1 A
A 617625
L26
DUPL
ELEMENTARY
GREEK EDUCATION
LANE

1837
ARTES
LIBRARY
VERITAS
-Bio
-Com
Ball(J.
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Barber
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Geog
Rod
The
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Tea
The
The
Effe
·Hist
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ELEMENTARY
GREEK EDUCATION
-BY-
izam
FREDERICK HYLANE
PRINCIPAL OF BABYLON UNION SCHOOL
BULLETIN

SCHOO
PUBL
BLICATIONS
1874
SYRACUSE, N. Y.
C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER
1895
Copyright, 1895, by C. W. BARDEEN
J10114105
PREFACE
This Essay on Elementary Greek Educa-
tion is the amplification of a paper prepared
as a part of the class work of the writer
while a student in the classes of Dr. James
M. Milne of the Oneonta Normal School.
The information here collected is derived
from sources not accessible to the average
reader and while not the result of original
research in all cases, has enough of the
author's own investigation and enough of
arrangement and presentation of diffuse
material to induce the hope that it may not
be without value to his fellow-teachers and
to warrant its foisting on an indulgent pub-
lic.
+
139403
1.
#
Elementary Greek Education
INTRODUCTION
From ancient Greece all the streams which
swell the current of modern civilization
have proceeded. Greek philosophy, paint-
ing, architecture, history, sculpture, poetry
and oratory have furnished suggestion and
inspiration for all the centuries since; ped-
agogy should absorb what it may. If there
are mistakes.to avoid, practices to modify,
or successes to imitate, the knowledge
should be obtained and advantage taken.
That the foundation of all other achieve-
ments which glorify the Hellenic name must
have been in the educational system, is suf-
ficient enticement for its study.
Greece proper included only that portion
of the peninsula lying between the parallels
36° 30′ and 40° north latitude, about that of
Virginia and Maryland, and was in extent
about one-half the size of Pennsylvania.
It had a rich diversity of surface, a delight-
6
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
ful and equable climate and a coast line
much indented. A study of the physical
features alone would give a key to the or-
ganization of its inhabitants. The natural
divisions of the land must produce nations
differing in customs and tendencies, yet the
narrow limits of the whole country and the
proximity of neighboring peoples precluded
an essentially distinct language or an entire
dissimilarity of customs. In harmony with
this, Greece was peopled by a race allied in
language and religion, but divided by dif-
ferences of dialect, and by the existence,
here and there, of various minor deities es-
sentially local.
During the Heroic (Legendary) Age,
Greece was inhabited by four seemingly dis-
tinct nationalities,-Dorians, Æolians, Ioni-
ans, and Achæans. Their genealogy was
traced in myth directly from Prometheus,
the parallel of the Hebrew Adam. After
the "general deluge" which Zeus sent upon
the earth in consequence of the iniquity of
the "brazen race," Deucalion and his wife
Pyrrha, preserved by an ark which Prome-
theus, the father of Deucalion, had fore-
warned them to build, found themselves the
INTRODUCTION
De-
sole inhabitants of deserted Greece.
scending from Mt. Parnassus where their
ark had rested after the subsidence of the
nine days flood, they prayed that the land
might again be relieved of its solitude by
the creation of a race of men. In answer
to their petition Zeus directed them to gather
stones from the ground and cast them over
their shoulders. Those cast by Pyrrha be-
came women, those by Deucalion, men.
Thus was created what in Latin and Greek
literature, is called the " stony race of men.
""
The offspring of Deucalion and Pyrrha
were two sons, Hellen and Amphictyon, and
a daughter, Protogeneia. Hellen had three
sons, Dorus, Eolus, and Xuthus. Between
these three Greece or Hellas was divided,
Eolus reigning in Thessaly, and Dorus in
the country lying north of the Corinthian
Gulf, opposite Peloponnesus. To Xuthus,
two sons were born, Achæus and Iôn, be-
tween whom his territory of the Peloponnê-
sus was divided. Thus originated the four
tribes, to all of whom, however, was applied
the name Hellenes, from their common
ancestor.
Besides the fraternal feeling which their
8 ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
supposed ancestry would engender, the Am-
phictyonic Council, which met semi-annu-
ally in the spring at Delphi, and in the
autumn at Anthela, near Thermopylæ, the
national games, and a common interest in
the Delphic oracle all conspired to unify the
varied tendencies of each division into an
approximately general aim. The aim was
that thorough individualization should be
modified by mutual interdependence. The
realization of this ideal placed Greece fore-
most among the nations whose education
has been distinctly "national."
In that time which the epic poets have
rendered immortal as preeminently the "Age
of Heroes," is found the first phase of Greek
Education. This period extends from the
darkness of an unknown past, down through
the legendary days, misty, yet luminous
with the names of Hercules, Eurystheus,
Jason, Achilles, Agamemnon, Ulysses, Hec-
tor and Meleager; it comes forth into light
with the return of the Heracleidæ (Dorian
Migration); and sinks into historical obliv-
ion during the three centuries immediately
preceding the first recorded Olympiad, 776
B. C.
INTRODUCTION
9
The second period produced those treas-
ures of art and literature which have baffled
the efforts of succeeding ages to excel or
equal. It began with the first Olympiad,
reached its culmination in the age of Peri-
cles, and sank into its decline through the
disintegration of religious belief and the
spirit of criticism stimulated by the rhetor-
icians and philosophers at the close of the
Peloponnesian War, 404 B.
C. This has
been appropriately called State Educa-
tion.”
A third period-when Greece had lost her
nationality, and Athens had become the
school of the world, when her methods were
as cosmopolitan as her pupils, and her edu-
cation was not for Greece- is generally
called the "University Period."
In the following pages, the aims, meth-
ods and results of education during the first
two periods will be outlined.
4
:

CHAPTER I
HEROIC EDUCATION
Concerning the period included under the
head "Heroic Education," little is known
beyond what may be gathered from the
poems of the Epic Cycle. Of these, the
Iliad and the Odyssey alone remain in their
entirety, and accordingly from them about
all that is known of the customs of this pe-
riod must be drawn. While no date can
be accurately assigned for the production of
either of these poems, they are by common
consent attributed to a period considerably
later than the siege of Troy (twelfth century
B. C.), and prior to the first Olympiad.
Now, it must be remembered that any poet
in referring to events belonging to a period
anterior to his own, must necessarily borrow
much from his own experience and much
from the customs of his own time. If, then,
we accept the general date above given, we
shall seem warranted in accepting these
HEROIC EDUCATION
11
poems as mirrors reflecting tolerably well
the manners and customs of the ninth, tenth,
and eleventh centuries before our era.
On account of the simplicity and freedom
of early times we can expect little of system-
atic arrangement in their educational plan.
Society in this period was divided into
(1) the ruling class, Achæans,¹ consisting of
the king (basileus) and allied chieftains;
(2) the freemen (laoi³), consisting of the
general mass of the populace, who served as
warriors, and practised the various trades
requiring any considerable skill; and (3)
the slaves (douloi 4), who were mostly cap-
tives taken in war. In addition to these, a
fourth class called thetes, made up of poor
freemen who possessed no land and were
compelled to work for wages, may be men-
tioned. The meagreness of their pay and
the uncertainty of employment seems to
have rendered them even worse off than the
slaves.
5
In the state, there was little of organiza-
tion. Such a thing as a constitution, though
a necessity to the historic Greek, was as yet
1 Αχαιοί. 2 Βασιλεύς. 3 λαοί. 4 δοῦλοι.
5 θήτες.
12
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
unknown. The sole strength of the gov-
ernment lay in the devotion and obedience
of the people to their king. He was always
of a family revered as being descended from
some god, was looked upon as the represent-
ative of Zeus on earth; and was chosen for
his superior eloquence, strength, and cour-
age. There were two assemblies; the boulé¹,
composed of the king and his chieftains, in
which skill in debate was a requisite, and
the gathering in the market place, agora,
where the king made known the decisions of
the boulé to the freemen, and permitted lim-
ited discussion. In the agora, bringing
together, as it did, the masses, eloquence
was most potent.
In the perpetual unrest of so early an age,
there was little charity for the weak. From
birth, only the fittest were allowed to sur-
vive. Strength was reënforced; weakness
left to its own extinction. He who could
not help himself, could expect no aid from
others. Men were bound together only by
the ties of relationship or zeal for some com-
mon cause. The solemnity of an oath arose
from its connection with a deity, usually
1 Βουλή.
2 αγορά.
HEROIC EDUCATION
13
Horkos¹, yet often some other god under a
special appellation. The inherent duty of
man toward man seems scarcely considered.
Accordingly education had for its aim such
a development as would best prepare for
this struggle. By the poets, deeds of daring
were applauded; while acts of cowardice
were derided. The victor was a ruler; the
vanquished, a slave. The ideal ever held
before the youth was the acquisition of
honor and glory through personal prowess.
The eloquence of Nestor and the craft of
Odysseus were the intellectual ideals. Achil-
les was the perfect type, to which every
Greek youth hoped to attain.
