03.11.

2025: The Greeks and ‘Persian Decadence’: Xenophon

For this journal entry, I decided to do things a little differently and quote directly from the text so
that we can better examine the examples of deterioration Xenophon discusses, since the text
essentially explains and interprets itself. First of, who is Xenophon? Xenophon was an Athenian
from a wealthy background, born around 430 BCE, who was a student of Socrates. In 401 BCE,
he left Athens to participate in a military expedition alongside roughly ten thousand Greek
mercenaries. They were supporting the Persian governor named Cyrus in his fight against the
Persian king. After Cyrus was defeated, Xenophon took charge of leading the Greek forces back
from Babylon across hostile lands.1 His major work, the Cyropaedia—literally “The Education
of Cyrus”—is a biographical account of Cyrus the Great that blends historical fact with invented
elements2. It’s organized into eight books. The eighth book covers Cyrus’s approach to kingship,
his ritual ceremonies, his rise to the Median throne, and his final days. 3 For my analysis, the
crucial part is the epilogue that closes Book VIII. In this section, Xenophon presents a critical
assessment of contemporary Persia in the 4th century, emphasizing how dramatically moral
standards have deteriorated since Cyrus’s reign. This epilogue provides the clearest window into
Xenophon’s views on Persian decline.

To start off, Xenophon’s portrayal of Persians in Book VIII reveals a deliberate strategy of
othering that constructs both Persian decline and Greek superiority through stark moral contrasts.
The text opens by acknowledging Cyrus’s empire, noting how he “cared for them as if they were
his own children4”, but this idealized past serves primarily as a setup for what follows. The
moment Cyrus dies, “everything began to deteriorate 5”. This split between past and present
becomes Xenophon’s main way of othering the Persians. By showing how things were before
Cyrus died versus how everything fell apart afterward, he sets up a clear before-and-after pattern.
What I noticed is that Xenophon goes through this almost like a checklist—he’ll pick some part
of Persian life, then show how it got worse with specific examples that really drive home the
decline.

The moral deterioration manifests first in trustworthiness. Xenophon emphasizes that “not a
single person any longer trusts them” due to their notorious lack of character. The Greek generals
who trusted in the previous reputation of Persian kings only to be executed illustrate this
betrayal. This narrative positions Greeks as honorable victims while Persians emerge as
fundamentally deceitful, establishing a clear moral hierarchy disguised as historical observation.
Also values have been completely inverted in Persian society. Where once those who achieved
“good or glory6” received honor, now those who do evil get rewarded. Xenophon claims that
witnessing this, all the “inhabitants of Asia 7” have deteriorated in their behaviour and discipline,
suggesting moral corruption spreads from rulers downward. They’ve become even more

1
MANUWALD, Jeffrey Henderson, Cyropaedia, Volume II, in: Loeb Classical Library, URL:
https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL052/1914/volume.xml (Accessed 2 Nov. 2025).
2
Gruen, Erich S, Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, Princeton, Oxford 2011, p. 54.
3
SANCISI-WEERDENBURG, Heleen, Cyropaedia (06.04.2017), in: Encyclopaedia Iranica, URL:
https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cyropaedia-gr/ (Accessed 2 Nov. 2025).
4
Xenophon, Cyropaedia VIII. viii.1.
5
Ibid. (note 2), viii.2.
6
Ibid. (note 3), viii.4.
7
Ibid. (note 4), viii.5.
“unprincipled8” and more “dishonest9” in every respect, creating a comprehensive portrait of
ethical collapse. Furthermore, their physical decline runs hand in hand with moral decay. The
Persians maintain old customs—not spitting, eating once daily—but these practices have lost
their substance. They still don’t bring pots to banquets, yet now “they are themselves carried
out10”, meaning they’re excessively drinking. Even their marches have become so short that
abstaining from food tests nothing. The form persists while meaning vanishes. Xenophon
continues by stating that the abandonment of martial discipline became a problem. Since
Artaxerxes “became the victims of wine11” hunting has ceased, and courtiers hate those who hunt
from “love for physical exertion12”. Education in horsemanship has died out entirely. Even
botanical knowledge now seems learned “only to do as much harm as possible 13”, as evidenced
by unprecedented deaths from poisoning. It represents a complete reversal of educational
purpose. Additionally, Xenophon’s descriptions of luxury emphasize Persian effeminacy. His
descriptions of luxury emphasize Persian effeminacy. They’ve become “much more effeminate”
- an expression already used in our presentation about the visual representation of the Greek
perception of the Persians in pottery, where Persians were depicted as feminine and weak. In this
case, they place bed posts “upon carpets” for maximum softness and keep “always inventing
something new” in cuisine14. These accumulating details show how they’ve abandoned Persian
rigor while maintaining “the effeminacy of the Medes15”.

Personally, the military critique reveals the biggest asymmetric counterconcepts. Persian rulers
now make knights from porters, bakers, cooks and “beauty-doctors who pencil their eyes and
rouge their cheeks16”. While Cyrus introduced proper tactics and fighting hand to hand,
contemporary Persians neither “skirmish17” at a distance nor fight in hand-to-hand battles.
Charioteers once “ready to hurl themselves against even a heavy-armed line 18” have been
replaced by untrained drivers who create more “havoc” on their own side than the enemy’s. Just
as Gruen says, Xenophon clearly made up an exaggerated and almost ridiculous situation 19. He
got ahead of his critics by mocking the clichés—exaggerating them until they seemed absurd 20.
Most revealing is how Xenophon perfectly describes it, that they simply “abandon the effort 21”.
Nobody goes to war anymore without Greek mercenaries - even when Persians fight each other
or defend against Greeks. This shows that Persians require Greek assistance for all military
endeavors while Greeks need nothing from Persians: weak/strong; incompetence/competence.
It’s a unidirectional dependence that establishes Greek superiority through Persian inadequacy.

8
Ibid. (note 5).
9
Ibid. (note 6), viii.6.
10
Ibid. (note 7), viii.10.
11
Ibid. (note 8), viii.12.
12
Ibid. (note 9).
13
Ibid. (note 10), viii.14.
14
Ibid. (note 11), viii.16.
15
Ibid. (note 11), viii.15.
16
Ibid. (note 11), viii.20.
17
Ibid. (note 11), viii.22.
18
Ibid. (note 11), viii.24.
19
Gruen, Erich S., Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, Princeton, Oxford 2011, p.64.
20
Ibid. (note 2), p.65.
21
Ibid. (note 11), viii.26.
Xenophon concludes by claiming he’s proved that Persians are now “less reverent toward the
gods, less dutiful to their relatives, less upright in their dealings, and less brave in war 22”, which
are lot and also strong examples of describing in the deterioration of behaviour of these
“inhabitants of Asia”. These systematic accusations cover every dimension of life - religious,
familial, social, martial. Xenophon’s intention becomes clear: by constructing Persians as
wealthy yet corrupt, powerful yet militarily dependent on Greek mercenaries, he deals with
Greek worries about Persian power while also claiming Greek superiority.

Finally, the othering operates through asymmetric counterconcepts, some that were already
indicated - virtue versus vice, discipline versus luxury, competence versus dependence.
Xenophon cleverly splits Persians temporally: the idealized past under Cyrus represents
universal virtues now lost, while contemporary Persians embody complete degradation. This
allows Greeks to emerge as true inheritors of those ancient virtues, positioning them as more
authentically “Persian” than actual Persians. The elaborate catalogue of Persian failings
ultimately serves to define Greek identity through opposition, making Persian weakness the
mirror in which Greek excellence can be recognized and celebrated.

22
Ibid. (note 11), viii.27.