摘要：Is it possible to teach the art of ruling? Is it possible to pass down the political τέχνη? In this article weaim to show that Xenophon offers answers to these questions in his Cyropaedia. In order to find them, we willanalyze in detail two central episodes for this topic: the advices given to Cyrus by his father Cambises beforestarting the campaign that occupies most of the book (I.6.2-46), and Cyrus’ final words to his heirs (VIII.7.6-28).Against the interpretations that have argued that Cyrus advises badly to his children —and that this testifies thenegative character of the protagonist of Cyropaedia— we will hold that the political teachings proposed in thementioned instances share the same spirit. Given this pedagogical continuity, we will argue that the differencesbetween the political effectiveness of Cyrus and his successors serves Xenophon to emphasize the exceptionalcharacter of the founder of the Persian Empire and to show the inexorable decadence that marks every government.
关键词：Xenophon; Socratics; Cyropaedia; political education.
