Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Moral Sayings of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia

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What can we learn by reflecting on Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, the life of King Cyrus the Great of Persia?

We have already reviewed this biography, which included many sayings.
We will reflect on additional moral maxims, qualities of an enlightened monarch, advice for generals, and a look at divine and romantic love.

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We also reflect on:
• Advice from the father of Cyrus, King Cambyses of Persia.
• Xenophon and Lady Virtue and Lady Vice.
• Whether Xenophon was the inspiration for Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote about our system of government, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
• Sayings of Cyrus on military affairs and generalship, and the importance of logistics.
• On the Platonic notion of divine love and carnal love, or romantic love, as also seen in Xenophon’s and the Platonic dialogues, the Phaedrus, and the Symposium, featuring Socrates.
• That in a warrior culture, courage is virtue.
• Famous saying of Cyrus from Herodotus.

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As Socrates teaches us, the examined life is a life worth living. We would be fools if we did not desire to learn from our multitude of friends whose words live in the works of the classics that have survived from past centuries and millennia. The Stoic and moral philosophers of Greece and Rome saw philosophy as an evangelical enterprise, seeking to spread the joy of living a godly life for its own sake.

Our projects include:
Studying the teachings of the ancient and modern stoic and moral philosophers on how to better lead a godly life.
Studying ancient and modern history to learn moral lessons and learn how we can successfully live a life of faith in trying times, including civil rights and social gospel history.
Studying issues of morality in the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish traditions.

Everyone should join and participate in their local church. However, my internet persona is purposefully obscure so that I can be respectful of all genuine Judeo-Christian traditions, I do not wish to be disrespectfully polemical.
This is original content based on research by Bruce Strom and his blogs. Images in the Public Domain, many from Wikipedia, some from the National Archives, are selected to provide illustration. When images of the actual topic or event are not available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. The ancient world was a warrior culture out of necessity, to learn from the distant past we should not only judge them from our modern perspective but also from their own ancient perspective on their own terms.