The Economist — A Closer Reading

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In Category - Historical Psychological Social Fiction

Authors: Xenophon, 432 BCE-351? BCE, Dakyns, Henry Graham, 1838-1911 [Translator] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 1998 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Classical literature; Dialogues, Greek -- Translations into English; Administration of estates -- Greece -- Early works to 1800; Greece -- Economic conditions -- Early works to 1800 Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 39,666

Reading time 173 min

Text sections 6

The catalog record for The Economist — A Closer Reading provides practical reading context through 39,666 words, 2 hr 53 min estimated reading time, and 6 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 19.4 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Classical literature,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #1173

Xenophon's Socratic dialogue on estate management unfolds through a layered structure of reported conversations, moving from Socrates' talk with Critobulus to a lengthy recollection of Ischomachus' practical teachings on household and farm administration.

Editorial Edition Score 4.6/5

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
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Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

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Edition quality

File: pg1173

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This was typed from Dakyns' series, "The Works of Xenophon," a four-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works (though there is doubt about some of these) is:

The Anabasis 7 The Hellenica 7 The Cyropaedia 8 The Memorabilia 4 The Symposium 1 The Economist 1 On Horsemanship 1 The Sportsman 1 The Cavalry General 1 The Apology 1 On Revenues 1 The Hiero 1 The Agesilaus 1 The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2

Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text into English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The diacritical marks have been lost.

Translation by H. G. Dakyns

A Treatise on the Science of the Household in the form of a Dialogue

Socrates and Critobulus

At Chapter VII. a prior discussion held between Socrates and Ischomachus is introduced: On the life of a "beautiful and good" man.

In these chapters (vii.-xxi.) Socrates is represented by the author as repeating for the benefit of Critobulus and the rest certain conversations which he had once held with the beautiful and good Ischomachus on the essentials of economy. It was a tete-a-tete discussion, and in the original Greek the remarks of the two speakers are denoted by such phrases as {ephe o 'Iskhomakhos--ephen egio}--"said (he) Ischomachus," "said I." (Socrates) To save the repetition of expressions tedious in English, I have, whenever it seemed help to do so, ventured to throw parts of the reported conversations into dramatic form, inserting "Isch." "Soc." in the customary way to designate the speakers; but these, it must be borne in mind, are merely "asides" to the reader, who will not forget that Socrates is the narrator throughout--speaking of himself as "I," and of Ischomachus as "he," or by his name.--Translator's note, addressed to the English reader.

I once heard him [2] discuss the topic of economy [3] after the following manner. Addressing Critobulus, [4] he said: Tell me, Critobulus, is "economy," like the words "medicine," "carpentry," "building," "smithying," "metal-working," and so forth, the name of a particular kind of knowledge or science?

[1] By "economist" we now generally understand "political economist," but the use of the word as referring to domestic economy, the subject matter of the treatise, would seem to be legitimate.

[3] Lit. "the management of a household and estate." See Plat. "Rep." 407 B; Aristot. "Eth. N." v. 6; "Pol." i. 3.

[4] See "Mem." I. iii. 8; "Symp." p. 292.

Crit. Yes, I think so.

Soc. And as, in the case of the arts just named, we can state the proper work or function of each, can we (similarly) state the proper work and function of economy?

Crit. It must, I should think, be the business of the good economist [5] at any rate to manage his own house or estate well.

[5] Or, "manager of a house or estate."

Soc. And supposing another man's house to be entrusted to him, he would be able, if he chose, to manage it as skilfully as his own, would he not? since a man who is skilled in carpentry can work as well for another as for himself: and this ought to be equally true of the good economist?

Crit. Yes, I think so, Socrates.

Soc. Then there is no reason why a proficient in this art, even if he does not happen to possess wealth of his own, should not be paid a salary for managing a house, just as he might be paid for building one?

Crit. None at all: and a large salary he would be entitled to earn if, after paying the necessary expenses of the estate entrusted to him, he can create a surplus and improve the property.

Soc. Well! and this word "house," what are we to understand by it? the domicile merely? or are we to include all a man's possessions outside the actual dwelling-place? [6]

[6] Lit. "is it synonymous with dwelling-place, or is all that a man possesses outside his dwelling-place part of his house or estate?"

Crit. Certainly, in my opinion at any rate, everything which a man has got, even though some portion of it may lie in another part of the world from that in which he lives, [7] forms part of his estate.

[7] Lit. "not even in the same state or city."

