Xenophon of Athens, a soldier, mercenary, and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates. His literary heritage includes works on the history of his own times, the 4th century BC, preserving the sayings of Socrates, and the life of ancient Greece. In “Hiero” he offers a dialogue between Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, and the lyric poet Simonides about 474 B.C.E. By this work the author tried to disprove general delusion of a complete prosperity of the tyrant, describing residing misfortunes, the atmosphere of distrust, hatred and continuous tyrant’s fear for his own life.
The second part of the work presents a series of reorganizations, resulting in the prosperity and happiness of the ruler and his nation. Xenophon claims that one is able to avoid hatred and be honored if uses the power for the sake of good.