Schools—At Sparta—At Athens—Methods of Instruction—Reading Lessons—Music—Geometry—The Gymnasia—Physical Training—The Education of Girls.
Here, as in so many other domains of which we must treat, there is a marked distinction between the Doric and Ionic states. In the latter the education of boys was a private duty of the parents, and the State only retained a general right of control; while in the Doric states, and especially at Sparta, with whose institutions we are best acquainted, boys were regarded as belonging, not to the family, but to the State, which undertook the entire charge of their physical and intellectual well-being.
At the age of seven years the Spartan boy left his father’s house to live with companions of his own age, whose occupation and mode of life were regulated by definite rules. All the boys were divided into companies, according to age. Several of these companies were again combined into a troop. At the head of each company and of each troop was a superintendent, chosen from among the youths. His duty was to direct the occupations and exercises of the boys under his charge, and, as leader in their gymnastic exercises, to help them by his example. The general care of their education was in the hands of the trainers (παιδόνομοι), themselves under the control of a Board of Inspection (βιδιαῖοι), but in other respects their power was unlimited, and they had the right, by means of “scourge-bearers” (μαστιγόϕοροι), to inflict punishment for disobedience or other faults. In this office, which was a very responsible one for a single man, they were assisted by the whole body of citizens, who were not only permitted, but even bound by their duty, to take part in the exercises of the boys, instructing, encouraging, or even punishing them. Every Spartan citizen could, in a measure, exercise paternal rights over every boy, and, again, was regarded by every boy in the same light as his own father. Obedience towards their elders, modest and reverent bearing, were impressed on the Spartan boys from their earliest years, and they were thus advantageously distinguished from the somewhat precocious Attic youth. The aim of their whole education was to harden the body and to attain the greatest possible bodily skill. The boys had only the most necessary clothing; from their twelfth year onwards they wore only an upper garment, even in winter, and in all other respects their life was of the simplest, so that it is not a mere figure of speech to talk of Spartan discipline. They received only sufficient food for the barest needs, and, though the boys were often taken to the meals of the grown men, yet these too were anything but luxurious. Their bed was hay or straw; from their fifteenth year onwards reeds or rushes, which they had themselves to fetch from the Eurotas. Indifference to physical pain was carried to an excess which appears to us absolutely barbarous, even in later times, when they had departed in some respects from the original severity of the so-called laws of Lycurgus.
The instruction at Sparta also corresponded to these principles. There was little question of developing the intellect, nor was this part of the public duty, but only a private matter. Those who wished to learn reading and writing doubtless found an opportunity of doing so, but not in the institutes conducted by the State; at any rate, we find no mention of such. Probably most Spartans did learn so much, but very little more. A little arithmetic was added, as mental arithmetic especially was regarded as important on account of its practical utility. But this was all the literary culture which a young Spartan received. They also studied music, for which the Doric race had always natural ability and liking; and this instruction was compulsory. The boys learnt to play the cithara and flute, and to sing songs or choruses of serious moral nature. The inspectors were careful to see that nothing unsuitable was admitted here, and that traditional methods were adhered to in harmony and metre; therefore, every innovation on the domain of music was regarded with suspicion, and departure from the traditional custom was sometimes even punished.
The most important part of the instruction consisted in gymnastic exercises. These were methodically studied on rational principles; the exercises were graduated according to age, and only those were admitted which developed strength and skill, and did not merely fit a man for the career of an athlete. Their first aim was to make their men good warriors, and this they certainly attained. But it was a necessary consequence of the excessive development of the physical side, and the disregard of all higher intellectual developments, that Sparta never attained any real greatness in literature or art. Again, however attractive the moral seriousness developed by the Spartan education may seem to us, we cannot deny that the deadening of the family feeling, and the complete abandonment of everything to the State, produced that hardness and cruelty which we so often meet with in the history of Sparta.
Very different was the system of education at Athens. Here it was left entirely in the hands of individuals. The State provided no public schools, but only appointed certain boards, whose duty it was to see that there were no offences against tradition or morality committed in the private institutes. This duty was entrusted to the superintendents (ἐπιμεληταί and σωϕρονισταί). These were, however, chiefly concerned with the youths, and thus especially with the instruction in the gymnasia. We do not know how far the Areopagus took part in this control.
