MUSIC SCHOOL SCENES.
From a Hydria in the British Museum. (E 171.)
At eighteen, the Athenian youth left school. The state did not give him the full rights of a citizen until a few years later, and until then he was required to perform certain military duties, but he was no longer a boy, and he was considered old enough to understand the meaning of citizenship, and to know what were its duties and privileges. So it was then, at the time of leaving his boyhood behind, and entering upon the richer and fuller life before him, that the youth took the oath of the Ephebi or young men. He was given the shield and spear of the warrior, and then in the temple, before Zeus, the Lord of Heaven, and in the presence of the highest Athenian magistrates, he swore:
"Never to disgrace his holy arms, never to forsake his comrade in the ranks, but to fight for the holy temples, alone or with others: to leave his country, not in a worse, but in a better state than he found it; to obey the magistrates and the laws, and defend them against attack; finally to hold in honour the religion of his country."
[[1]] From The Schools of Hellas, by Kenneth J. Freeman.
[[2]] Lucian, translated by Kenneth J. Freeman, in The Schools of Hellas.
[[3]] Plato: Protagoras, translated by Jowett.
[[4]] Xenophon: Banquet.
[[5]] See p. 312.
[[6]] Plato: Laws.