EARLY CHILDHOOD. As at Sparta the infant was examined at birth, but the father, and not a council of citizens, decided whether or not it was to be "exposed" or preserved. Three ceremonies, of ancient tribal origin, marked the recognition and acceptance of the child. The first took place five days after birth, when the child was carried around the family hearth by the nurse, followed by the household in procession. This ceremony, followed by a feast, was designed to place the child forever under the care of the family gods. On the tenth day the child was named by the father, who then formally recognized the child as his own and committed himself to its rearing and education. The third ceremony took place at the autumn family festival, when all children born during the preceding year were presented to the father's clansmen, who decided, by vote, whether or not the boy or girl was the legitimate and lawful child of Athenian parents. If approved, the child's name was entered on the registry of the clan, and he might then aspire to citizenship and inherit property from his parent (R. 4).
Up to the age of seven both boys and girls grew up together in the home, under the care of the nurse and mother, engaging in much the same games and sports as do children anywhere. From the first they were carefully disciplined for good behavior and for the establishment of self-control (R. 3). After the age of seven the boy and girl parted company in the matter of their education, the girl remaining closely secluded in the home (women and children were usually confined to the upper floor of the house) and being instructed in the household arts by her mother, while the boy went to different teachers for his education. Probably many girls learned to read and write from their mothers or nurses, and the daughters of well- to-do citizens learned to spin, weave, sew, and embroider. Music was also a common accomplishment of women. [11]
THE SCHOOL OF THE GRAMMATIST. A Greek boy, unlike a modern school child, did not go to one teacher. Instead he had at least two teachers, and sometimes three. To the grammatist, who was doubtless an evolution from an earlier tribal scribe, he went to learn to read and write and count. The grammatist represented the earliest or primary teacher. To the music teacher, who probably at first taught reading and writing also, he went for his instruction in music and literature. Finally, to the palaestra he went for instruction in physical training (R. 3).
[Illustration: FIG. 6. AN ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION A decree of the Council and Assembly, dating from about 450 B.C. Note the difficulty of trying to read without any punctuation, and with only capital letters.]
Reading was taught by first learning the letters, then syllables, and finally words. [12] Plaques of baked earth, on which the alphabet was written, like the more modern horn-book (see Figure 130), were frequently used. [13] The ease with which modern children learn to read was unknown in Greece. Reading was very difficult to learn, as accentuation, punctuation, spacing between words, and small letters had not as yet been introduced. As a result the study required much time, [14] and much personal ingenuity had to be exercised in determining the meaning of a sentence. The inscription shown in Figure 6 will illustrate the difficulties quite well. The Athenian accent, too, was hard to acquire.
[Illustration: FIG. 7. GREEK WRITING-MATERIALS]
The pupil learned to write by first tracing, with the stylus, letters cut in wax tablets, and later by copying exercises set for him by his teacher, using the wax tablet and writing on his knee. Still later the pupil learned to write with ink on papyrus or parchment, though, due to the cost of parchment in ancient times, this was not greatly used. Slates and paper were of course unknown in Greece.
There was little need for arithmetic, and but little was taught. Arithmetic such as we teach would have been impossible with their cumbrous system of notation. [15] Only the elements of counting were taught, the Greek using his fingers or a counting-board, such as is shown in Figure 8, to do his simple reckoning.
[Illustration: FIG. 8 A GREEK COUNTING-BOARD Pebbles of different size or color were used for thousands, hundreds, tens, and units. Their position on the board gave them their values. The board now shows the total 15,379.]
GREAT IMPORTANCE OF READING AND LITERATURE. After the pupil had learned to read, much attention was given to accentuation and articulation, in order to secure beautiful reading. Still more, in reading or reciting, the parts were acted out. The Greeks were a nation of actors, and the recitations in the schools and the acting in the theaters gave plenty of opportunity for expression. There were no schoolbooks, as we know them. The master dictated and the pupils wrote down, or, not uncommonly, learned by heart what the master dictated. Ink and parchment were now used, the boy making his own schoolbooks. Homer was the first and the great reading book of the Greeks, the Iliad and the Odyssey being the Bible of the Greek people. Then followed Hesiod, Theognis, the Greek poets, and the fables of Aesop. [16] Reading, declamation, and music were closely interrelated. To appeal to the emotions and to stir the will along moral and civic lines was a fundamental purpose of the instruction (R. 5). A modern writer well characterizes the ancient instruction in literature in the following words: