Xenophons Cyropaedia: annotated translation and introduction

• Grant number: 14/10441-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2014
• End date: August 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Classical Literatures
• Principal Investigator: Lucia Sano
• Grantee: Lucia Sano
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of the project is to produce a full translation of Xenophon of Athens' Cyropaedia (c. 360 bce) from the original Greek as edited by E. Marchant (Oxford Classical Texts) and by M. Bizos/E. Delebecque (Budé Collection). This work presents a narrative of the life of King Cyrus, The Great, of Persia (c.590-580/530 bce), ruler of the vastest empire ever seen up to the moment when the Cyropaedia was written. I also intend to annotate the translation and to write an introductory essay that shall not only inform a public not well familiarized with classical literature and its historical and cultural contexts, but which will also deal with questions of interest to expert readers, as the genre of the text and its intentions.The Cyropaedia is one of Xenophon's most controversial texts and in the past two decades it has attracted considerable scholarly attention. The decision to translate it, therefore, is based on its actual relevance for the critical debate on the author (there is absolutely no agreement on the intentions of the narrative, for example), but also on the complex relation the text bears with the politics of the Hellenistic period and on its importance as an intertext for the so-called ancient Greek novel.In addition to that, in the present moment there is no published translation available in Brazil. I believe that the publishing of this translation in Portuguese will be of interest not only to researchers of Classical literature, but also of a larger public, as the reception of this particular work by Xenophon was rich and diverse throughout different historical moments and also because the author's approach to leadership is thought-provoking for present discussions on the theme. (AU)