History of Education, Levi Seeley [short novels in english txt] 📗

moral character could enter the contests. The prize, though but a simple wreath of laurel or olive, was most highly esteemed. At first spectators were attracted from the different parts of Greece only; but afterward the games became great fairs for the exchange of commodities, as well as contests which attracted people from all parts of Europe.

The Olympian games tended to unite the people and cultivate the arts of peace. They encouraged the development of perfect bodies, the training being designed to produce superior athletes. They inculcated broader views, bringing together people from different parts of their own land and from other lands. They incited intellectual ambition by adding in later times literary productions. They created a manly spirit and stimulated a national patriotism.

CHAPTER VIII ATHENS

Literature.—(See general literature for Greece.) Harrison, Story of Greece; Macaulay, Essays; Curtius, History of Greece; Davidson, Education of the Greeks; Wilkins, National Education in Greece; Freeman, Historical Essays.

History.—The ideals of Athens—educational, political, and moral—were in direct contrast to those of Sparta. At Athens, love of liberty, love of knowledge, and love of beauty went hand in hand. Though the body was not neglected, as is proved by the beautiful types of manhood preserved for us in Athenian art, the Athenians believed that the truest beauty was to be reached only by the development of the mind.

Hence Athens brought forth great men like Pericles, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, she created a literature that has influenced the world, she developed art to its highest excellence, and gained for herself a permanent and high place in the world's history. Sparta did none of these things, therefore her ruin was sure and speedy; while the decline of Athens was slow and her influence still lives.

The spirit of Athens was liberty, while that of Sparta was tyranny. It is true that Athens had slaves; indeed, only one fourth of the inhabitants were free; but even the slaves had a large share of freedom, and enjoyed some means of education. We learn that children of the wealthy were committed to trusted slaves, called pedagogues, who escorted them to school, instructed them in many things, and had a right to punish them for disobedience. This could not have been allowed by parents with such high ideals had the slaves been debased as were those of Sparta.

In Athens we find for the first time the democratic idea of government; this was by no means so completely realized as it is in modern times, especially in the western world. The "Age of Pericles" (B.C. 480-430) forms the most brilliant period of Athens, a period hardly surpassed in some respects by any other in the world's history. Solon (B.C. 638) was the great lawgiver of Athens. His wise laws had much influence on the prosperity and intellectual development of the people.

The Home.—In Athens the child was left with the mother until the sixth or seventh year. The toys were greater in variety than with any other people of antiquity. They were much the same in character as those of modern times, and their purpose was to amuse the children rather than to furnish a definite preparation for life, as in Persia and Sparta. Play, therefore, was recognized as an important factor in the child's life, and the toys in use stimulated and encouraged the joyous element in the child's nature. That toys are a potent influence toward healthful mental and physical growth is an educational truth that has been fully recognized by us only within recent years. And yet the Athenians appreciated it in the home, twenty-five centuries ago.

The training was intellectual and humane, though strict obedience was enforced. Great attention was paid to the works of the poets, selections being taught to all the children. The father interested himself chiefly in the education of the boys, and when he was unable to discharge this duty an elderly male relative was selected as mentor, who devoted his leisure hours to such training. Little attention was paid to the mental training of the girls.

Women were not held in so high esteem as in Sparta, nor were they as worthy of respect. The husband exercised over his wife the same authority as over his children. Neither by social position nor by intellectual attainment was she his equal. "Her own chamber was the world of the Athenian woman; her maids were her companions; household duties and the preparation of clothing for her family were her employment."

Education.—The father was free to choose for his children their school and the character of their education. The State furnished gymnasia in which schools could be held, fixed the qualifications of teachers, the school hours, and the number of pupils to a teacher. Once a year public examinations were held, the expense of which the State defrayed. The schools were private institutions, supported by private means, though under State inspection. The teachers were philosophers or wise men, thoroughly competent to discharge the duties of their office.

At six or seven years of age, the boy was sent to school in charge of a pedagogue, or leader of the young,—usually an old and trusted slave. While not intrusted with the actual teaching of his charge, he was responsible for his morals and manners, and was allowed, as we have seen, to administer punishment. The pedagogue was the constant attendant of the boy. The character of the school chosen depended upon the means of the parents.

The first two years were devoted chiefly to gymnastics. The two subjects of the elementary course were gymnastics and music, the latter term including reading and writing. But little arithmetic was taught, as the Athenians believed that the object of the study of arithmetic was simply utility, and but little arithmetic was needed for practical use. "Calculating boards" made the reckoning for all business needs a purely mechanical process. The idea of education was the development of the beautiful, and they held that arithmetic contributed but little to this end. The works of the poets were given prominence throughout the Athenian education, and pupils were required to commit to memory many selections.

