7 Ancient Greek Education

Greek civilization flourished from about 700 ВС to about 330 ВС. During this period, the Greeks made the greatest educational advance of ancient times. In fact, Western education today is based on the ancient Greek model.

Ancient Greece was divided into independent city-states. The educational system of each city-state aimed to produce good citizens. Athens and Sparta, two of the most powerful city-states, had dif­ferent ideals of citizenship. In Sparta, a citizen was judged largely by his political and military service. The government controlled education. Boys received physical and military training, but few learned to read and write. In Athens, unlike Sparta, a citizen was judged more by the quality of his mind. But Athenian citizens were also expected to develop their bodies and to serve the state.

Athens made the greatest educational advances of any Greek city-state. But Athenian education was far from democratic. Ed­ucation was limited to the sons of Athenian citizens. Only about a fifth of the Athenians were citizens. Most of the rest were slaves, who were not considered worthy of an education.

Athenian boys started their education at about age 6. But they did not go to schools as we think of schools today. A trusted family slave simply took them from teacher to teacher, each of whom specialized in a certain subject or certain related subjects. Boys studied reading, writing, arithmetic, music, dancing and gym­nastics. As the boys advanced, they memorized the words of Homer and other Greek poets. Boys continued their elementary educa­tion until they were about 15 years old. From about ages 16 to 20, they attended a government sponsored gymnasium. Gymnasi­ums trained young men to become citizen-soldiers. They empha­sized such sports as running and wrestling and taught civic duty¹ and the art of war. Students held discussions to improve their reasoning and speaking ability.

Some Athenian gymnasiumsbecame centres of advanced learning. By the 400s ВС, advanced learning in Athens consisted of phi­losophy and rhetoric. Philosophy included the study of logic, mathematics, morals, and science. Rhetoric included the study of government, history, and public speaking.

During the 400s and 300s ВС, Athens produced such great philosophers and teachers as Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. About

¹ civic duty - обязанности граждан

387 ВС Plato founded a school of philosophy that became known as the Academy. Some scholars believe the Academy was the Western world's first institution of higher learning. Aristotle founded a similar school called the Lyceum¹ about 330 ВС.

Most young Athenian women received no formal education. The Greeks believed girls could learn all they needed to know from their mothers — that is, how to prepare food, make cloth­ing, and care for infants. However, some women belonged to religious organizations through which they developed skills in music, poetry, and dancing.

Ancient Roman Education By 100 ВС, the Romans had built the most extensive educa­tional system of that time. Their system was patterned after² that of ancient Athens. But unlike the Athenians, the Romans provided schooling for girls as well as boys. The children of wealthy citi­zens were taught by a ludus (elementary-school teacher) from about the age of 7 to 10. They learned to read and write both Greek and their native language, Latin. Girls received only an elemen­tary education. Boys from about 10 to 15 years old attended a sec­ondary school run by a grammaticus (teacher of grammar). In sec­ondary school, they continued their study of Greek and Latin grammar and literature. The Romans also established institutions of higher learning. These institutions were schools of rhetoric, which prepared young men for careers in law and government.

Assignments:

1. Give the English for:

происходить, изобретать, ученичество, приобретать, узы, связывать, иметь отношение к, сложный, включать, устно, запоминать, доступный, поведение, возникать, священник, переписывать, задача, племя, родственный, ценный, требовать, процветать, успехи, древний, основываться на, ограничивать, раб, делать упор на, рассуждения, предоставлять.

2. Form nouns from the following verbs: invent, communicate, educate, perform, imitate, know, behave, cal­culate, discuss, develop, govern.

3. Form adjectives from the following nouns: history, religion, emotion, east, west, value, education, alphabet, power,

policy, democracy.

4. Join A and В in pairs of synonyms:

A. adults, to establish, talented, to arise, hard, task, to complete, advances, ancient, to prepare.

B. difficult, gifted, elders, to appear, success, to found, to finish, aim, old, to train.

5. Complete the following sentences:

1. Young people in prehistoric societies were educated through ...

2. The invention of writing was the second major milestone in ...

3. Scribes were hired for any task that required a knowledge of ...

4. The Hebrew schools were religious schools conducted by ...

5. The educational system of each city-state aimed to produce ...

6. Gymnasiums emphasized such sports as ...

7. Students held discussions to improve their ...

8. Unlike the Athenians, the Romans provided schooling for ...

9. The Romans also established institutions of ...

10) These institutions were schools of rhetoric which prepared...

6. Ask 10—15 questions about the text. Be ready to answer them.

7. Prove the following statements:

1. Today, in all societies, young people still learn through ap­prenticeship, imitation and ritual.

2. As a society grows increasingly complicated, teachers and schools take on more and more responsibility for educating the young.

3. Alphabetic system makes writing easier than picture system.

4. Athenian education was far from democratic.

5. By 100 ВС, the Romans had built the most extensive educational system of that time.

8. Speak on the major milestones in the history of education. Give the advantages and disadvantages of each of the discussed ed­ucational systems.

8. Say what elements of ancient educational system you'd like to

introduce in our

tern of education and why.

2. THE PEN STORY

A sharp flint... a finger dipped in blood or plant juice... these were the tools used by primitive man to record his experiences on cave walls and rocks. As he became more intelligent, man developed more complex writing systems — pictures, symbols, alphabets ... and more efficient writing instruments.

Two of the earliest implements were the brush, employed in China, and the stylus. The stylus, a sharp instrument made of bone or metal, was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to inscribe signs and words on wax-covered tablets.

Meanwhile, the ancient Egyptians were writing on papyrus with pen and ink. The ink was basically a mixture of bamboo, soot, water and gum; the pens were made from the hollow tubular stems of

reeds, split and sharpened.

Papyrus and parchment spread to other countries. So did the reed pen. The Romans made their version from bamboo but in­stead of splitting it, they cut one end to a nib-shape, filled the hollow stem with ink; then squeezed it to force the ink onto the nib. That was one of the very first fountain pens.

The stylus was in fashion for some three thousand years; the reed pen for only three hundred because, with the introduction of paper, a much finer instrument was needed. It came in the form of a quill feather taken from the wings of swans, crows or, more often, geese. The new implement inspired the word "pen" (taken from "penna," the Latin term for feather).

From the sixth to the eighteenth century, the quill was the writing instrument of the western world.

The next major step in the pen story was taken in 1809 by Joseph Bramah, an English engineer. He invented a machine for manufacturing quill nibs which were then inserted into holders. Soon this type of pen was in common use. Within twenty years quill nibs had been replaced by steel ones.

The next chapter in the pen saga begins in 1884 in America... A young insurance agent, Lewis Waterman, tipped his inkwell over a contract just at the moment of signing and consequently lost a sale worth one hundred thousand dollars. This misfortune determined Waterman to design a pen containing its own supply

of ink — the fountain pen.

While the fountain pen was gaining in popularity, another invention hit the writing public. The ballpoint. Although patents on ball-point pens date back to the 1880s, the world's first workable version was developed in 1943 by Lazlo Joseph Biro, a Hungari­an living in Argentina.

Assignments:

1. Translate the text using a dictionary.

2. Give a summary of the text.