2 h 36 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 36 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if training a hound is also a way to train your character?
In The Sportsman, Xenophon takes you into the practical work of the ancient Greek hunt. This soldier and student of Socrates explains how to choose equipment, set nets and train hounds. The hare provides his model chase: a dawn start, likely ground and dogs following a scent.
But the chase also carries an argument about how to live. Xenophon presents hunting as training for the body, preparation for war and a habit that builds virtue. Alongside advice on deer and wild boar, he challenges teachers who speak well but do little. What matters to him is character tested through action.
What you’ll discover
- Myth at the beginning Discover Xenophon's opening account of Apollo and Artemis giving the hunt to Chiron.
- The care of hounds Explore the care behind choosing, naming and training dogs for the chase.
- A dawn hare hunt Follow the hunter's preparations as nets, ground and scent shape the pursuit.
- Courage with larger prey See how deer and wild boar bring courage and caution into the hunter's craft.
- Virtue put into practice Consider Xenophon's claim that demanding habits strengthen character more than polished talk.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy dogs, the countryside and the old Greek world, or if you like to see how a practical craft carries a view of courage and duty.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Heroes learned their virtue in Cheiron's hunting school
- Good nets and a good keeper make the hunt
- Judge a hound by its build, its nose and its manner
- Learn the hare and let weather guide the chase
- Hunt the hare with method, voice and patience
- Deer and boar demand courage, cunning and company
- Hunting trains a soldier's body and mind
- Virtue is won by toil and sold falsely by sophists
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The Sportsman
by Xenophon
A Greek soldier teaches that chasing hares with hounds builds the men who defend a city.
Easy read2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What would it take to make a young man brave, honest and fit to defend his city? Xenophon, an Athenian soldier and writer who died in 355 BC, gives a surprising answer.
The Sportsman at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h 30 min1 h 10 min fast, 1 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 21,700 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- about 360 BCby Xenophon
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Heroes learned their virtue in Cheiron's hunting school
Xenophon opens with a legend, not a lesson. The gods Apollo and Artemis found the art of hunting and gave it to the centaur Cheiron as a reward for his honesty. Cheiron then taught it to a long line of pupils.
The list reads like a roll call of Greek legend. Asclepius won the power to heal the sick. Melanion worked so hard that he alone, among many suitors, won Atalanta as his wife. Aeneas saved his father and the household gods of both his parents. Hippolytus was honored for his self-restraint, and Theseus defeated the enemies of all Greece.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 1 h 40 min
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Xenophon. The Sportsman. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sportsman.
Xenophon. (2026). The sportsman. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sportsman (Original work published ca. 360 B.C.E.)
Xenophon. The Sportsman. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sportsman.
@book{xenophon2026sportsman,
author = {Xenophon},
title = {The Sportsman},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sportsman},
note = {First published ca. 360 BCE}
}
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What is The Sportsman by Xenophon about?
It is an ancient Greek treatise on hunting. It explains equipment, hounds, hares, deer and wild boar, then argues that the hunt builds courage, health and good citizens. It also criticizes the sophists, who teach clever words instead of virtue.
Who was Cheiron in The Sportsman?
Cheiron is the wise and honest centaur who receives the art of hunting from Apollo and Artemis. He teaches it to heroes such as Asclepius, Theseus, Odysseus and Achilles, and Xenophon holds them up as proof of what hunting builds.
What kinds of animals does Xenophon describe hunting?
He covers hares first and in most detail, then fawns and deer, then wild boar. He closes briefly with lions, leopards, bears and other large game taken abroad, using poison or pit traps with a goat as bait.
The author
Xenophon
430 BC–353 BC · Ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Greek philosopher, historian, and soldier.
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