As a rule, Athenian boys, when they had completed their sixth year, were entrusted to the charge of an old slave, called Paidagogos, whose duty it was, not to train or instruct the boys, but simply to accompany them to school, or on their walks, and to watch over their behaviour. As it was not considered correct for the son of an Athenian citizen to carry his school utensils himself, it was the duty of the paidagogos who accompanied him, to carry his books or his cithara, his strigil, or even his ball. Very often the paidagogos remained in the room (or perhaps in an ante-room) during the lesson, and at the end again accompanied his charge home. Though he was only a slave, and often but slightly educated, he generally had authority given him over the boys entrusted to his care. When they reached the age of eighteen the control of the paidagogos either ceased entirely, or assumed a different character.
It is impossible not to recognise that there were many objections to this system. It was by no means always the worthiest and most trustworthy slaves who were chosen for this office, but rather old men who were of no use for other work, and who were not only entirely ignorant intellectually, but whose manners were often bad. As foreigners they often spoke barbarous Greek, set their charges a bad example by fondness for drink, or else winked at their faults and bad habits; in short, were by no means fitted to have the charge of growing boys. Many complaints seem to have been made, but the practice still continued; in fact, in some respects matters grew worse in the Hellenistic period. On monuments, where we often see them accompanying boys, even in mythological representations (e.g., The Children of Niobe, Archemorus, Medea, etc.), the paidagogoi appear in a special dress corresponding to their non-Hellenic origin—in a chiton with sleeves, rough cloak, and high boots. However, this corresponds to the practice of Greek tragedy, which had fixed costumes for certain characters. In reality the paidagogoi probably dressed much like other citizens.
The instruction at Athens is divided into two headings: music and gymnastics. Let us first consider the former. It appears to have been very rare for boys to be taught at home by private teachers. They were usually sent to some school conducted by an elementary teacher. We know very little about the arrangement and curriculum of these schools. It seems that boys from the same neighbourhood generally attended the nearest school, and were taught there in the same room by one teacher, who had to instruct in turns the beginners and the more advanced pupils. Cases of over-filled classes are mentioned, but these do not refer specially to Athens. It is not improbable that classes not only received different instruction, but were also taught in separate rooms; and that besides the master who was the director and proprietor of the schools, assistants paid by him also took part in the instruction. But in reality we know very little about these matters; it is however, certain that some teachers had no schoolroom at all, but sat out in the street with their scholars—a thing which is only possible in the sunny South. No doubt these were only schools for the poor, and the sons of rich parents did not attend them.
The furniture of the schoolroom was doubtless very simple. A music teacher sometimes set up in his school statues of Apollo and the Muses, but he would be well paid, and we must not expect to find such luxuries in the furniture of ordinary elementary schools. Here probably, there was little more than the benches for the boys, a seat for the master, and some aids to teaching, such as we see hanging on the walls on the few ancient monuments which introduce us to Greek schoolrooms. (Compare Fig. [75].) Among the requisites was a white board. It is not probable that the charts, used in the Roman period to impress dates of mythology and history on the pupils’ minds by plastic representation, were already known to Greek antiquity. The master supplied the ink required for instruction in writing: we may infer this from the fact that Aeschines, who as a boy used to help his father, a schoolmaster, had to mix the ink and sweep out the schoolroom. The salary which the master received for his instruction probably depended on his knowledge and ability; doubtless popular teachers were well paid. But it was not a paying profession, for it is not likely that the school fees, usually paid monthly, were high; also negligent fathers often put off paying them for a long time; while stingy parents kept their children at home during a month in which there were many holidays, in order to save the school fees. We must not assume high culture in these elementary teachers, and we find that the pupils feared their masters more than they loved them, which is natural, seeing that they seem to have made a freer use of canes and sticks than our present pedagogic principles would permit. Still we do not find any Greek pendant to Horace’s Plagosus Orbilius.