We know little as to the form of the educa-
tion of this period. It doubtless consisted of
little beside the imitation of his elders, and
was probably guided by the parental instinct
which leads a man to train his sons in a way
which coincides as nearly as possible with
what he esteems the height of manly devel-
opment. The adult, as shown by descrip-
tions of games, was proficient in running,
leaping and discus-throwing. In the beau-
tiful myth of Hyacinthus, Apollo even was
1 "Opkos.
?
14
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
said to practise the last.
Horsemanship,
from the adroitness with which chariots must
be handled on the battlefield, must have
been common. Cavalry, however, was as
yet unknown in warfare. The marksman-
ship exhibited by the archers, and the de-
pendence placed upon the spear, either
hurled or thrust, made practice with these
imperative. Among the sea-dwelling Greeks,
swimming was common, indeed in later
times he can neither swim nor read "1 be-
came the proverbial appellation of an igno-
ramus. After removal from the immediate
watchfulness of his mother and the female
slaves, the boy's time was probably occupied
in such sports as he could copy from the
acts of his elders, as seen or recounted to
him; and upon reaching youth's estate, the
practice of these same exercises doubtless
became obligatory.
The intellectual culture was mostly lim-
ited by experience. It was necessarily of
a narrow range, but held in such a way as
to be at once available. In harmony with
his characteristics in every age, the Homeric
Greek was trained to think on his feet.
1 μηδὲ νειν, μηδὲ γράμματα.
HEROIC EDUCATION
15%
Writing was probably unknown, so that
memory was the only storehouse of knowl-
edge. The multitude could only be influ-
enced by addressing them; and as in the
early history of most nations, addresses were-
most acceptable when in rhythmic form,.
abounding in poetic imagery, and accom-
panied by music. People were interested in
tales of the marvellous. The exploits of
heroes and interposition of the gods were
subjects of never-flagging interest; and the-
acceptable rendering of them ever product-
ive of favor to the singer (aoidos¹). From
the demand for such compositions, the call-
ing of bard became as distinct a trade-
as that of smith, leather-dresser, or leech.
Its standing in the community may be in-
ferred from the fact that kings themselves-
did not disdain its practice. Achilles sang
heroic deeds to the accompaniment of his.
own lyre. At every public gathering and
in the courts of kings, the people were
amused and aroused by the stirring lays of
these bards. An audience wild with desire
for the fray as they listened to the story of
carnage before Troy, or melted to pity at
1 αοιδός.
16
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
the parting of Hector and Andromache,
must have been an oft-repeated sight to the
Greek of the Heroic Period. Placing as
they did implicit faith in the reality of the
heroes and divinities depicted in the recitals.
great influence must be imputed to their
presentation. Their didactic use was pow-
erful. The bard became the teacher and
preacher of the community. To him the
people looked for the description of the
deeds of heroes and the attributes of the
gods, and they endeavored to mould their
own lives in accordance with the ideals por-
trayed by him. From the partially uncon-
scious tuition of these primitive teachers,
the people must have derived the larger
share of both intellectual and moral educa-
tion.
Geography, never extensive to the Greek,
was learned from the location of the heroic
adventures recited. All the geography with
which Homer appears acquainted is con-
tinental Greece with the neighboring
islands of the Egean Sea, Thrace, and the
Troad, with the Hellespont between, and
Asia Minor between Paphlagonia northward
and Lycia on the south. Phoenicia, Egypt,
#
HEROIC EDUCATION
17
and Libya are known by name. The Nile is
referred to as the "river Egypt," but the
Black Sea is unknown. Sicily¹ is men-
tioned, but no knowledge is shown of Italy,
or any part of the western world.
Number was carried little further than
counting. Coined money was yet unknown,
all trade being carried on by barter. The
natural aversion of the Greeks to commerce
did away with the necessity for much com-
putation. The decline of superstition had
not yet produced science. The character of
the Greek religion obviated its necessity.
The various phenomena underlying science
were readily explained by reference to the
presiding genius of some god, or by personi-
fication. To the Greek all Nature was a
manifestation of certain invisible powers.
The storm of the sea was the rage of Nep-
tune; the whirlpool of the Strait of Mes-
sina was the abode of two monsters, Scylla
and Charybdis, each seeking to engulf the
unwary mariner; and in the rumble of the
earthquake and in the belching volcano were
recognized the struggles of the imprisoned
Typhoeus. In the ripple of the stream, the
1 Σικανιη.
2 Ποσειδών.
18
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
rustle of the branches, and the twitter of
the birds, was heard the voice of some con-
trolling deity; the interpretation of these
manifestations (manteia¹), as of the sacred
oak at Dodona, was a favorite method of
learning the will of the gods.
Although there probably was no reading,
effective speaking and reciting received
much attention. Besides the bards, who
sang their own compositions, there was
another class called rhapsodists, who sang
the verses of other composers, striving to
simulate by intonation and gesture the char-
acter described. To these latter we are
indebted for the preservation of the Iliad
and Odyssey. These poems, in common
with numerous other epics now known
only by name, were recited at festivals by
rhapsodists especially trained for the occa-
sion. Each had a definite part assigned
which it was his pride to render complete.
Holding in his hand a branch of laurel as a
symbol of ordination into the service of the
muses, he interpreted the author's concep-
tion of the character immortalized in the
selection.
1 μαντεία.
HEROIC EDUCATION
19
In the ethics of the Greek, justice was
supreme, and Zeus its dispenser. In the
Iliad we find, "When in the market-place
men deal unjustly, and the rulers decree
crooked judgment, not regarding the fear
of Zeus," he sends the storm, the earth-
quake and thunderbolt as his avengers.
Ulysses says, "Zeus looks upon the children
of men and punishes the evil-doer." The
ill-will of the gods might be averted by
prayers and sacrifices, but back of them and
unchangeable, were the Fates¹. They held
strictly to account alike both gods and men.
Pleading could not turn their decrees, nor
guilt escape their punishment. Destiny was
all-powerful; the gods, each endowed with
liberal power, helped in and were answera-
ble for its fulfilment. Idolatry was never
practised, and in this time even temples
were rarely built. Their religion was en-
tirely a conception of duty towards higher
beings who dwelt beyond the clouds and
were invisble to mortal eyes. The keynote
of their moral obligation is found in the
term aidos² which Mr. Gladstone thus ex-
plains: "The noblest of all the ethical
1 Μοίραι.
2 αιδώς.
20
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
t
indications of Homer's poems is to be found
in the notable and comprehensive word
aidos. It refuses to be translated by any
single term of English or of any other modern
language; indeed, I doubt whether it had
not abated much of its force in the classical
age of Greece. It means shame, but never
false shame; it means honor, but never the
base-born thing in these last days called
prestige. It means duty, but duty shaped
with a peculiar grace. It means reverence,
and this is without doubt its chief element.
It means chivalry, and, though this word
cannot be given a good technical translation,
it is perhaps nearer in pith and marrow to
the Homeric aidos than any other word
we know. But aidos excels it as expressing
the faculty of the mental eye turned ever
inward. Aidos is based upon a true self-
respect, upon an ever living-consciousness
of the nature that we bear and of the obli-
gation that we owe to its laws. There is no
sin that a human being can commit with-
out sinning against aidos." There was no
law, but that usage which custom had cre-
ated. This unwritten, "common law
1 θέμις.
991
HEROIC EDUCATION
21
was the outcome of their conception of duty
toward their deities and not of human pref-
erence. Devotion and obedience to the
king was of prime importance; respect for
old age universal. Parents were to care for
their children until grown, and in turn to
receive care and support from them in old
age.
Woman occupied a position much in
advance of her historic sister as regards
freedom and influence. The prominence in
legend of such names as Penelope, Androm-
ache, Clytemnestra, Hecuba, Eriphyle and
Jocasta amply illustrates the difference.
Woman was the companion of man, not his
slave. The marriage tie was respected, and
even a second marriage looked on with dis-
favor. The mother was the early educator
of her sons and had complete charge of her
daughters. Girls were trained in household
duties and to superintend the work of their
slaves. Spinning and weaving were usual.
The cloth for all clothing worn was spun
and woven by the women. Helen embroid-
ered a peplum depicting the exploits of the
Greeks and Trojans. The skill and acuteness
of Penelope are shown in the construction of
A
22
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
the web with which she kept her suitors at
bay. Dancing and playing upon the lute
must have been the principal accomplish-
ments. The freedom and profitable nature
of this training produced most excellent
results. Homer speaks of Greece as "full
of lovely maids." Sparta was the abode of
beautiful women and Achæa likewise
famed. Especial women are described as
"fair-cheeked," "glancing-eyed," "with
beautiful hair," "with a slender ankle,"4
and silver-footed. "5 Their more nearly
equal rank with man stimulated intellectual
activity.
Many customs existed which indicate how
much yet lacked a complete escape from
barbarism. Human sacrifice was allowed, as
is shown in the annual consignment of
Athenian youths and maidens to appease the
Minotaur, and the frustrated sacrifice of Iphi-
geneia at Aulis. Homicides were frequent
and unpunished by the authorities. The
only retribution was that of personal retali-
ation. The murdered man's relatives were
bound to avenge his death, but a reparation
1 καλλιπάρηος.
4 Καλλιόφυρος.
2 ελικώπιδα.
5'
5 αργυρόπεζα.
* Καλλικόμοιο.
