Summary: The Education Of Cyrus

In the book “The Education of Cyrus” by Xenophon, Cyrus came to learn an abundance of information throughout his life that benefited him in taking over all of his known world. Much of the knowledge he gained in his youth was important, such as what he was taught in Persia like to be virtuous for the sake of virtue and to benefit the community, as well as what he subsequently learned in Media with his grandfather. Even after his education in his youth he continued to learn and the most important bits of knowledge he gained were outside of his formal teachings when he rode with his father to Media once again to help defend them against the Assyrians. Once they had set off to help defend their ally, Cyrus, nearing the end of his youth, was questioned about many things by his father and was taught important knowledge about warfare and also ruling. In particular, the concepts that he was advised about from his father that contradicted the typical Persian way were of utmost importance. His father specifically told him that, in reference to gaining an advantage over enemies, one must be “a plotter, a dissembler, wily, a cheat, a thief, rapacious, and the sort who takes advantage of his enemies in everything” (X, 54). This is wildly different from everything he was previously taught but it was extremely important towards bettering his warfare and tactics and also served as an important

Throughout his conquering of other nations, he uses “dirty tactics” to gain an advantage over his enemies, allowing him to create such a substantial and powerful empire. For example, when Araspas falls in love with Panthea and nearly rapes her, instead of defecting him as a man of typical virtue would do, he utilizes him. He creates the illusion of defecting him in order for him to be trusted by the enemies, that way he can serve as a spy for Cyrus. This allows him to gain crucial knowledge in order to defeat