What was athenian education

They slept away from home, in the barracks, with the men. If they cried, they were beaten, sometimes by their own parents. They were taught how to steal and lie and get away with it.

These skills could save their life someday. Nearly everything in the Spartan educational system was about war and battle. Spartan girls went to school to learn to be warriors. Their school was not as brutal, but all girls in ancient Sparta could wrestle and fist fight and handle a weapon. They were taught how to kill. The Spartans believed that strong women produced strong babies.

Besides, the women might have to defend the city if the men were away at war. The teaching methods involved primarily transmission approaches. The teacher would read or say something and the student wrote it down. This was how most subjects were taught. There were essential four levels of education in Ancient Greece.

From years of age, a boy was under domestic training under his mother or a nanny. Nannys were for the rich. From years of age, the boy was placed under a guardian called a pedagogue and sent to school.

There he studied with private teachers the basics of education. From there was a split, the rich continue their education while the poor would branch off and focus on learning a trade from their fathers. There were only private schools, but most people could afford it.

After this basic education, the more wealthy boys were taught by philosophers like Socrates. Children were educated in order to produce good citizens for Athens, though only men were considered citizens.

The goal was that they would be educated enough to advance their society as they grew. They learned basic things like reading, writing and math. Then studied poetry and learned play instruments, before receiving athletic training, where they learned to play games and keep in shape.

Unlike Sparta, the goal was not to produce soldiers, but to produce well-rounded young men who were smart, strong and attractive. They were taught habits that would serve them well throughout their lives. During primary school, younger boys learned calisthenics and often were taught how to play ball games, while older boys were taught more military-type activities, such as running, boxing, and wrestling.

All Athenian boys were expected to read heavily, however, as literature played a very important part in their education. The national epic poems, Homer's Illiad and Odyssey , were mandatory teaching in all Athenian elementary schools.