HEROIC EDUCATION
23
of cattle, land or treasure might be made.
and the slayer purified of his crime. In the
slaughter of a parent, as with Edipus and
Orestes, the persecution of the Furies (Erin-
yes¹) rendered life a torment to the parri-
cide. In battle no quarter was asked or
given; all the latent savagery in their na-
tures was aroused. The dead body of an
enemy was stripped and thrown to the dogs,
and in the case of Hector's dead body out-
raged by Achilles no criticism was called
forth. When Priam seeks the dead body of
his son he presents this terrible picture:
"My sons are slain, my daughters are dragged
into captivity, the chambers of my palace
violated, the infant children dashed to the
ground." An orphan despoiled of his her-
itage could expect little aid from society.
The last three phases of social organization
present a striking contrast to later Greek
development. In historic times, homicide
was a sin against the gods and deserving the
check of society; while maltreatment of the
dead was thought unworthy of a right-mind-
ed Greek. After the battle of Platea, Pau-
sanias rejected with scorn a proposition to
1' Ερινύες.
24
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
take revenge upon the dead Mardonius for
the insults inflicted upon Leonidas at Ther-
mopylæ. In the laws of Athens, there was
a special provision for the care of the per-
sons and property of orphan minors.
The household manners of this period in-
dicate a state of civilization in some respects
in advance of their descendants, and the as-
thetic characteristic afterward so marked
had already become manifest. Satisfying
the appetite did not engross the whole at-
tention at meals. Discussion, wit, and song
enlivened their repasts and a certain eti-
quette elevated their influence. Bathing
before eating was practised; slaves washed
the feet of guests with tepid water in a
brazen basin; and on the return from a
warlike expedition men bathed in the sea
before considering themselves sufficiently
purified to enter their abodes and those of
their household gods. The guests never
reclined as in later periods in both Greece
and Rome, but sat at table. Wine was al-
ways mixed with water, and offered to the
oldest first. Gluttony was unbecoming, and
drunkenness unpardonable. The meat was
HEROIC EDUCATION
25
cut by carvers, ¹ and attendants waited upon
the guests, and washed the tables with
sponges from time to time during the meal.
Dancing was indulged in; but by the guests,
both men and women, instead of by hired
performers as later.
Houses were built of wood, stone, tiles
and metals, and in decoration must have
been magnificent. Golden drinking cups²
are mentioned, and "goblets of silver save
the lips, and they are bound with gold."
The shield of Achilles was adorned with “ a
vineyard beautiful, all of gold, and heavily
laden with grapes." Their helmets were
66
caps wrought all from silver save their
brims of gold," and they were further pro-
tected by "brazen corselets edged round by
shining tin." The agiss of Minerva had a
hundred tassels pendent, all of gold, all
well plaited and each worth a hecatomb."4
All these indicate a knowledge of metal-
working far advanced. In the passage re-
lating to the arms of Achilles as made by
Hephæstos, Homer gives some practical no-
tion of the armorer's work :
1 δαιτροί.
4 II. B. 448-449.
2 Χρυέοισι κυπέλλοις.” 3 aiyis.
26
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
"So speaking he withdrew, and went where lay
The bellows, turned them toward the fire, and bade
The work begin. From twenty bellows came
Their breath into the furnaces,— a blast
Varied in strength as need might be; for now
They blew with violence for a hasty task,
And then with gentler breath, as Vulcan pleased
And as the work required. Upon the fire
He laid impenetrable brass, and tin,
And precious gold and silver.”
The dignity of labor was then assured as
it has never been since. Kings and queens
labored and were proud of their accomplish-
ments. Skilled work denoted a higher
order of mind and was doubly honorable.
The head of the family killed and cooked
the food, and was not a butcher but a sacri-
ficing priest.
In such an atmosphere the education of
the youth was given. Not by regulated
courses of instruction occupying a set por-
tion of time and with duty "measured
always," but by constant presence amid the
ennobling influences of this truly "heroic"
period, manhood was reached. The best of
preceding ages were preserved for emu-
lation, and high ideals of living inculcated
by daily association and required by religious
HEROIC EDUCATION
27
faith. From such a source proceeded the
culture and refinement of Greece, and by
the stimulus of noble simplicity conveyed in
the Great Epics modern progress has been
in a great measure produced. Without a
plan of education, every part was educa-
tional.
7
CHAPTER II
STATE EDUCATION
On emerging from the two or three cen-
turies of obscurity between the Heroic Age
and the era of recorded history, the social
composition of the Hellenic races shares the
general illumination. The change is that of
from few witnesses to many, from poetry to
prose. Conjecture's sway has lessened and
assertion's has begun. The development of
organization has been considerable. Gov-
ernment has become more stable, and the
idea of nation and national interests has
subordinated personal leadership. Individ-
ual caprice has given place to rule along
ethical lines; experience has crystallized
into laws; and the sum of individual tastes
has become a national ideal. An educational
system adapted to the production of this
ideal is under State control, and the period
may be properly termed that of State Edu-
cation.
STATE EDUCATION
29
As has been noticed, the distinct nation-
alities of Greece, though in a sense united
by the Amphictyonic League and the great
national games, viz.:-Olympian, Pythian,
Nemean and Isthmian, still retained an es-
sentially distinct individuality, each work-
ing out an ideal peculiarly its own. The
Doric race (Sparta, Aryos, Crete, and Mes-
senia) placed proficiency in gymnastics fore-
most; the Ionic (Attica and the islands of
the Archipelago) esteemed poetry in an
equal degree; while among the Eolians
(Boeotia and Thessaly) music was regarded
as principal. In after development, the
Doric and Ionic tendencies absorbed the
Eolian, and except during the short space
of Theban supremacy under Epaminondas,
the study of Greek education concerns itself
with the methods pursued in two cities-
Doric and aristocratic Sparta, Ionic and
and democratic Athens. These two cities,
though their systems were opposed in some
respects, nevertheless contained much in
common. Each aimed at developing the
mental, moral and physical functions, but
were at variance in their methods. Spartan
education was "individual" but would fit
A
4
30
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
each person to a common mould. The re-
sulting individuality was to be such as would
best subserve the end of making Sparta
supreme in military power. Athens with
its educational plan of the same general
type, was yet more fully its realization. In-
dividuality was truly individual. The State
was less selfish in its demands than at Sparta,
and trusted prosperity to come to itself
through the zeal and talents of a free and
cultured citizenship. "A sound mind in a
sound body" was a principle adopted equally
by both; but to the Spartan this depend-
ence was of a utilitarian nature only, while
to the Athenian, the soundness of body was
the prerequisite of that beauty of both mind
and body which was the true and ultimate
ideal.
CHAPTER III
STATE EDUCATION AT SPARTA
The Spartan aim was to rear a nation
physically perfect, and capable of enduring
hunger, thirst, torture or even death with-
out flinching; to make the people unequalled
in military drill; and to inculcate as the
supreme thought, absolute devotion to the
state. The system of education accordingly
kept these ends ever prominent. From in-
fancy the child was subjected to tests look-
ing toward this aim. The new-born babe
was taken before a council of elders, who,
after an examination as to its perfection of
form and general robustness, decided wheth-
er its life should be preserved. Such as
were puny or deformed were adjudged un-
able to fill the requirements of adult life,
and "exposed" to die. Until the age of
seven, the child to whom life had been
granted by this board of censors was left to
the care of the mother. Naked, or clad in
-
1
1
•
32
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
a single short garment, he was early trained
in the endurance of the hardships essential
to his type, by exposure to the rigors of the
weather, by deprivation of regular food, and
by a total absence of the fondling care usu-
ally accorded those of tender years.
At the age of seven the child was con-
signed to the care of the State and subjected
to the regular public education.1 Hence-
forth he ate at the public table and slept in
the public dormitory; only half rations were
granted and his bed was a mere bundle of
reeds or rushes which he was compelled to
gather for himself from the banks of the
Eurotas. No knife or instrument other than
the hands was allowed in obtaining them.
In winter thistledown was scattered among
the reeds to inspire a feeling of warmth in
the sleeper. For exercising his acuteness
the boy was often allowed only what he
could steal. Adroitness was applauded if
he was not detected; but his awkwardness
punished if discovered. The familiar story
of the Spartan boy, who having a fox se-
creted under his garment refused to ac-
knowledge the theft and fell dead from the
1' αγωγή.
STATE EDUCATION AT SPARTA
33
+
}
animal's lacerations, illustrates the trait.
Indeed larcency seems to have attained the
dignity of a common branch.”
The head of the educational system was a
superintendent¹, an eminent citizen espe-
cially chosen to look after the games and
habits of the youths. His powers were quite
extended, requiring a staff of assistants
called moderators2 or chasteners, and
whip-carriers³. Besides these officials the
youths were under the constant supervision
of the older men, who regulated their play
by well-timed praise or reproof. They were
accustomed to stir up frequent disputes
and conflicts among them to see who were
brave and who cowards. In the absence of
the superintendent¹, every adult citizen had
the power of father over the children of the
State, and corrected and punished all vicious
or disorderly conduct. Besides, each boy
had a special guardian in the person of
some adult, who entertained affection for
his ward 5, "backed" him in his contests
with other boys, stimulated his courage,
1παιδόνομος, σωφρονισταί.
