Xenophon’s Agesilaos is a work on the Spartan king Aegesilus. It has been regarded is a prototype for biography, one which takes its lead from Isocrates’ Evagoras. J. B. Bury and Arnaldo Momigliano observe that this text is the earliest biography together with the Evagoras. A biography is an account of the life of an individual, usually someone prominent such as king Agesilaos, and is generally thought to be commendatory; however, that praise does not have to be the aim or purpose of the Agesilaos. In particular, the work is intended to be, or rather, appear to be, an encomium, a work that praises its subject (as most scholarly readers take it to be) under whom Xenophon marched in the expedition of the Ten Thousand against the Persians in the battle of Chaeronea in 394...
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Citation: Too, Yun Lee. "Agesilaos". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 May 2026 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6806, accessed 09 June 2026.]
