Pupils were allowed to take their pets into class. I think this was very unsuitable because if you take your pet into lesson you would concentrate on that instead of the task set or the teacher.
They were only taught a few subjects; they were reading, writing and mathematics. A “Grammatistes” taught these subjects. Maths was taught so that young men could earn a living by trading in the market and for other reasons. I think that this was a good idea then because these were the three core subjects and there weren’t as many different job titles so they didn’t need to know such things as business studies and geography but know you need to know a bit of everything, so what they did then suited their way of living but what we learn now suites our way of living.
Writing was done with a metal pen (graphis) on a thin piece of wax held by a thin wooden frame. The pen was pointed at one end and rounded at the other end for rubbing out. I quite like the idea of writing on wax because it would have looked really good and when you have finished it could be melted and used again.
Once you had progressed and learnt how to write neatly you were given ink to write with (from cuttle fish, or made from soot) on paper that was made from bark or papyrus leaves. We now have just modernised the pens that they used to write with.
Another important thing they did at school was to learn by heart part of Homers poems the Lliad and the Odyssey. After that you learnt some of the famous speeches by soldiers and politicians of the past. I admire this because they are proud of their city and are learning their past; it is just like us learning history, which I am interested in.
Writing in ancient Athens was much harder because there weren’t any spaces between words, it was done in narrow columns and the alphabet was much more complicated. Here is the alphabet from 400 B.C:
As you can see some of the letters on the alphabet mean two of our letters put together. I really don’t like their alphabet because some of the letters take longer to write and are just more complicated, but on the other hand if I had lived back then and had learnt that alphabet I would have found our alphabet very hard because it is what you get used to. Reading itself was also more difficult than today because there were no spaces between words and no punctuation. Personally I wouldn’t have found this as hard as some others because I am a good reader, so this wouldnt really have bothered me.
To keep in with the tradition you had to be able to sing, dance and play at least one instrument. They were allowed to try a double-flute (aulos), which looked like two recorders fastened together, one for each hand; or a set of pan pipes (syrinx), or a stringed instrument called a Kithara, which we call a Lyre. I wouldn’t like to do this because I am not interested in playing instruments but it sounds good when they are played so they should have been allowed to decide whether they wanted to play one or not.
Physical education played a big part in school life and out of school because fathers wanted their sons to be healthy and muscular; in-fact it was law to have your son do physical education and music. It was taught by a “Paidotribes” who carried a forked stick to inflict punishment with. They exercised in gymnasiums (palaistra); there were several of these in Athens, open and indoor. In them you could run, jump, throw javelin and discuss. I would really enjoy doing this because I am quite into sports. It would be good if that still happened now because firstly a lot of people would enjoy it and secondly, there would be less unfit boys. The Paidotribes was an expert, like a modern physiotherapist and was expected to prescribe the best excercises for each boy at each level. This would be like having a personal trainer at school and I would really like this because they know exactly what you need to do to improve at sports and become fitter.
Before they exercised they would rub oil (elion) into their skin to stop injury. Once they had finished exercising the oil would be scraped off with a blunt knife (gloios), before putting on their chiton and sandals. I think that this was pointless
because how can oil stop you from getting injured? It can’t because it doesn’t warm up your muscles and it doesn’t break your fall.
Boys were brought up thinking that Athens was the greatest city and had the bravest, strongest men. Athens didn’t just depend on the navy, it also depended on practical skills and every father had to teach his so his trade. As they grew up, they were taught about the government. They learnt about fair laws and how to choose good leaders. The most important thing was to become a good citizen of Athens. I think that this is good because they are very patriotic and are teaching the boys that Athens is the best city, which makes them feel privileged to be there.
School began early. There is an old Athenian law that tried to stop teachers opening their schools before sunrise. It would be good if a similar law to this were passed now so school started later because it starts too early.
An old slave called a “Paidagogos” or “Boy-keeper” accompanied boys to school. Each wealthy family had one of these to look after all of the boys in the family. It was his job to make sure that the boys got to school, behaved well in the streets and to make sure they did not truant. He carried a cane to beat them with if they misbehaved. I would really dislike this because it is like having a twenty-four hour babysitter.
Inside school misbehaviour was not accepted and teaches often-used corporal punishment. I only think that this punishment should be used on young boys, just to teach them because if it was used on older boys they might hit the teacher or have a violent outburst.
The Paidagogos carried all of the boys equipment and sat in their classes so he could help them with their homework. This is a good idea because if the boy is stuck and can’t see the teacher until the next day, the Paidagogos can help them with their homework.
They only had holidays on certain days of the month when there were festivals in honour of the gods, or a procession with public games with contests. The month of “Athesterion” (from mid-February to mid-March) was full of holidays. This was the only continuous holiday. I would hate this because they don’t get enough time off school, everyone needs a break, they should have had longer holidays.
Elementary or primary education finished at about fourteen years old. Poor families sent their sons off to earn a living. Rich families sent their sons off to secondary education until eighteen years old. This is a little bit like we have now, but now you have to get the right grades to be accepted into higher education. I think it was better back then where you had to be well off to get into higher education because if you are not so clever, you have got chance of getting into higher education.
There were lectures in the gymnasiums (Palaistra) for wealthy young men to discuss points of interest. Some lecturers called “Sophists” gave talks in rich men’s houses and took few students for high fees. This is the equivalent of our university but is more like having your own private tutor.
At eighteen boys were registered in their parish or “Deme”, as “Epheboi” (a word meaning young men). They had to spend the next two years in service before becoming a full citizen of the city-state. I don’t like this because you should be able to become a full citizen of the city without going into service, what happens if you don’t want to go into service? Do you just leave the city because you cant become a full citizen?
I conclude this work by saying that I would rather stay at school where I am now because it was much harder back then.
Bibliography
Aspects of Greek life pages 16-18
Discovering the Greeks pages 101-108
Ancient Athens pages 46-52
These were the Greeks pages 161-164