5
4 εἰςπνήλης. * αίτης.
μαστοφόροι.
UorM
34
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
taught him to speak only when he had some-
thing to say ("laconic" brevity), and gen-
erally formed his ideals. This relation
though recognized by law was established
by mutual choice, fortified by the disgrace
belonging to the absence of such attachment
in the case of either man or boy. Though
capable of and frequently subject to abuse,
this practice was the strongest character-
forming agency of the Spartan system.
At the age of twelve, the training in-
creased in severity and took on more of a
military character. The boys were divided
into bands called agelæ or bonæ¹. For each
band, a captain (bonagar²) from those boys
just entering manhood. The bands were
subdivided into hilas, each of which slept
in a part assigned on the rush beds.
At eighteen they were admitted to the
youth's class, ephebit, and as melleireness
were for two years subjected to stricter dis-
cipline and greater drill. They were com-
pelled to undergo strict examination before
the ephors once in ten days regarding their
4
6
1 ἀγέλαι, Βοθαι.
2 Bovayap.
· ἔφηβοι. * μελλείμενες. · ἔφοροι.
Maou
3 ΐλαι.
STATE EDUCATION AT SPARTA
35
physical condition, their clothing was in-
spected daily; and they were exercised in
gymnastics, the use of arms and in light
skirmishing under the supervision of the
bidei¹, five or six in number, who were a
regularly constituted board of inspectors
with a president2 and a place of meeting³ in
the market-place. To add the stimulation
of rivalry, Lycurgus enacted in his constitu-
tion that the ephors appoint three hippa-
greta who should each choose one hundred
melleirenes from the bravest to serve as
guards for the kings. Any who had not
been chosen could challenge those who had
been, and, if victorious, take their places.
At twenty they were called eirenes¹, ex-
ercised direct influence over their juniors
and were eligible for actual warfare. Their
training was in the endurance of hard-
ship, coarse food, reed beds, and limited
bathing. They practised with heavy arms,
in swimming and ball-playing, danced the
Pyrrhic dance, and manned the fortresses of
the country. Not until the age of thirty
1 βιδιαίοι (βίδεοι).
2 πρέσβυς βιδέων.
3 αρχειον.
4 είρενες.
36 ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
did they attain their majority and become
admitted to citizenship. Then they were
held to the exercise of their political func-
tions, compelled to marry, and were held
subject to military duty until the age of
sixty.
Gymnastics were much indulged in, but
not as extensively or systematically as in
Athens. Jumping, running, wrestling,
playing with lances and at quoits¹, were
common. Boxing, and the pancratium2,
a combination of boxing and wrestling, were
not permitted. Hunting was a favorite
sport, and in the coverts of Taygetus found
an excellent ground for its indulgence. It
was mostly in favor on account of the hard-
ships encountered, for the opportunity of
becoming familiar with the country-study-
ing geography by "observation”—, and for
its resemblance to actual warfare.
Letters were taught very little, only as a
concession³. Memory was cultivated quite
largely. Children and youth were taught
hymns to the gods, and metrical statements
of the laws arranged to be sung to fixed
3 ἕνεκα χρείας.
1 δίσκοι. 2 παγκράτιον.
STATE EDUCATION AT SPARTA
37
melodies. Music, not largely cultivated,
was entirely in the Dorian mode, described
as essentially manly and inspiring, and which
was regarded as the national music of
Greece¹.
Dancing was much practised, and highly
esteemed for its union of gymnastics and
music, and for its use in producing ease in
simultaneous military evolutions. The Pyr-
rhic dance was performed under arms, and
is described as representing the mode of at-
tack and the rapid motion by which the mis-
siles and blows of the enemy were avoided.
It was danced to the music of the flute and
with a quick, light step, whence the Pyrrhic
foot () of prosody. The hormos was
a dance by youths and maidens, in which
the youths danced first in movements suit-
able to their age and of a military character,
and were followed by the females in meas-
ured steps and with feminine gestures. The
gymnopædia was a festival commemorating
the victory of Thyrea, and was almost entire-
ly of a choric character.
The athletic taste which was so promi-
1 Ἑλληνικὴ ἁρμονία. ὅρμος.
38
ELEMENTARA GREEK EDUCATION
nent in the Athenian mind had no place in
Sparta. "There was no Spartan sculptor,
no Laconian painter, no Lacedæmonian
poet." The duties of man to Sparta alone
were taught; those of man to his fellow
neglected. To bring the greatest good upon
their native land was accounted the end of
ambition. This system, admirably adapted
for its purpose when confined within the
narrow limits of Laconia, was not an educa-
tion for Greece. Despite their successes in
the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans could
not adapt themselves to a more extended
rule or a broader national life, and on ac-
count of this defect, the Spartan system
never became widely prevalent.
CHAPTER IV
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS.
"Athens is the school of Greece, and the Athenian
is the best fitted by diversity of gifts for the grace-
ful performance of all life's duties."-Pericles.
The contrast between Sparta and Athens
is that of conservatism with liberality; ascet-
icism and rigidity with luxury and freedom;
law, denial and utility with educated voli-
tion, indulgence and asthetics. As has been
observed, education at Sparta was a matter
of great public concern, regulated and com-
pelled by law in its minutest features; the
education of Athens was mostly private in
character and devoid of compulsory enact-
ments. According to the boast of Pericles:
"The individual bent of each man is there
subjected to no cramping fetters; he is al-
lowed to do as he pleases without suspicion
and stern measures of discipline-in their
stead respect for law prevails, obedience to
authority, law unwritten, a general con-
40 ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
E
tempt feared more than punishment." This
freedom, love of beauty in mind and body,
of harmony in all faculties shaped and
guided Athenian education; and Athens has
left no higher compliment for herself than
this fact of an education not limited, yet
guided, not prescribed but expected.
The condition of Attic society rendered
unnecessary the requirements and encour-
agement which are so important in modern
times. The whole Attic population com-
prised but twenty-one thousand citizens¹
(polita), ten thousand resident foreigners
(metoikoi² or metoeci), and four hundred
thousand slaves (doulois). The dispropor-
tion between the citizen and slave classes is
explained on the assumption that in enrolling
the former only those of military age were
enumerated, while with the slaves, each
having a value, every soul was numbered.
On this ground this citizen class could be
safely taken as eighty thousand, thus giving
four or five slaves to each person, which is
not at all out of harmony with what is known
of them. Only the citizens' children were
1 πολίται. • μέτοικοι. 3 δούλοι.
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
41.
admitted freely to the schools, though the
privilege might be bestowed upon a foreign
resident by a vote the people (demus¹) on
condition of a certain tax. Education was
given slaves only as a means of increasing
their value, and they need be taken into no-
consideration in treating the educational
system. The Athenian citizen found no
vocation open to him except the military,
literature or art; all other was dishonorable
and but "worthy a slave;" hence it was that
the artisans, tradesmen, and laborers were
slaves. Thus the very class for whom we
find "compulsory education" necessary was
removed from the question.
The importance accorded education is
shown by the many allusions made to the
existence of schools in various towns. Dur-
ing the Persian Wars, when the refugees:
from Athens sought safety in the Troezen,
the inhabitants at once made arrangements
for the instruction of their children, and
Herodotus, Thucydides, and Pausanias, each
mention calamities befalling schools in dif-
ferent towns.
1 δῆμος.
42
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
A
While it has been intimated that there was
an absence of State regulation regarding
courses of study and attendance upon them,
whenever public sentiment failed in furnish-
ing sufficient stimulus for a proper observ-
ance of its customs, stronger means were in
reserve. In the case of orphans or children
of a widow the archon¹ might interfere, and
under circumstances of obvious neglect the
Court of the Areopagos would interpose.
A "writ of injury " might be taken against
neglectful guardians, and if a parent had
failed in providing his children with an
education, they owed him no support in old
age and not even respect.
The Athenian father could exercise his
own discretion as to whether or not his in-
fant's life should be spared. If the family
was already large, or the infant puny, ac-
cording to general usage it was "exposed",
either to be taken up by some one and after-
ward sold into slavery, or allowed to perish
from starvation and exposure to the elements.
On the contrary should the child please the
father, five days after birth, the Amphidro-
1 γραφὴ κακώσεως,
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
43
mia, it was "taken up" by him, and car-
ried around the hearth¹ in token of preser-
vation. On the tenth day
presents were
In wealthy fam-
made and a name given.
ilies a nurse, usually a Spartan, and other
attendants, had almost entire charge of the
child. In families of moderate circum-
stances, this duty probably devolved upon
the mother. No family of the citizen class
was so poor as not to have at least one slave
to do the housework. Babyhood was prob-
ably passed much as now, though with fewer
devices for its comfort and amusement.
Cradles are not mentioned before Plutarch.
Baubles were suspended about the neck; rat-
tles (invented by Archytas), go-carts, and
dolls" moulded from clay to represent war-
riors, generals, and mythological subjects,
were common toys, Marysas bound to the
tree being a favorite. It was the custom for
the nurses to relate many tales to their
charges, the subjects of which were chiefly
legendary actions of the gods and heroes.
5
1 ἀμφιδρόμια. 2 δεκάτη.
4 περιδέραια. 5 πλαταγαί.
* Κοραί. 8 γραῶν (τιθῶν) μῦθοι.
3 κλινίδια.
6 αμάξιες.
44
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
From a supposed tendency of these to give
low ideas of the gods and to debase moral
standards, Plato, in his Ideal Republic,
advises much care in their selection, and he
even repudiates Hesiod and Homer. At this
time no such fear had arisen. The Fables
of Esop were largely used in these narra-
tions.
The behavior of his children was especial-
ly looked after by the Athenian parent.
They were never put on exhibition or praised
for their precocity, their bright sayings in-
corporated into adult conversation, nor
themselves made the arbiters of the house-
hold. Other subjects for conversation were
found in their presence, and the children were
brought up to be well-behaved in the presence
of their elders, attentive rather than attend-
ed. No Greek author has preserved the
bright sayings of children.
There was necessarily a gap between in-
fancy and school life in which the child's at-
tention was largely devoted to the out-door
games usual to this period of life. Indeed,
games aided in the recreation of the Athenian
boy at all ages. Many of these games have
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
45
had their names and partial descriptions
preserved to us. Among them were the
hobby horse¹, and hopping on one foot on
a skin bottle³ which had been filled with a
liquid and greased on the outside. Blind
man's buff existed in a game termed the
"brazen fly ".4. In the game called ostra-
kinda, an oyster shell with one side black
or moistened was tossed in the air. The
black side was called night", the other day".
The boys were divided into two companies,
and when the shell had been thrown the
party whose color was uppermost pursued
and made prisoners of their opponents.
Epistrakismus consisted in causing an
oyster shell to skip along the surface of
water and was won by a greater number of
"skips". Phryginda was very similar to
modern marbles except that dried beans were
used in their stead. Spinning coins on their
edge¹º, rolling hoops11, and spinning the
various kinds of tops12, were favorite games
9
6
1 κάλαμον παραβῆναι. 3 ασκωλιάζειν.
3 'αókós.
4 χαλκῆ μυϊα. * οστράκινδα. * νύξ.
· ἡμέρα. 8 ἐπιστρακισμός. Ο φρυγίνδα.
9
10 χαλκισμός. 11 τροχού, 12 βέμβιξ, στρομβός,
and στρόβιλος.
46
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
with the Athenian boys. A common game
was omillan¹, in which a knuckle bone or
round stone was tossed so as to lie in a
hole in the centre of a fixed circle, the
aim being to displace those already there.
A similar game is common among the Italian
immigrants employed on our public works.
The Italian game of morra, matching thumbs
and fingers as to number and position, was
also played. In another game five pebbles
or round bones (astragaloi³) were tossed
up so as to be received on the back of the
hand. These astragaloi were often cut square
and used as dice.
4
The "beetle "
game seems to have fur-
nished the most amusement. A long thread
was attached to a beetle and he was guided
in his flight at the caprice of his owner. By
way of improvement, a waxed taper, lighted,
was often attached to his tail. This sport
is even yet practised in Greece and has
caused several serious fires. Ball was a
favorite game and was played even in Hom-
eric times, though never in anything like
1 ὤμιλλαν. 2 τρόπα 3 αστράγαλοι.
5 μηλολόνθη.
4 πενταλιθίζειν.
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 47
J
modern complications of cricket, tennis, and
base-ball. The game is supposed to have
consisted principally in throwing and catch-
ing, the players keeping time in some sort.
of rhythmic motion. Episkuros¹ was very
nearly modern foot-ball. Aporrix con-
sisted in making the ball bound from the
ground or from a wall and counting the
number of times it rebounded. Other games-
of ball were called phaninda³ and urania4.
While many of these games were too com-
plex to have belonged to this time of the
child's life, it has been impossible to sepa-
rate them, and they are given together in
this place, with the suggestion that most of
them also belonged to the playtime of real
school, and also as variants with the regular
gymnasium exercises.
The scene of the childhood games must
have been largely in the street. Plutarch
mentions Alcibiade's playing there. Though
the boy was under constant care and watch-
fulness, from Plato's observation that "of
all animals, the boy is the most unmanage-
2 απόρριξ.
3 φαινυθαι.
1 ἐπίσκυρος.
4
ovia.
.48
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
ju,
able, he is the most insidious, sharp-witted,
and insubordinate", we would infer that
twenty centuries have not essentially changed
his characteristics and that undoubtedly his
attendant found his office no sinecure.
CHAPTER V
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS AT SCHOOL
In the semi-kindergarten period just dis-
cussed, the boys and girls were educated to-
gether, though presumably the former were
granted the more freedom. At the age of
seven the boys were separated from the girls
and commenced school life. The age, how-
ever, was probably varied by circumstances.
The girl's education continued to be carried
on within her home. At no time in the
history of Greece was the intellectual culture
of women deemed important; on the con-
trary those possessing it were considered
morally low, and to this class women with
accomplished minds were usually limited.
Arrived at the momentous time, "begin-
ning school", a slave was chosen the con-
stant companion of the boy. This slave or
pedagogue (conductor of children) was care-
fully selected with reference to honesty and
intelligence. Men of polished manners were
50
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
1
preferred. The pedagogue had general over-
sight of his protegé, accompanying him to
the school and gymnasium, carrying books,
writing implements, and other school uten-
sils, and guarding him from danger every-
where. Whether this attendant remained to
fetch his charge is uncertain. If he remained
it must have been outside the school, as the
law forbade under penalty of death that any
person other than relatives of the master be
allowed to enter. In later times this law
was not strictly enforced, but it shows the
importance which was attached to the absence
of all distracting influences. While Plutarch
censures a want of care in choosing the ped-
agogue*, we may safely presume that in a
country where such attention was generally
paid to right surroundings, carelessness in
this particular could not have been usual.
The boy started early for school attended
by the pedagogue and returned for a late
breakfast. Arguing from analogy with
*The reader will notice that here and elsewhere,
this word is not used in its English sense, but rather
referring to the attendant slave who accompanied
the boy to the school, where he was placed under
tuition of the teacher (διδάσκαλος).
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
51
Roman schools, it has been surmised that the
afternoons were given up to light gymnastics
and other occupations of a recrea¹ive nature.
Schools were forbidden by law to open before
sunrise or to continue after sunset. The
Interpretamenta of Dositheus gives the fol-
lowing in parallel Greek and Latin as de-
scriptive of the morning entrance into the
school. "First, I salute the master, who
returns my salute: Good morning, master;
good morning, school fellows. Give me my
place, my seat, my stool. Sit closer. Move
up that way. This is my place; I took it
first.'
"""
There were three different buildings
connected with the education of the Greek
boy the school-room, the palæstra and the
gymnasium. (The palæstra and gymnasium
will be described in the chapter on gymnas-
tics.) The term scholé (leisure), often ap-
plied to the school, was of later application,
and properly belonged to the leisurely dis-
cussions of the philosophers. To distin-
guish the school-room the terms, didaska-
leion, or pedagogeion, were applied instead
of scholeion. These school-houses, though
52
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
not State institutions, were provided with
such furniture and equipments as the sys-
tem required. The teacher occupied a large,
high chair (thronos) with a straight back
and low arms. The children stood or sat
about, either on benches (bathroi) or on the
ground. Tables or desks were unknown
furniture. In reading or writing, it was the
universal custom, as yet in the east, to hold
the book or roll upon the knees. From
pictures which have been preserved, it is
judged that the walls were hung with vari-
ous articles necessary in a school-room.
There are discerned boxes for book-rolls,
the implements used in teaching writing and
reading, reckoning boards (abaci), writing-
boards, geometrical models, flute cases, lyres,
etc. Notice-boards on which regulations
were posted, are referred to. These were
covered with chalk and called
"white
boards"; how they were written on is not
told. Previous to the Peloponnesian War
(431-404 B. C.) books were not common.
Later, they were rapidly multiplied by slave-
copyists, and a special part of the market-
place was set apart for their sale. Their
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 53
use in schools was limited at all times, owing
to the stress placed on memory. The books
existing were written on rolls of papyrus or
tablets of wax fastened together at the side.
From recent researches, it has been conjec-
tured that the texts of many authors had
illustrated school sheets accompanying them.
Grasberger (II., 224) says that Böttiger and
O. Jahn from their researches have conclud-
ed that the fragments of the tabula Iliaca
of Theodorus, now preserved in the Capitol-
ine Museum at Rome, are but pieces of one
of the many tablets illustrating different
scenes of the Trojan War and kindred legends,
which once adorned the walls of the school-
room and helped to render more vivid the
marvellous descriptions of the poets. These
pictures were of a large size and arranged in
a series, having names and explanations
attached. Thus the scene in the first book
of the Iliad, in which Chryses prays Aga-
memnon to free his daughter and receive the
ransom, is represented with Chryses implor-
ing Agamemnon, and close at hand, a wagon
loaded with the proffered price, while under-
neath are the words CHRYSES, AGAMEMNON,
54
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
RANSOM. Scenes in the third and twenty-
fourth books of the same poem and others
from the Odyssey have received like treat-
ment. In each school-room there was a
shrine of the Muses or of Hermes. Offer-
ings were made before it, and the head of
the school was regarded as its priest. About
the room were disposed statutes of the
tutelary gods and busts of heroes and emi-
nent men, serving both as ornaments and as
incentives to the boys. A scholium of
Eschines says that a supply of water was
always at hand to allay thirst.
