ready to sum up the way a pious, not too clever Xenophon portrays a pious and not too clever Socrates, seemingly casting the philosopher in his own prosaic image.4
Our task could not be simpler – or could it? I would like to suggest that even in our imaginary world without Plato, Aristophanes, and Aristotle, matters are not quite so uncomplicated, for Xenophon presents a Socratic problem of his own. It is, in fact, rather difficult to pinpoint and define Xenophon’s Socrates, because many images of Socrates appear in his writings. These varied Socrateses are the subject of this paper. There are two rather different kinds of variations on the figure of Socrates in Xenophon’s writings – those found in his non-Socratic works and the variations which appear in the Socratic compositions themselves. In Socratic works such as the Symposium and the Oeconomicus we find at times two Socrateses, with the philosopher conversing with what seems to be an image of himself, but I shall begin with the Socrateses who feature in Xenophon’s other, more historical writings. In the Hellenica, the Agesilaus, the Anabasis, and the fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, the Cyropedia, Xenophon includes a series of portraits of great political and military leaders, men such as Lycurgus, Agesilaus, Jason of Thessaly, Cyrus the Great, and even Xenophon himself. All these historical, pseudo-historical, and fictional heroes are alike in many ways and all are like Socrates, since Xenophon attributes to all these men many of the same qualities. They believe in temperance, moderation, piety, and control of appetites. They are all hardy, able to withstand cold and heat; they eat, drink, and indulge in sex moderately; they respect the gods and are careful to fulfill their religious duties. These heroes are also good friends and vengeful enemies. The great leaders found in Xenophon’s non-Socratic writings are in many ways much of a muchness and Socrates seems to be just one more instance of this ideal type. Let us look, for instance, at what Xenophon writes of Socrates’ physical regime in the Memorabilia:
