62 - Xenophon, Anabasis V

Xenophon, Anabasis 5.  #1 Highlights for Life Success.  In this episode: 

-Fending off chaos in all its forms
-Dealing with a power vacuum
-The Source of the Golden Fleece
-The BEST way to spend Sacred Funds (Hint: Real Estate)
-Artemis and her 7 wonders Temple at Ephesus (cult statue here)
-Sampling Local Delicacies (as always) 
-Pale white children as wide as they are tall
-Dreams of city founding
-The metaphysical basis of international law
-Xenophon, hubris, and soldier punching

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The Cost of Glory
Episode 62
May 2, 2023

[HOWBAZARY]

This podcast has become my favorite podcast, #1! Agape and phileo

[thehistorybard]

I'm really glad you decided to cover thge Anabasis, its such a great story! The bit with the Mossynoecians was almost comical, how the Greeks randomly wandered into the middle of a civil war. I found your line about a "come to Zeus moment" quite funny too. Thanks for another great episode Alex!

[FroMaestro]

Am I losing my mind or wasn’t this closing anecdote discussed earlier in the series? Like in Anabasis Book II?

[EvMund]

I've been waiting for this next installment! do you think a parallel could be drawn between Xenophon's idea to found a city and Cyrus' original expedition which started this whole thing? I think Xenophon's plan could have worked if it wasn't revealed so soon, and instead was told to the whole army, in Xenophon's own words and on his own terms at a time of his choosing. in the case of Cyrus, he seemed quite aware of this fact and it's why he kept hush about the expedition's actual target until they were well underway towards the Artaxerxes. However, in both instances it seems like the way to maintain morale and cohesion of the group was to once again bring attention to the many threats that faced the group from all sides, and to reassure them that the leader was still on their side, either through shared goals (in the case of Xenophon) or personal merits (as was the case with Cyrus, at the time).

[WorthlessWinner]

Wasn't the problem with "founding the colony" that he DIDN'T share it with the army asap? They were mad he did sacrifices before talking to them, at least in the penguin translation.