All schools were private ventures. The
State never furnished school-buildings or
exercised much surveillance over the school.
The general intelligence of the citizens main-
tained the system exclusive of State compul-
sion. Plato suggests the appointment of
teachers to be paid at public expense, but
the plan was not adopted till late.
By a law of Solon, certain officers were
appointed to inspect the schools, but their
duties seem to have been confined to admin-
istering certain laws regarding morality, and
to have had little reference to examining
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 55
into the qualifications of the teachers. In
fact the only necessary qualification men-
tioned was that they should be forty years of
age. Teachers practised their profession
rather for want of other employment than
from any special fitness. Yet, since the
choice lay with the parents, we should hard-
ly expect want of care in the selection;
while the facts that the wages must have
varied with the fitness of the teacher, and
that they depended on the number of pupils,
must have been a constant incentive to bet-
ter preparation.
Teachers were, however, never greatly
honored. If quite learned, they were ac-
cused of pedantry, and if zealous and im-
patient, of bad temper. Dionysius, the
tyrant of Syracuse, spent his old age teach-
ing children at Corinth. An unknown comic
writer said of someone: "The man is either
dead or teaching the alphabet." Demos-
thenes in the De Corona thus seeks to belittle
his opponent: "But you, worthy man, who
despise others compared with yourself, now
compare with mine your lot, which con-
signed you to grow up from boyhood in the
56
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
greatest need, when you helped your father
to attend in the school, preparing the ink,
cleaning the benches, sweeping out the
school-room, and so taking the rank of a
slave and not of a free boy." The teacher's
pay was dependent upon attendance and was
due monthly. Deductions were made pro-
portionate with a pupil's absence when such
occurred. Extravagant prices were charged
by the Rhetoricians and Sophists, but the
pay of the ordinary school teacher was prob-
ably reasonable. The attendance in a school-
room was limited by law.
While the absence of compulsion made the
matter of education mostly dependent upon
the father's conscientiousness, there were few
cases of neglect. The extent of education
depended upon the circumstances of the
family.
""
The sons of the wealthy of course attended
longer than their poorer associates. Some
even continued at school until their admis-
sion into the ranks of the "patrolling police
at the age of sixteen or eighteen. The dis-
cipline was largely by corporal punishment,
and its justice is maintained. The only
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
57
caution is against using a servile mode of
punishment on a free boy. The common
representations of the Greek school-master as
a cruel flogging machine, as he is represented.
in pictures exhumed at Pompei, and as al-
luded to by Lucian, were undoubtedly satiri-
cal exaggerations.
L
!
CHAPTER VI
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS GYMNASTICS
The essential branches of education were
different at different times. In the time
of Pericles, there were distinctly but two
branches, Gymnastics and Music, the latter
including Grammatics, Music in its limited
sense, Drawing, and Dancing. Drawing is
not mentioned before Aristotle, but must have
been common to have produced such painters,
architects, and sculptors as flourished in
this period. The term " "music
was with
the Greek, synonymous with everything
included under intellectual culture, and
only received its specialized sense with the
advent of the philosophic age.
Gymnastics was the principal branch of
school instruction, and was the only one
which was carried on at State expense and
practised through life. Its limits are not
exactly known, though it is certain that it
occupied one-half the time and attention of
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
59
the pupil until his sixteenth year and for the
succeeding two years was his entire training.
Plato and Aristotle recommended keeping
the boys under the instruction of the gym-
nasium until ten years old, and supplement-
ing this by three years at the school of the
grammarian. From similarities to the Roman
system in some other respects, and from
reference in Plautus, it has been thought
that the day was divided between the differ-
ent studies. This supposition seems the
more rational because harmonic develop-
ment was their constant aim, and the re-
forming tendencies of Plato and Aristotle
would hardly lead us to expect them to record
here simply common usage.
Gymnastic exercises were carried on in
two different buildings, or possibly two divis-
ions of the same building, the gymnasium
and the palaestra. The exact functions of
each remains a matter of dispute. Some
consider the gymnasium a building erected
at State expense and open for general public
use, while the palestra was a smaller estab-
lishment, a private venture of the gymnasium
instructor, and devoted entirely to the use
60
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
of boys. Becker in his "Charicles" proves
the presence of boys in the gymnasium as
well as the palæstra, which would favor the
view that the latter was one of the subdivis-
ions of the gymnasium. Accepting.. this
view, we find the gymnasium consisting of
a large building with these parts,—(1) stoœ
or porticoes divided into apartments, or ex-
hedræ furnished with seats and fitted for the
study and discourse of the wise; (2) play-
grounds where the ephebi or youth exercised;
(3) dressing rooms; (4) palaestra or wrest-
ling place, the floor of which was covered
with dust or gravel to prevent slipping; (5)
hot and cold baths; and (6) the stadia, a
sort of semi-circular race course, in which
most of the exercises took place.
.
There were three state gymnasiums at
Athens, the Lyceum, the Academia, and
Cynosarges, and later several smaller ones
were added. To none but the Cynosarges
were other than those of pure Athenian
blood admitted. This gymnasium was un-
der the guardianship of Heracles and admit-
ted those of mixed parentage.
The aim of gymnastics was not only to
•
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
61
make the body strong and active, but more
especially to give a carriage dignified and
graceful. All wished to fashion the body
into a living likeness of a god and to
be crowned victor at the public games. All
gymnasiums were under the care of ten gym-
nasiarchs, who had general supervision of
the building and removed at pleasure those
teachers and philosophers of whom they dis-
approved. Subordinate to these were cer-
tain inferior officers called hypokasmetæ and
a staff of instructors; pedotribe and gym-
nastæ. The pedotriba taught gymnastics
as a part of education, and the gymnasta
trained those intending to become profes-
sional athletes. The usual training of the
former consisted of the five exercises of the
public games known as pentathlon. These
exercises were,—the halma or leaping, dis-
cus or quoits, dromus or running, palé or
wrestling, and pugmé or boxing. The pan-
oratum though not forbidden as at Sparta,
was in disfavor through the liability to disfig-
urement, and was not commonly practised.
The exercises were taken naked (gymnos)
both in the gymnasium and in the games.
62 ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
+
In preparation for the lighter exercises the
body was carefully rubbed with olive-oil and
the flesh scraped with a flesh-comb. Here
as elsewhere, the youth was accompanied by
the pedagogue, who kept him out of mischief
and looked out for the class of his associates.
Loungers were seldom allowed, and in Sparta
the rule "strip or go" was rigidly enforced.
The race course was laid on sandy ground.
A requisite for competing in the Olympian
games was that the candidates should take
oath to having spent one month in training
at Elis. The gymnastic training was espec-
ially valued for its influence on health, all
gymnasia being dedicated to Apollo as the
god of healing. The importance of gymnas-
tics in Greek training was incalculable. The
perfection of art, the architecture which
derived its proportions from it, the sculp-
tures which are its memorials, could never
have existed but for the ideals of beauty pro-
duced and exhibited in the gymnasia and
public games.
CHAPTER VII
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS-MUSICA
To the Greek, with his world one of beauty
of creation and imagination, the term musica
meant a wealth of influences beyond the mod-
ern comprehension of the name. Music com-
prised all that could please the ear, as gym-
nastics founded all that pleased the eye. All
intellectual pleasure which the ear conveyed
was classed as Musica. Poetry was music;
the poet aoidos, "a singer", and not yet the
"maker", poetes, of Aristotle. Words were
not poetry, unless "sweetened" by music,
and he who composed, recited or read them
must as much give the musical as the verbal
expression. Who had not been taught to
sing was uneducated, and Themistocles bore
the opprobium of such a neglect through
life.
Neither civic duty nor religious wor-
ship was complete without music; the laws
were sung and the gods were worshipped in
services of singing and dancing.
64
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
፣
Since writing recorded, reading inter-
preted, and anotation very like the numerical
rendered agreeable the thoughts of the poet,
nothing is less difficult to conceive than the
inclusion of "the three R's" under Musica.
A little later these branches received the sepa-
rate term Grammatics and the special teach-
er was a grammatist, but at the time of
Pericles the same teacher taught all branches
of musica and from the principal instrument
of "music" was the citharist specialized
from the general didaskalos.
Reading.-From the popularity of the
epic poets, it is probable that a considerable
knowledge of their compositions were derived
from the nursery tales of the child's earliest
years. While the nurse was not usually
-competent to teach reading or probably the
alphabet even, she must have done much to
fill the minds of her children with the sub-
ject-matter forming the basis of their later
reading. The synthetical method was used in
teaching the pupil to read. The powers of
each letter were first taught, then the sim-
plest combinations into syllables, and finally
these into words. Syllabicising was the most
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 65
difficult part of the process and required
most drill; both it and reading were ren-
dered difficult by the manner of writing with
no breaks between the words and entirely
without written accent. After mastering the
word, the sentence was taken up and reading
begun. Rhythmical arrangements of the al-
phabet were used, and about 400 B. C. Callias
attempted to make the alphabet an agreeable
study by a so-called "grammatical tragedy ",
which was based upon the then recent intro-
duction of the Ionic alphabet of twenty-four
letters.
