The Economist

by Xenophon

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Pages: 97

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About this book

The Economist is a dialogue by Xenophon in the translation of H. G. Dakyns. The opening note describes it as Socrates and Critobulus in a talk about profitable estate management, followed by a lengthy recollection by Socrates of Ischomachus' discussion of the same topic.

In one passage Socrates discusses what counts as wealth. Money, he says, should be banished to the remote corners of the earth rather than be reckoned as wealth if its owner does not know how to use it. Friends, and even the foes of a household, count as wealth when a man knows how to turn them to good account. In another passage Socrates tells how he exclaimed to Ischomachus that his wife had a brave and masculine intelligence. Footnotes with Greek terms and alternative readings run through the pages.

About the author

Xenophon

Xenophon (c. 430-354 BC) was an ancient Greek soldier, historian, and student of Socrates. His Anabasis, an account of the march of the Ten Thousand, is a classic of history and adventure.