''Hiero'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ἱέρων, ''Hiéron'') is a minor work by

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, set as a

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

between Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse,

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

, and the lyric poet

Simonides Simonides of Ceos (; ; c. 556 – 468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Kea (island), Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets esteemed by them as worthy of criti ...

about 474 BC. The dialogue is a response to the assumption that a

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...

's life is more pleasant than a commoner's. Having lived as both, Hiero breaks down this misconception, arguing that a

does not have any more access to

happiness Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

than a private person. Some of this concept is considered in the Sword of Damocles parable, several centuries later. Taken at face value, the Hiero appears to defend the superiority of tyranny over other forms of political organization. At the very least, Simonides praises the life of Hiero, a man who acquires power in the most unscrupulous manner and deprives the Syracusans of freedom. However, if read carefully, the Hiero indicates that a private life is superior to living life as a tyrant. Tyrants enjoy dominating others, but desire even more to be loved and honestly praised by those around them. Tyrants are thus trapped in an endless cycle of violence and fear. They cannot give up their power for fear of losing the attention of others and for fear that those they previously oppressed will not immediately execute them. The dialogue, like many of Xenophon's works, does not receive much scholarly attention today. However, it was the nominal subject of

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was an American scholar of political philosophy. He spent much of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students an ...

' analysis ''On Tyranny'', which initiated his famous dialogue with

Alexandre Kojève Alexandre Kojève (born Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kozhevnikov; 28 April 1902 – 4 June 1968) was a Russian-born French philosopher and international civil service, civil servant whose philosophical seminars had some influence on 20th-century Frenc ...

on the role of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

.Strauss 1959, p. 104.

Bibliography

* Strauss, Leo "Restatement on Xenophon's Hiero", in ''What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies.'' Ed. Leo Strauss. University of Chicago Press, 1959 (). * Levy, David "An Introduction to the Hiero", in ''Xenophon: The Shorter Writings.'' Ed. Gregory A. McBrayer. Cornell University Press, 2018 ().

References

External links

''Hiero'' original text and translation
at

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''Hiero'' full text in English
from

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Works by Xenophon Ancient Syracuse Political philosophy in ancient Greece {{poli-thought-hist-stub