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DAILY LIFE
Schooling in ancient Greece
All cities believed that is was important to train children. This was also a time of war, so learning and war training were mixed together.
We live in relatively safe times and
only small numbers of the military are needed to defend us. But in ancient Greek times this was not so. All citizens had to know how to defend their city, and so military training was part of every school – although it was often in the form of fitness and games.
Here are two examples to show you how different ancient Greek schooling could be between cities and in comparison with our schools today.
Schooling in Athens
Athens was a city that was proud of its education, its arts and its music. But they also realised that they
had to defend themselves. So their schooling was in three stages with military training at the end (picture 1). Very young children were taught at home, often by a slave.
When they were about six, boys went to school, while girls continued to be taught at home.
E 1 Athenian boys had wax tablets and pointed sticks which they used to learn to write (schools in Britain used the same kind of system (slate and chalk) into the 20th century).
The teacher also taught public speaking, ideas of government and anything else he wanted.
E Greek has 24 letters, as opposed to the 26 in modern English. These letters are used today throughout the world as mathematical symbols.
Books were rare, expensive things that had to be produced by hand. So the boys had to memorise everything they learned. They also spent much of their time doing healthy exercise.
Athenian boys learned the works of the poet Homer, and they also learned to play a musical instrument, often the lyre.
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