The Sportsman On Hunting, a Sportsman's Manual, Commonly Called Cynegeticus
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Attributed (authorship debated)
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~23,800 words · 113 passages
Cite this work
- APAXenophon. (n.d.). The Sportsman On Hunting, a Sportsman's Manual, Commonly Called Cynegeticus. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/xenophon/the-sportsman-on-hunting-a-sportsman-s-manual-commonly-called-cynegeticus
- MLAXenophon. The Sportsman On Hunting, a Sportsman's Manual, Commonly Called Cynegeticus. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/xenophon/the-sportsman-on-hunting-a-sportsman-s-manual-commonly-called-cynegeticus.
- ChicagoXenophon. The Sportsman On Hunting, a Sportsman's Manual, Commonly Called Cynegeticus. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/xenophon/the-sportsman-on-hunting-a-sportsman-s-manual-commonly-called-cynegeticus.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
A manual of hunting with dogs: breeds, scent, nets, and a closing praise of hunting as training of character.
Context and history
The oldest surviving treatise on hunting. Its final section, defending hunting as a school of virtue and attacking the sophists, has made some scholars doubt the authorship: it sounds like Xenophon, but the tone does not quite match the rest.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
Once she is off, the pack should pursue with vigour. (18) They must not relax their hold, but with yelp and bark full cry insist on keeping close and dogging puss at every turn. Twist for twist and turn for turn, they, too, must follow in a succession of swift and brilliant bursts, interrupted by frequent doublings; while ever and again they give tongue and yet again till the very welkin rings. (19) One thing they must not do, and that is, leave the scent and return crestfallen to the huntsman. (20) (18) Lit. "let them follow up the chase vigorously, and not relax, with yelp and bark." (19) {dikaios}, Sturz, "non temere"; "and not without good reason." Al. "a right good honest salvo of barks." (20) Lit. "Let them not hark back to join the huntsman, and desert the trail." Along with this build and method of working, hounds should possess four points. They should have pluck, sound feet, keen noses, and sleek coats. The spirited, plucky hound will prove his mettle by refusing to leave the chase, however stifling the weather; a good nose is shown by his capacity for scenting the hare on barren and dry ground exposed to the sun, and that when the orb is at the zenith; (21) soundness of foot in the fact that the dog may course over mountains during the same season, and yet his feet will not be torn to pieces; and a good coat means the possession of light, thick, soft, and silky hair. (22) (21) i.e. "at mid-day"; or, "in the height of summer"; al. "during the dog-days"; "at the rising of the dog-star." (22) See Pollux, ib. 59; Arrian, vi. 1. As to the colour proper for a hound, (23) it should not be simply tawny, nor absolutely black or white, which is not a sign of breeding, but monotonous--a simplicity suggestive of the wild animal.…
Ask about this workWhat is The Sportsman On Hunting, a Sportsman's Manual, Commonly Called Cynegeticus about?Summarize The Sportsman On Hunting, a Sportsman's Manual, Commonly Called Cynegeticus brieflyWhat are the key ideas in The Sportsman On Hunting, a Sportsman's Manual, Commonly Called Cynegeticus?
← Back to Xenophon