Soc. "Has got"? but he may have got enemies?

Crit. Yes, I am afraid some people have got a great many.

Soc. Then shall we say that a man's enemies form part of his possessions?

Crit. A comic notion indeed! that some one should be good enough to add to my stock of enemies, and that in addition he should be paid for his kind services.

Soc. Because, you know, we agreed that a man's estate was identical with his possessions?

Crit. Yes, certainly! the good part of his possessions; but the evil portion! no, I thank you, that I do not call part of a man's possessions.

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Xenophon's The Economist opens with Socrates addressing Critobulus on the nature of economy, but the dialogue soon shifts into a reported conversation: Socrates recounts a prior discussion with Ischomachus, a man described as “beautiful and good.” This nested structure—Socrates speaking to Critobulus about what Ischomachus told him—creates a layered frame that distances the reader from the original exchange. The translator, H. G. Dakyns, signals this by inserting dramatic speaker tags like “Isch.” and “Soc.” as asides, reminding us that Socrates remains the narrator throughout.

A Dialogue Within a Dialogue

The work’s structure is its most distinctive feature. The opening chapters (I–VI) present Socrates and Critobulus in direct conversation, but at Chapter VII the text pivots: Socrates begins to repeat a tete-a-tete he once had with Ischomachus. This embedded dialogue runs through Chapter XXI, with Socrates speaking of himself as “I” and Ischomachus as “he.” The translator’s note warns that the dramatic format is a concession to readability, but the original Greek uses phrases like {ephe o 'Iskhomakhos—ephen egio}—“said he, Ischomachus,” “said I.” Readers must keep track of who is speaking at each level: Socrates the narrator, Ischomachus the reported speaker, and occasionally Critobulus as the immediate listener.

Recurring Images of Order and Adornment

Throughout the reported conversation, Ischomachus emphasizes physical order as a reflection of moral and economic health. He instructs his wife to “knead the dough and roll the paste; to shake the coverlets and make the beds,” linking domestic labor to health and beauty. The wife’s “very look and aspect” is described as “more fair and more beautifully adorned” when she performs these tasks, contrasting with the “painted counterfeits of womanhood” who sit idle. This image recurs: the well-ordered household mirrors the well-ordered soul, and physical activity—kneading, shaking, making—becomes a visible sign of virtue. Ischomachus later claims his wife still lives “in a style as simple as that I taught her then,” suggesting that these routines are enduring.

Movement Between Scenes: From Household to Farm

The dialogue moves fluidly between interior and exterior spaces. After detailing his wife’s domestic duties, Ischomachus shifts to his own “work and business” outdoors. Socrates prompts him: “would you now in turn describe to me your work and business?” The transition is marked by a change in setting—from the house to the fields—and a change in focus from the wife’s training to the husband’s daily occupations. Ischomachus promises to recount his “daily occupations” and invites Socrates to “reform me, where you find some flaw.” This movement between scenes is not merely geographical; it mirrors the dialogue’s thematic shift from the internal economy of the household to the external economy of the estate.

Socrates’ Self-Deprecating Humor and the Horse of Nicias

In a striking digression, Socrates deflects Ischomachus’ praise by recounting an anecdote about “the horse of Nicias, the foreigner.” He describes approaching the groom and asking, “Has the horse much wealth?” The groom’s incredulous reply—“How can a horse have wealth?”—prompts Socrates to realize that a “poor penniless horse” can still be noble if nature has endowed it with “good spirit.” This brief story, inserted into the serious discussion of economy, serves as a humorous self-critique: Socrates compares himself to a horse, poor yet potentially good. The anecdote also introduces a recurring motif of animals as analogies for human virtue, and it lightens the tone before Socrates commits to imitating Ischomachus “from to-morrow.”

Readers approaching The Economist should attend to its layered narration: Socrates is always present as the filter through which Ischomachus’ teachings reach us. The dialogue’s movement between domestic interiors and agricultural exteriors, its recurring images of ordered labor, and its moments of self-deprecating humor all reinforce the central argument that economy is a practical, embodied virtue. The text rewards careful attention to who is speaking and when.

There’s a quiet weight to Xenophon’s practical household order, yet beneath it, something restless stirs. I found myself thinking of the pensive, wounded voice in The Confession of a Child of the Century — Volume 2 — Reading Notes. Both speak of stewardship—one over land, the other over a bruised heart—as if tending is the only honest answer to our own uncertainty.