Xenophons

Xenophons is the plural form of the Greek given name Xenophon. The name derives from xenos, meaning stranger or guest, and phone, meaning voice or sound, and can be understood as “foreign voice.” In ancient Greek usage, Xenophon was a relatively common name, so Xenophons may refer to multiple individuals who bore that name in different contexts.

The most prominent bearer of the name is Xenophon of Athens (c. 430–354 BCE), an Athenian soldier, student of Socrates, and author of historical and philosophical works such as the Anabasis, Memorabilia, and Cyropaedia. His writings had a lasting influence on classical historiography and the tradition of Greek prose.

Aside from Xenophon of Athens, other individuals named Xenophon are attested in ancient sources, but details about them are often fragmentary or uncertain. Modern scholarship generally distinguishes these figures to prevent conflation, emphasizing the need for careful textual disambiguation when Xenophons appear in ancient manuscripts.

In contemporary usage, Xenophons appears mainly in discussions of Greek onomastics, textual criticism, and disambiguation practices within classical studies. The name today is rarely used as a given name in common practice outside of historical reference, though Xenophon as a personal name persists in scholarly discussion and in modern Greek culture.

See also: Xenophon (name) and Xenophon (disambiguation) for related information and clarification of individual figures named Xenophon.