Athenians Culture, Customs, and Political Philosophy from Xenophon's Expedition of Cyrus

History
Student:
Institution:
As a young man, Xenophon was an Athenian and a son to Gryllus. Despite the young age of Xenophon, decided to join the military army that was led by Cyrus fighting against Artaxerxes. It is from the events that took place that Xenophon decides to write about the expeditions in his book Anabasis. Moreover, Xenophon explains on how his leader recruited many soldiers in the army in order to strengthen themselves against their enemies. They fought tirelessly against the other army and finally they won the war. However, Cyrus was killed and Xenophon was appointed as one of the leaders of the army. Moreover, it explains on the hurdles that they encountered by the army in their journey back home. This argument is based on the Athenians culture and customs and political philosophy.
From the text it is evident that the move by Xenophon to join the army was initiated by a friend who persuaded him to join. The military's motive was to protect to ensure protection on the borders that were under threats from the enemies. When Xenophon travels back to Greece he was willing to continue to lead the army that at this particular time was under his control. However, there was a ruling that Xenophon was evicted from the army by the other leaders though after years the verdict was uplifted but Xenophon was not willing to return to Athens. However, despite the opposition from others on the leadership of Xenophon, the Spartans appreciated his role as a leader and decided to award him with an estate that was located near Olympia. The battles continued even after the retirement of Xenophon until the city of Sparta was defeated by the enemies. From the book it is also evident that Cyrus led a lavish life. He resided in a palace that was located in a large park that had many wild beasts and could hunt using horses at any time he wanted (Allpress, 1845 .Pg. 7)
The political philosophy of Xenophon is considered to be controversial and even against the democratic values of the Athenians. Moreover, his political philosophy was based on the teachings by his military leader by the name Cyrus. However, he was more interested with the Spartan way of leadership (Fox, 2004). It is also believed that the leadership and politics in him was acquired in the time that he served in the army as a soldier and as a leader after the death of Cyrus. Before his death we can see that Cyrus also faced some opposition from Clearchus who tried to mobilize the soldiers to rebel against him (Allpress, 1845.pg.13)During the war, both militaries were well armed but due to the extra skills that they had is what made them become victorious in the war. Despite them winning the war, a number of lives were lost in the process and the earth was stained with a lot of blood.
There were also many of the weapons that were used during the war that lay down on the earth after the death of many solders. Some of the leadership traits exhibited by Xenophon was that he created confidence that enabled them to believe that they were able in conquering the enemies in the war (Fox, 2004). This highly created a spirit of unity among the soldiers hence was capable of enduring any enemy that they encountered during the war. Moreover, Xenophon promised the soldiers that the...