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As Xenophon saw it

aeon.co

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Re: As Xenophon saw it

#21

Post by [deleted] »

undershirt wrote: post #19
whatshisface wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the transcendent "self-actualization" required for leadership Spot on, in every interview I ask the hiring manager if they have ever jumped out of a plane, and if they say "no" my respect for them drops to zero (sorry, it's a fundamental subconscious response I can't help it). I call their boss, tell them that their subordinate forgot to self-actualize, and I get made their manager on the spot. It's how I got my la…

i've jumped out of a plane (it was incredible of course), but i have no idea what you're talking about—but maybe I don't understand what "self-actualization" means.

[deleted]

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#22

Post by leetcrew »

Todd wrote: post #2

The Anabasis by Xenophon can be read in the original, with translations on alternating pages, as in the Loeb series. There are also interlinear translations available, such as this one: https://archive.org/details/anabasisofxenoph00xenoiala/page/...

the perseus site is also great. [0] you can easily read the greek and english side-by-side, and every greek word is a hyperlink to a page with the definition and inflection of the word and links to its entries in various lexicons.

[0] http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.%20Anab.

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#24

Post by uxp100 »

undershirt wrote: post #19
whatshisface wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the transcendent "self-actualization" required for leadership Spot on, in every interview I ask the hiring manager if they have ever jumped out of a plane, and if they say "no" my respect for them drops to zero (sorry, it's a fundamental subconscious response I can't help it). I call their boss, tell them that their subordinate forgot to self-actualize, and I get made their manager on the spot. It's how I got my la…

i've jumped out of a plane (it was incredible of course), but i have no idea what you're talking about—but maybe I don't understand what "self-actualization" means.

They were joking.

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#25

Post by [deleted] »

undershirt wrote: post #19
whatshisface wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the transcendent "self-actualization" required for leadership Spot on, in every interview I ask the hiring manager if they have ever jumped out of a plane, and if they say "no" my respect for them drops to zero (sorry, it's a fundamental subconscious response I can't help it). I call their boss, tell them that their subordinate forgot to self-actualize, and I get made their manager on the spot. It's how I got my la…

i've jumped out of a plane (it was incredible of course), but i have no idea what you're talking about—but maybe I don't understand what "self-actualization" means.

[deleted]

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#26

Post by [deleted] »

whatshisface wrote: post #15
motohagiography wrote: post #8

Have commented here before on the link between horsemanship (for which Xenophon's treatise is the philosophical foundation) and leadership, (Xenophon's key preoccupation according to the article.) Officer classes were usually trained in horsemanship for very good reason. It's one of the few transformative experiences that can be taught and practised. Before cars, horses were probably one of the few sources of what we…

> the transcendent "self-actualization" required for leadership Spot on, in every interview I ask the hiring manager if they have ever jumped out of a plane, and if they say "no" my respect for them drops to zero (sorry, it's a fundamental subconscious response I can't help it). I call their boss, tell them that their subordinate forgot to self-actualize, and I get made their manager on the spot. It's how I got my la…

[deleted]

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#27

Post by dorchadas »

leetcrew wrote: post #20
Koshkin wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The translation in the Loeb book is just delicious. While reading the original, I couldn't keep myself from reading the English text as well - it's too good. (Makes me think that studying foreign/ancient languages in order to read is not actually important in the least and might be better left to professional translators.)

> Makes me think that studying foreign/ancient languages in order to read is not actually important in the least and might be better left to professional translators. it really depends on your goals. if you are just reading for pleasure, it can be lovely to just read a good translation as written. if you are approaching the text more seriously, you need to be aware that the translation of many key words can be quite…

Commentaries are definitely interesting to read, even by themselves. I'll often read commentaries on Biblical books by themselves. It's interesting to have a copy of the Greek/Hebrew, even if you don't know it, because they often make so many interesting arguments about why the words are the way they are, then offer their general commentary.

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#28

Post by Emma_Goldman »

uxp100 wrote: post #24
undershirt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i've jumped out of a plane (it was incredible of course), but i have no idea what you're talking about—but maybe I don't understand what "self-actualization" means.

They were joking.

Were they? I really didn't get that

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#29

Post by turndown »

ArtWomb wrote: post #9

Perseus project hosts full text of Xenophon's Cyropaedia with Greek and English translation. Highly recommended. Could never figure why it was never given same import as other classics among modern audiences. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.%20Cyrop .

Once I learned that it was largely fictional I lost interest, as well written as it might be.

Re: As Xenophon saw it

#30

Post by whatshisface »

Emma_Goldman wrote: post #28
uxp100 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were joking.

Were they? I really didn't get that

I'm not joking at all, in fact if you mention in a Google interview that you went to horse camp they skip the rest of the process and make you a staff engineer on the spot. Many companies, especially the high-power consulting firms, are sending their most troubled young executives to horse camp as a remedial effort. It's impossible to overstate the importance of self-actualization.
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