xenophon's use of the historic present at start of anabasis

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daivid
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xenophon's use of the historic present at start of anabasis

Post by daivid »

For quite some time the way Xenophon switches from present to past tenses seemed to me utterly random. There are some cases where his hands are tied. ἁθροίζονται has to be present because the mustering in the Kastolou plain presumably continued to the time that Xenophon was writing.

However, in the cases where he is free to choose he picks out, with the present, the key events that move the story forward.
Hence the two sons are born from the Dareios. Dareios sends for Kuros. Kuros goes up. Tisaphernes slanders Kuros. Artaxerxes believes and siezes Kuros. Parusatis sends him back to his satrapy. Kuros plots to be King instead of Artaxerxes.

In effect he making everything else background.
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MarkAntony198337
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Re: xenophon's use of the historic present at start of anaba

Post by MarkAntony198337 »

ἀπόλλυται
Last edited by MarkAntony198337 on Sat Jun 11, 2016 1:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

daivid
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Re: xenophon's use of the historic present at start of anaba

Post by daivid »

MarkAntony198337 wrote: What you say however is more specific than Goodwin's definition, viz. that it is also employed, by Xenophon at least, in order to mark out the leading events in a narrative, and I think that that opinion certainly must have truth: for after all, what reason is there to give a more lively statement of the birth of Darius' two sons, for instance, if not because it is an event which is indispensable to the narrative, and so for that reason alone deserving more lively relation and, in consequence, greater emphasis? You have made a good observation here.
When memorizing that section I had real trouble keeping track of how he switches tense seemingly at random - to see it as Xenophon picking out the key actions was the only way I could make sense of it.

There is one exception: the death of Dareios and the accession of Artexerxes is in the past. In Plutarch it is very touch and go with Parusatis angling to get her husband to designate Kuros as the heir. Xenophon's "move along - nothing to see here" looks to me like spin. I am reading Julius Caesar as artful reporter . Has anyone written an Xenophon as artful reporter?

Oh yes when Kuros departs and starts plotting to become King, Xenophon puts it in the present - ie key development - ie thought never crossed his mind before he had been so shamefully treated. Ummmm.
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