The Sophists.—The Sophists flourished during the fifth century B.C. Their greatest exponents were Protagoras and Gorgias. They introduced a movement of which Schwegler says, "It had struck its roots into the whole moral, political, and religious character of the Hellenic life of that time." They wandered about from place to place proclaiming themselves as philosophers and bidding for the patronage of the rich by charging large fees and considering public questions. They discussed error and wrong with the same eloquence and zeal that they discussed truth and justice, their purpose being to foster eloquence rather than discover truth. Hence, we have the word "sophistry," which means fallacious reasoning. And yet, in the words of Schwegler, "It cannot be denied that Protagoras also hit upon many correct principles of rhetoric, and satisfactorily established certain grammatical categories. It may in general be said of the Sophists that they gave the people a great profusion of general knowledge; ... that they called out investigations in the theory of knowledge, in logic, and in language; that they laid the basis for the methodical treatment of many branches of human knowledge, and that they partly originated and partly assisted the wonderful intellectual activity which characterized Athens at that time."

Children of the poorer classes were kept in school until their fourteenth or fifteenth year, when they learned a trade. Those of the rich remained in school until their twentieth year. The course of study of the latter included music, rhetoric, grammar, and philosophy. At twenty the youth's education was regarded as completed, and the young man became a citizen. Teachers were paid fees and not fixed salaries.

It was the atmosphere of Athens, more than the discipline of the school, that fostered culture and inspired learning. The aim of education was the beautiful, and the ideal was the aesthetic in mind and body.

Criticism of Athenian Education.—1. It sought to educate the entire man, giving him beauty of form, keenness of intellect, and nobleness of heart.

2. It acknowledged the right of parents to direct and determine the education of their children.

3. It recognized the importance of the individual as no other people had before.

4. Strict obedience was required of the children.

5. It produced great men, with high moral and intellectual ideals, but these ideals were centered in Athenian culture.

6. It excluded women and slaves from its benefits, and was by no means universal.

7. It recognized the value of play as an educational force, thereby anticipating the kindergarten.

8. The State exercised a certain control over the school by furnishing places where it might be held, by defraying the expense of examinations, by determining the number of pupils to a teacher, by fixing the limit of school hours, and by deciding upon the qualifications of teachers. And yet the choice of education was free, and its aim was the good of the individual and not the glory of the State.

CHAPTER IX ATHENIAN EDUCATORS

Literature.—Bulkley, Plato's Best Thoughts; Schwegler, History of Philosophy; Morris, Historical Tales; Curtius, History of Greece; Lord, Beacon Lights; Spofford, Library of Historical Characters; Jowett, The Republic of Plato; Vogel, Geschichte der Pädagogik; Emerson, Representative Men; De Quincey, Plato's Republic; Hegel, Philosophy of History.

SOCRATES (B.C. 470-399)

Socrates was the son of a sculptor of Athens. Though he learned his father's trade and followed it in early manhood, he relinquished it to devote himself to the study of philosophy, for which he had a natural bent. In person he was far from fulfilling the Athenian ideal of beauty, being short of stature, corpulent, with protruding eyes, upturned nose, large mouth, and thick lips. His domestic life was not happy, his wife, Xantippe, being a noted shrew. His failure to provide for the material welfare of his family, though quite natural in a man to whom all material things seemed unessential, must have sorely tried her patience. But Socrates bore her scolding with resignation. Indeed, he seemed to regard it as furnishing an opportunity to practice the philosophic patience that he preached.

Socrates believed that he had a divine call to "convince men of ignorance mistaking itself for knowledge, and by so doing to promote their intellectual and moral development." Like many other philosophers, he spent his time in the streets, markets, and other public places, arguing with any one who would stop to listen or converse. This manner of teaching was common in Athens, and he never lacked hearers. The whole atmosphere of the classic city was charged with the spirit of intellectual activity and philosophic discussion. Socrates did not teach positive doctrines, but assumed ignorance himself in order to convince others of ignorance. By a series of suggestive questions he would lead his pupils or opponents into admissions which finally established the truth that Socrates saw at the outset. This is known as the "Socratic Method," or the dialectical method, and this form of inductive teaching was an important contribution to education.

Although Socrates left no writings, his great pupils, Xenophon and Plato, have given the world a full account of his teachings. Plato speaks in highest terms of his moral character, declaring that "he was not of this world." Xenophon also adds his testimony in the following words: "No one ever knew of his doing or saying anything profane or unholy." Socrates believed in one Supreme Being, the intelligent Creator of the universe. He also believed in the immortality of the soul. These doctrines were altogether contrary to Greek polytheism, the prevailing religion of Athens, and they prove him to have been far in advance of the age in which he lived. While he established no school, Socrates nevertheless must ever rank as one of the world's greatest teachers and thinkers.

In his death he fully exemplified the truth of his own philosophy. He was