Education in Ancient Greece
Encyclopedia
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
till the Hellenistic
Hellenistic period
The Hellenistic period or Hellenistic era describes the time which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was so named by the historian J. G. Droysen. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia...
and Roman
Roman Greece
Roman Greece is the period of Greek history following the Roman victory over the Corinthians at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC until the reestablishment of the city of Byzantium and the naming of the city by the Emperor Constantine as the capital of the Roman Empire...
period. From its origins in the Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
ic and the aristocratic tradition, Greek education was vastly "democratized" in the 5th century BC, influenced by the Sophists, Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and Isocrates
Isocrates
Isocrates , an ancient Greek rhetorician, was one of the ten Attic orators. In his time, he was probably the most influential rhetorician in Greece and made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and written works....
. In the Hellenistic period, education in a gymnasium
Gymnasium
Gymnasium may refer to:*Gymnasium , educational and sporting institution*Gymnasium , type of secondary school that prepares students for higher education**Gymnasium **Gymnasium...
was considered an inectricable prerequisite for participation in the Greek culture.
There were two forms of education in ancient Greece: formal and informal. Formal education was attained through attendance to a public school or was provided by a hired tutor. Informal education was provided by an unpaid teacher, and occurred in a non-public setting. Education was an essential component of a person’s identity in ancient Greece, and the type of education a person received was based strongly in one’s social class, the culture of one’s polis, and the opinion of one’s culture on what education should include.
Formal Greek education was primarily for men, and was, in general, not offered to slaves, manual laborers, or women. In some poleis, laws were passed to prohibit the education of slaves. A young girl would receive an informal education from her mother and would be taught how to maintain a household to serve her father and, later in life, her husband. Women’s roles included managing the household, raising children, preparing food, and making textiles. One exception to this was in Sparta, where women were expected to run the polis while the men were away at war. Women in Sparta also received an informal physical education.
Greek education focused heavily on training the entire person, which included education of the mind, body, and imagination. The specific purposes of Greek education differed from polis to polis. The Spartans placed a high emphasis on military training, while the Athenians traditionally gave more attention to music, literature, dance, and later also to the natural sciences, such as biology and chemistry, as well as philosophy, rhetoric, and sophistry-the art of presenting an argument using deception and reason to persuade the public to agree with a certain point of view. The Spartans also taught music and dance, but with the purpose of enhancing their manoeuvrability as soldiers.
Athenian System
ElementaryIn their early years, Athenian children were taught at home, sometimes under the guidance of a master or pedagogue. They were taught basic morals, until they began elementary education at approximately seven years of age. Children were taught how to read and write, as well as how to count and draw. Children were taught letters and then syllables, followed by words and sentences. Reading and writing were taught at the same time. Students would write using a stylus, with which they would etch onto a wax-covered board. When children were ready to begin reading whole works, they would often be given poetry to memorize and recite. An elementary education was the only education available to most people, especially the poor. Children belonging to the upper social classes would receive formal elementary education since their parents would be able to afford to hire a tutor or to send them to a public school. Children coming from poor families, however, would only be offered informal education, and the extent of their exposure to the above subjects would be directly linked to the knowledge of their parents. In addition to not having the money to pay for a formal education, members of the lower class most likely would have required their children’s services at home just to be able to afford food and other basic necessities.
Gymnasium
Having a physically fit body was extremely important to the Greeks. Greek boys would begin physical education either during or just after beginning their elementary education. In the beginning they would learn from a private teacher known as a paidotribe. Eventually, the boys would begin training at the gymnasium. Physical training was seen as necessary for improving one’s appearance, preparation for war, and good health at an old age. Traditionally, attendance at the gymnasium completed the majority of post-elementary education in Athens. It was not until about 420 BC that secondary education became prominent, which led to controversy between traditional and modern views of education. Those of the traditional view believed that raising “intellectuals” would destroy Athenian culture and leave Athens at a disadvantage in war. On the other hand, those with a more modern view felt that while physical strength was important, it would diminish over time and that education should be used to develop the whole man, including his intellectual mind.
Secondary
After turning fourteen years old, boys from wealthy families had the option of attending secondary school. A secondary school might have been a permanent one, or it could have been received from traveling teachers such as the Sophists or other philosophers including Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known for his paradoxes, which Bertrand Russell has described as "immeasurably subtle and profound".- Life...
and Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Born in Clazomenae in Asia Minor, Anaxagoras was the first philosopher to bring philosophy from Ionia to Athens. He attempted to give a scientific account of eclipses, meteors, rainbows, and the sun, which he described as a fiery mass larger than...
of Clazomenae. Secondary education included subjects such as natural science (biology and chemistry), rhetoric (the art of speaking or writing effectively), geometry, sophistry, astronomy and meteorology. The teaching of these subjects became highly valued within Athenian society, because the Athenians believed that intellectual education was a key component of a person’s identity, making up a significant part of a person’s reputation. Accomplishments in academics could help an individual gain the respect of his peers. With this respect, leaders such as Themistocles
Themistocles
Themistocles ; c. 524–459 BC, was an Athenian politician and a general. He was one of a new breed of politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy, along with his great rival Aristides...
, Pericles
Pericles
Pericles was a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age—specifically, the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars...
, and Alcibiades
Alcibiades
Alcibiades, son of Clinias, from the deme of Scambonidae , was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War...
were able to influence political and military endeavors pursued by Athens.
Post-Secondary
Boys could continue their education after secondary school by obtaining ephebic training. They could petition to become an ephebe at the age of eighteen. In the fifth century BCE, ephebic training began as a military education, followed by two years of military service. Later, however, more advanced academic schooling was included.
Other
As mentioned earlier, children of poor families were often unable to receive a formal education. These children, however, were not totally forgotten. Solon
Solon
Solon was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens...
, an Athenian leader who lived during the 7th to mid 6th centuries BCE, did much to reform his polis, and encouraged poor fathers to provide their sons with a vocational education. By teaching these children a trade, they could also be regarded as productive members of Athenian society.
Music and dance were also very important to Athens. Throughout the many stages of an individual’s education, he was encouraged to practice dancing, singing and the playing of instruments. Common instruments used in Athens included the harp, flute and lyre. By advancing in dance, singing and the playing of instruments, an Athenian would help continue a tradition that was a key component of Athenian history.
Spartan System
The Spartan society desired that all male citizens become successful soldiers with the stamina and skills to defend their polis as members of a Spartan phalanx. Thus, only the healthiest male babies born to Spartan citizens were allowed to live. A council convened at the birth of each male child with the purpose of examining the baby for defects and signs of weakness. After examination, the council would either rule that the baby was fit to live or would reject the baby sentencing him to a death by abandonment and exposure.Agoge
Military dominance was of extreme importance to the Spartans of ancient Greece. In response, the Spartans structured their educational system as an extreme form of military boot camp, which they referred to as agoge
Agoge
The agōgē was the rigorous education and training regimen mandated for all male Spartan citizens, except for the firstborn son in the ruling houses, Eurypontid and Agiad. The training involved learning stealth, cultivating loyalty to one's group, military training The agōgē (Greek: ἀγωγή in Attic...
. The pursuit of intellectual knowledge was seen as trivial, and thus academic learning, such as reading and writing, was kept to a minimum. A Spartan boy’s life was devoted almost entirely to his school, and that school had but one purpose: to produce an almost indestructible Spartan phalanx. Formal education for a Spartan male began at about the age of seven when the state removed the boy from the custody of his parents and sent him to live in a barracks with many other boys his age. For all intents and purposes, the barracks was his new home, and the other males living in the barracks his family. For the next five years, until about the age of twelve, the boys would eat, sleep and train within their barracks-unit and receive instruction from an adult male citizen who had completed all of his military training and experienced battle. The instructor stressed discipline and exercise and saw to it that his students received little food and minimal clothing in an effort to force the boys to learn how to forage, steal and endure extreme hunger, all of which would be necessary skills in the course of a war. Those boys who survived the first stage of training entered into a secondary stage in which punishments became harsher and physical training and participation in sports almost non-stop in order to build up strength and endurance. During this stage, which lasted until the males were about eighteen years old, fighting within the unit was encouraged, mock battles were performed, acts of courage praised, and signs of cowardice and disobedience severely punished. During the mock battles, the young men were formed into phalanxes to learn to maneuver as if they were one entity and not a group of individuals. To be more efficient and effective during maneuvers, students were also trained in dancing and music, because this would enhance their ability to move gracefully as a unit. Toward the end of this phase of the agoge, the trainees were expected to hunt down and kill a Helot, a Greek slave. If caught, the student would be convicted and disciplined-not for committing murder, but for his inability to complete the murder without being discovered.
Ephebe
The students would graduate from the agoge at the age of eighteen and receive the title of ephebes. Upon becoming an ephebe, the male would pledge strict and complete allegiance to Sparta and would join a private organization to continue training in which he would compete in gymnastics, hunting and performance with planned battles using real weapons. After two years, at the age of twenty, this training was finished and the now grown men were officially regarded as Spartan soldiers.
Education of Spartan Women
Spartan women, unlike their Athenian counterparts, received a formal education that was supervised and controlled by the state. Much of the public schooling received by the Spartan women revolved around physical education. Until about the age of eighteen women were taught to run, wrestle, throw a discus, and also to throw javelins. The skills of the young women were tested regularly in competitions such as the annual footrace at the Heraea of Elis, In addition to physical education the young girls also were taught to sing, dance, and play instruments often by travelling poets such as Alcman
Alcman
Alcman was an Ancient Greek choral lyric poet from Sparta. He is the earliest representative of the Alexandrinian canon of the nine lyric poets.- Family :...
or by the elderly women in the polis. The Spartan educational system for females was very strict, because its purpose was to train future mothers of soldiers in order to maintain the strength of Sparta’s phalanxes, which were essential to Spartan defence and culture.
Primary sources (ancient Greek)
. See original text in Perseus program.- LycurgusLycurgus of AthensLycurgus was a logographer in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third century BCE.Lycurgus was born at Athens about 396 BC, and was the son of Lycophron, who belonged...
, Contra Leocratem.. See original text in http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/plutarch-education.html.. See original text in http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/sparta-a.html.