,
The teacher of reading employed as text-
books principally Homer and Hesiod, with
selected passages from the lyric poets. The
Iliad and Odyssey were read by the boys, and
passages recited and precepts committed as
the Bible or catechism would be in a modern
church school. These poems were looked
upon as moral guides; and Homer was revered
as one who had written with a moral intent
in every line, and who moreover had been
aided and inspired by a certain divine aestrus
which had not been granted any other writ-
er.
Even the arts and sciences were by in-
1
J
66
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
terpretation drawn from his pages. Many
grown men were said to be able to recite the
whole of either poem. The selected read-
ings, chrestomathiae, made from several writ-
ers are supposed to be all that remains of
their compositions¹. From the prominent
place of the poets in the schoolroom, they
were often called "school masters".
reading great care was exercised in giving
the proper intonation and preserving a rhyth-
mical balance of clauses. Books were scarce
and libraries exceptional.
•
In
What the boy had
read must be remembered if he would use or
enjoy it again. A large part of the general
instruction was by dictation or conversation.
While the pupil was probably less learned, he
was more ready and intelligent. In later times
by the use of parchment books became more
common, and complaints were made in regard
to the increase of books and the lust after
much and varied reading.
All reading was strictly from the Greek.
While the different dialects did not hinder
a common pride and ownership in the pro-
¹ As the poems of Theognis, the Golden Verses
of Pythagoras, and many collections of maxims or
proverbs (ὑποθῆκαι).
1
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
67
ductions of genius from any part of Hellas,
there was an utter disregard of foreign
tongues. All foreigners were barbarians and
must, if they wished to communicate with a
Greek, either learn his language or procure
an interpreter. Aristotle said a foreigner
speaking Greek could be told simply by his
use of the particles, an observation which
Renan finds equally true with French. Plu-
tarch lamented his inability to learn Latin,
thinking that had he been taught earlier, it
would have been easier; and Strabo mentions
the fact that historical treatises written in
foreign tongues were inaccessiable to the
Greeks.
Writing. Writing was learned simultane-
ously with reading: indeed the writing lesson
of one day became the reading lesson of the
next. It was never brought to any great de-
gree of perfection in form or rapidity, as this
was only of use to a slave, but it was neverthe-
less required. The material commonly used in
the beginning was a sheet of papyrus which
´had been written upon and thus afforded an
already prepared copy for tracing. Upon
this the pupil traced carefully the letters
68 ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
:
already formed, using a reed (calamus)
pointed and dipped in ink. The material
generally used in writing, however, was a
tablet of wax upon which the writing was
done with a sharp-pointed stylus, one end
of which was flattened for erasures. In
teaching writing in wax, a copy was set as
in a modern copy book, and, in the earlier
stages the hand of the pupil was guided by
that of the master. Double lines were
drawn for indicating the spacing, coin-
shaped pieces of lead being used for the
purpose. This act of marking was called
paragraphien. There were three styles of
writing (1) formal hand, consisting of
separate capital letters and appearing in in-
scriptions and probably taught to children;
(2) cursive hand as seen in the Greek papyri
of the second century B. C.; and (3) the
short hand of later manuscripts. In writ-
ing intended for preservation either papyrus
or parchment was used; the former was
written on but one side, the latter on both.
During scarcity of material papyri of little
moment were erased and rewritten; such
were palimpsests. Wax tablets fastened
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 69
J
together at the sides were in use for tempo-
rary preservation. At Athens, a special
officer (grammateus) had charge of writing
all public documents and a secretary (hypo-
grapheus) "took minutes" at all public
meetings.
Number.-Number was treated under two
heads, the practical computations of every
day life, called logistic, and the investiga-
tion of the properties of numbers and dis-
covery of the principles applied in logistic,
called arithmetic. The latter was little
known, being reserved for the more capable
grasp of the sophist and philosopher. The
former was the common-school arithmetic.
Plato advises its acquisition as an amuse-
ment, and suggests that the abstract ideas
of thought be presented in as concrete a
form as possible by the use of apples and
other available objects. In representing
numbers five different methods prevailed, at
different times. At first, starting from the
original suggestion of fingers, numbers were
represented by straight strokes; but soon
the five vertical lines representing five were
replaced by the rude picture of a hand, V
1
170
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
+
(as later by the Romans), and in represent-
ing ten, two such symbols, X, were united.
Larger numbers were represented by the
initial letter of their name,-X (xiλzoz) was
1,000, M (µvproz) 10,000, etc. Numbers inter-
mediate between ten and one-hundred were
indicated by a combination of initials as I
standing for five (IIέvre) and 4 for ten (4éka),
fifty, five times ten, was written T▲].
In the ordinary counting and in the com-
putations of the market-place, the fingers
were used, not placed as digits, but bent at
different angles and in varied relations to
each other. The operator held his hand
with fingers erect and palms facing outward.
The second, third and fourth fingers might
be straight, half-closed or closed.
The following was the method :—
(a) On the left hand
for 1, half-close the 4th finger only.
2,
ཉ
"3d and 4th fingers only.
2d, 3d and 4th "
3,
.. 4,
σε
5,
6,
66 ry,
7, close
"8,
. 9,
""
2d and 3d
" 2d
finger
"3d
" 4th
"
"3d and 4th fingers only.
"2d, 3d and 4th "
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
71
1
(b) The same operations on the right hand give
the thousands, from one thousand to nine
thousand.
(c) On the left hand
for 10, place the tip of the forefinger at the
base of the thumb, thus forming d.
20, forefinger straight, separated from
thumb by fingers slightly bent.
"30, join tips of forefinger and thumb.
40, thumb behind, on knuckle of fore-
finger.
50, thumb in front, on base of fore-
finger.
60, thumb as 50, bending forefinger to
touch ball of thumb.
"70, rest forefinger on top of thumb.
80, thumb on palm, forefinger bent over
first joint of thumb and other fingers
slightly bent.
90, close forefinger only, completely as
possible.
(d) The same on the right hand gives hundreds
from one hundred to nine hundred.
When accuracy was desired and the com-
putations became involved, a counting-board
or abacus was employed. This consisted of
a stone or board having several straight fur-
rows in which pebbles or plugs were set. At
the left side was a special vertical division
where each unit was equal to five. The hor-
1
=
772
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
izontal divisions had value according to the
decimal scale. The number six hundred
forty-eight would be represented thus on
the abacus.
(Fives.)
(Units.)

X. (thousands).
E. (hundreds).500-100-600
A (tens)...... ..4X10=40
(units.....
5+3=8
1
648
The books of the Iliad and Odyssey were
numbered with the letters of the alphabet in
order, from one to twenty-four. This mode
of enumeration was borrowed from Phoen-
icia. Its use was never extended.
The last system in use among the Greeks
and the most useful, was that of employing
the letters of the alphabet with a fixed value
for each letter and an arrangement quite
like the Arabic. The letters from alpha (á)
to iota (í) represented successively the num-
.
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
73
1
•
bers from one to ten inclusive, introducing
the digamma for six. Each ten above the
first was represented by the letters following
iota, in succession as far as ro for one hun-
dred, introducing koppa for ninety. Each
hundred was expressed by the succeeding
letters, with san for nine hundred. All
numbers intermediate between the decimals
were expressed by a combination of letters
just as by figures in our own system. The
acute accent was used on the right hand
letter of each number below one thousand.
For one thousand, alpha, with a subscribed
accent was used, with the succeeding letters
with like accent for each subsequent thous-
and to ten thousand. Above ten thousand
the numbers were written.
•
During the time treated in this article,
the finger notation was common in trading
problems, the abacus in reckoning those
more deeply involved, and the method last
mentioned was that used in all accounts and
records. The ordinary school boy was taught
to add, to subtract, to multiply, and to
divide.
Geometry though not yet extended by the
1
•
3
•
1
7
:
74
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
genius of Euclid was yet considerably ad-
vanced. While it was not taught in schools,
it was held in high esteem as an elegant and
perfect science. Both Plato and Aristotle
agree as to its extraordinary value as a means
of mental training, and in the fact that it
can be taught to young boys yet unfit for
political or metaphysical studies. The Par-
thenon, by Ictinus, was accurately geometri-
cal, and the temple of Zeus at Olympia, by
Libon, was built in multiples of five and
seven, showing conclusively that mathemat-
ical studies were pursued to a considerable
extent.
Music proper.-Music, in the modern
sense, was much cultivated, and its influence
has probably never been better understood
nor its study and practice so general. Its
educative importance has been mentioned.
It was believed to affect the passions as
training in the gymnasium did the physique.
As the character of the music so that of the
nation. Martial music produced a race of
warriors; sentimental, effeminate and vol-
uptuous music would develop traits sympa-
thetic in its hearers. It lightened care,
་ ་
D
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 75
(.
purified the thoughts, and harmonized the
soul. It was the accomplishment of the
gentleman and the expression of worship to
his gods.
Greek music had none of the modern
technicality of composition or execution.
There is no evidence that there was anything
of harmony other than of the octave, and
that only in mixed choruses.
