Cyropaedia  

"The Cyropaedia of Xenophon, which may be considered perhaps as the origin of all political romance, seems more particularly to have suggested two works, which appeared in France about the commencement of the 18th century, Les Voyages de Cyrus and Le Repos de Cyrus. Of these the former work is by the Chevalier Ramsay, the friend of Fenelon, and tutor to the sons of the Pre- tender. The author has chosen, as the subject of his romance, that part of the life of Cyrus, which extends from the sixteenth to the fortieth year of his age, a period of which nothing is said in the Cyropaedia. During this interval, Ramsay has made his hero travel according to fancy, and by this means takes occasion to describe the man- ners, religion, and policy, of the countries which are visited, as also some of the principal events in their history. The Persian prince wanders through Greece, Syria, and Egypt, and in the course of his journey enjoys long philosophical and political conversations with Zoroaster, Solon, and the pro- phet Daniel. What is said concerning the man- ners of the different nations, is fortified by passages from the ancient philosophers and poets. The author exhibits considerable acquaintance with chronology and history, an,d enters profound- ly into the fables of the antients, from which he attempts to show that the leading truths of reli- gion arc to be found in the mythological systems of all nations. His work, however, is rather a treatise intended to form the mind of a young prince than a fiction. The only romantic incident is the love of Cyrus for Cassandana, which occu- pies a considerable part of the first book, where the usual obstacles of the prohibition of parents, and a powerful rival, are interposed to the happi- ness of the lovers. In 17'28, a satire on Ramsay's Cyrus, entitled La Nouvelle Cyropa^die, ou Re- flexions de Cyrus sur ses Voyages, was printed at Amsterdam. In this work, Cyrus, having become master of Asia, complains, in six evening conver- sations with his confident Araspes, of the pedan- tic and ridiculous part he is made to act in his tra- vels. A serious criticism was written by the Pere Vinot, to which Ramsay made a suitable reply."--History of Fiction (1814) by John Colin Dunlop