In the more military but less theocratic nation, the Persian, efforts were made in favor of a general education. The religious dualism which distinguished Ormuzd, the principle of good, from Ahriman, the principle of evil, and which promised the victory to the former, made it the duty of each man to contribute to this final victory by devoting himself to a life of virtue. Hence arose noble efforts to attain physical and moral perfection. The education of the Persians in temperance and frugality has excited the admiration of certain Greek writers, especially Xenophon, and there will be found in his Cyropædia a thrilling picture of the brave and noble manners of the ancient Persians.[21]
On the whole, the history of pedagogy among the people of the East offers us but few examples to follow. That which, in different degrees, characterizes primitive education is that it is the privilege of certain classes; that woman is most generally excluded from its benefits; that in respect of the common people it is scarcely more than the question of an apprenticeship to a trade, or of the art of war, or of a preparation for the future life; that no appeal is made to the free energy of individuals, but that the great masses of the people in antiquity have generally lived under the harassing oppression of religious conceptions, of fixed traditions, and of political despotism.
[18. Analytical Summary.—Speaking generally, the education of the primitive nations of the East had the following characteristics:—
1. It was administered by the hieratic class. This was due to the fact that the priests were the only men of learning, and consequently the only men who could teach.
2. The knowledge communicated was in the main religious, ethical, and prudential, and the final purpose of instruction was good conduct.
3. As the matter of instruction was knowledge bearing the sanction of authority, the learner was debarred from free inquiry, and the general tendency was towards immobility.
4. As the knowledge of the day was embodied in language, the process of learning consisted in the interpretation of speech, and so involved a large and constant use of the memory; and this literal memorizing of the principles and rules of conduct promoted stability of character.
5. As the purpose of instruction was guidance, there was no appearance of the conception that one main purpose of education is discipline or culture.
6. The conception of education as a means of national regeneration had a distinct appearance among the Jews; and among this people we find one form of compulsion,—the obligation placed on towns to support schools.