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While a young man, Xenophon participated in the expedition led by Cyrus the Younger against his older brother, the emperor Artaxerxes II of Persia. Cyrus hoped to depose his brother and gain the throne, but did not tell his mercenaries of this true goal of the expedition. A battle took place at Cunaxa, where the Greeks were victorious but Cyrus was killed, and shortly thereafter their general, Clearchus of Sparta, was captured and executed. The mercenaries found themselves deep in hostile territory, far from the sea, and without leadership. They elected new leaders, including Xenophon himself, who led them north through Armenia and back to GreeceGreece formally called the Hellenic Republic (in Greek: ) Hellenike Demokratia , is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula. It is bounded on land by Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania. Xenophon's record of this expedition and the journey home was titled AnabasisAnabasis is the most famous work of the Greek writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment. Xenophon accompanied a large army of Greek mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger, who intended to seize the throne of Persia from his ("Expedition" or "The March Up Country" which carries in Greek the same connotation it does in English).

At some point, Xenophon was exiled from Athens, because of either his collaboration with the Thirty TyrantsThe Thirty Tyrants were a pro- Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War in April 404 BC. Its two leading members were Tharamenes and Critias, a former acolyte of Socrates. The Thirty severely reduced the number o, or his allegiance to Cyrus, or his later association with the Spartan general Agesilaus. The Spartans gave him property at ScillusScillus is a location in Elis, south of Olympia where Xenophon retired after his exile from Athens. It had been under Spartan control at the end of the Peloponnesian War, and the Spartans had given Xenophon some land in it. It is near the modern villages, near Olympia, where his Anabasis was composed. Later the banishment was revoked, and Xenophon spent his last years at Athens, where his son Gryllus was memorialized for his valiant death at Mantinea. Xenophon is said to have died at CorinthCorinth Greece is a prominent city in both Greek mythology and the New Testament. There are also numerous places in the United States with this name: Corinth in Bullock County, Alabama Corinth in Clay County, Alabama Corinth in Cullman County, Alabama Cor, though he may have died in Athens, and his date of death is uncertain; it is known only that he survived his patron Agesilaus, for whom he wrote an encomium.

Xenophon is often cited as being the original Horse Whisperer, having been an advocate of sympathetic horsemanship, and the author of works on horsemanship.