In accord with the belief, different nations
had music of different character. Of these
Plato mentions six-the Lydian proper, two
modifications, the half Lydian, and accented
Lydian, the Ionian, the Dorian, and the
Phaygrian. He condemned the Lydian
proper, and the Ionian as soft, and the other
forms of Lydian as mournful. To him the
Dorian and Phrygian are the height of man-
liness and morality. At Athens the Doric
scale, nearly corresponding to our minor,
seems to have been the favorite, and the
Lydian measures, most like the modern
major, were generally regarded immoral.
So great was held to be the importance of a
proper selection of airs that a state composer
was appointed whose duty it was to examine
'
1
76
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
1
all new compositions and to superintend
their circulation.
The study of music did not begin till
about the thirteenth year, although from its
prevalence the boy could not have remained
in ignorance of it more than at present. As
now, it was divided into vocal and instru-
mental; naturally the former was first culti-
vated. When the instruction was given in
charge of separate teachers, the one teaching
vocal music was called phonaskas. Under
him the elements of music reading and
vocal rendering were acquired. Fol-
lowing the phonaskas the instrumental
teacher, citharist, took up the instruction.
It was necessary that the instrumental
teacher be also a vocalist, and indeed he
generally taught both branches. Instru-
mental music in general found its only popu-
larity in accompanying the voice. Even the
flute was used principally to accompany
another's singing.
The favorite instruments were the cithara,
an instrument remotely resembling the
guitar, and the lyre, which was made origi-
nally with four strings stretched across a
,
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
tortoise shell.
куку
It was increased to seven by
Terpander, 660 B. C., and Pythagoras com-
pleted the octave by adding an eighth.
Anacreon was said to have used a magadis
with twenty strings. The cithera was the
most popular, and the teacher of instru-
mental music was named for it. The flute
was popular at Thebes, and at one time even
in Athens. Alcibiades brought it into dis-
favor there because it disfigured his hand-
some face. Its lack in not permitting the
performer to use his own voice furthered its
unpopularity. It was thought unworthy a
brave man.
Aristotle says: "The flute is
not a moral instrument, but rather one to
influence the passions." The flute mentioned
was more nearly the modern clarionet. The
modern flute, cross-played flute, was less
common. Double flutes, played by means
of leather-mouth-pieces, were used by the
female flute players, who enlivened the sym-
posium. The myth of Marysas evidently
alludes to the victory of the lyre over the
flute.
Drawing.-Drawing was a late addition.
to the curriculum of the Greek school, and,
i
$
T
•
78
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
3
as it was first mentioned by Aristotle, was
probably not common much before the time
of Alexander. By theorists its use was early
recognized,—for practical purposes, to bet-
ter judge and appreciate works of art,-for
aesthetical purposes, unconsciously moulding
the mind to beauty by a close and accurate
study of beautiful forms. From the appli-
cation of the word zographia (life-drawing)
to painting in general, it has been inferred
that figure painting was the earliest and
principal branch of the art. Vase painting
is always of this character. Owing to the
Greek habit of personification, true land-
scapes were not early essayed. The custom
of representing mountains and rivers by
their tutelary gods was common. In the
pediment sculptures of the best epoch, these
appear as emblematic of their appropriate
landscape. Even when true landscapes were
attempted, the subjects were not rocks and
trees or wild country, but buildings and ar-
tificial grounds. Perspective was first intro-
duced in scene-painting. Maps of the
"world", in the Greek sense of the word,
were said to exist at Athens.
•
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 779
The culmination of all education seems to
have been dancing, the orchesis or chorus, a
thing a little surprising to us. As music
and letters prepared for civil life, and gym-
nastics for military, so the combination of
these prepared for the highest duty, worship
of the gods. Though dancing was a com-
mon entertainment of the symposium it was
that of slaves, and there is no evidence that
the free-born Athenian ever danced except
in the tragic or comic choruses or "before
his gods."
Where or when dancing was taught as re-
gards school work, it is not definitely known,
but the readiness with which large choruses
were formed on short notice is ample evi-
dence that it was taught well. In the prepara-
tion for a play the forming and training of
the chorus is clearly settled. The choregus
chosen by the archon undertook the sole care
and expense of providing a suitable chorus,
usually boys. These choreutae were selected,
a trainer chosen, and a suitable place for
training provided, either by building or in
the choregus's own house. Care was taken
that the food should strengthen the voice,
7
1
80
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
1
which shows the dual character of the
chorus-dancing and singing. The music
for dancing was provided by the singing of
the choreutae, later by the cithara, and in
connection with the plays by the flute.
The harmony of soul and physique which
dancing produced is ample reason for plac-
ing it at the head of the system. As a sup-
plement to gymnastic culture, it toned down
the too ardent exercise of the gymnasium,
the over-energy of muscular development, to
the ease and grace which was the Ionic
ideal.
V. J
1
CHAPTER VIII
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS.-EPHEBIC
TRAINING.
From the small size and limited popula-
tion of the Greek States, a professional army
was seldom possible. At Sparta each person
became a citizen only to merge this identity
into that of a soldier. While no standing
army, paid from government funds, was
maintained, each had an assigned place in
the ranks, and was in constant readiness to
fill it. In other States the military prepon-
derance was much lessened, but no where
were the citizens allowed to grow up without
special trainiug in military discipline and
the use of arms.
At the age of sixteen or eighteen (vari-
ously stated) the Athenian boy usually ceased
his exercises in school, excepting gymnas-
tics, and was admitted to the rank of ephe-
bus. On this occasion, with solemn service
and sacrifice, he took oaths of fidelity and
7
*
}
82
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
patriotism, and undertook military duties
preparatory to assuming the full responsi-
bilities of life as a political burgess at
twenty. The ephebi were clothed in a dis-
tinctive dress consisting of a short gray cloak
or chlamys and broad-brimmed soft hat,
petasus, in addition to their regular attire,
and called peripoloi (patrolling police).
They looked after the internal order of At-
tica, the condition of the roads, and occu-
pied the frontier forts. They were not ex-
pected to stand under battle until their two
year's probation was passed and citizenship
conferred. Yet at a time when the Athe-
nians were waging war away from home,
leaving the city without armed defence, an
attack made by the Corinthians was speedily
repelled by the "boys and old men of
Athens". Though this class has been re-
ferred to as universal, it was more probably
limited to the wealthy. In later times, Ro-
man citizens often sent their sons to be en-
rolled as ephebi and to undergo its discipline.
Clubs were formed among them: solemn
meetings were held; and public life imi-
tated.
I
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS
83
17
After admission to citizenship, the choice
of life's vocation was entirely under the con-
trol of the individual. He must avoid busi-
ness, though, if he would exercise his whole
freeman's rights. None who had sold in the
market place within ten years could take
part in public affairs. Should the young
man wish higher educational advantages
and be possessed of sufficient means, he
could attend the lectures of the Sophists and
Rhetoricians. The instruction given by them
stood in much the same relation to the edu-
cational system of that time as the modern
college to ours. Beyond this was the in-
struction of the philosophers, which bore
some relation to the university of to-day.
The critical taunts which were ever passing
between them in no small degree completes
the comparison.
In addition to the detailed instruction of
the school, there was the constant influence
of surroundings favorable to the highest
aims. A climate free from excessive heat
or cold gave exemption from the necessities
of more vigorous climates and furnished
leisure for the attainment of an ideal. Ar-
I
Jorm
L
84
ELEMENTARY GREEK EDUCATION
chitecture unequalled and statuary which
yet challenges approach, adorned the streets
of the city. The free discussions of true
democracy kept every man alive to the vital
issues of the day. Orations peerless in all
time, tragic and comic plays which have yet
our admiration, were to be heard by all de-
siring; and the memories of men victorious
in war, eminent in verse, and renowned in
oratory, were perpetuated in monument and
song. Such a combination of influences,
aesthetic, patriotic, and noble, has never
supplemented any school system before or
since. Under such influences the Greek boy
grew to manhood; and by this means Greece
attained her peerless eminence.
The attempt has been made to present as
accurately as possible the educational prac-
tices of Greece at the time in which her
greatest glory was achieved, purposely limit-
ing the discussion to that part of the system
which is immediately connected with the
growing mind. In the succeeding centuries
various differentiations arose from the sys-
tem here presented. Minds with a vision
extending far down the ages, formulated
STATE EDUCATION AT ATHENS 85
theories which are prized among the educa-
tional maxims of to-day and which were the
basis of education for centuries in all civil-
ized countries, but these rather disrupted
than unified elementary education, and were
never largely incorporated in Greek life.
The education obtained in the plastic years
was pivotal and at the time of greatest na-
tional prosperity must have been best. Of
this the discussion has been.
In looking over this system, the prevalence
of so-called modern methods and devices,
the parallels of recent movements in educa-
tion, make it clearer that what we know of
method is the resultant of centuries of cum-
ulative experiment. Since music, dancing,
drawing, and physical culture were deemed
essential, and tracing in early penmanship
and reading and composition from the
classics of the language were usual, little
other emphasis is needed to impress how
fraught with suggestion is the history of
past systems or how advantageous to educa-
tion the intelligent appropriation of educa-
tional experience.
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