Education system in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Education system in Ancient Greece 

In the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. e. In Greece, Crete and some other islands of the Aegean Sea, a distinctive culture with its own writing arose. From pictography to cuneiform to syllabic writing - this is the evolution of this writing. It was owned by priests, the royal retinue, nobles and wealthy citizens. Centers for training scribes arose at palaces and temples. The Cretan-Mycenaean (Aegean) culture laid down a certain tradition of writing, adopted by subsequent civilizations. Associated with this tradition, for example, are the rules for writing lines from left to right, top to bottom, highlighting red lines and capital letters. Further development of education and the emergence pedagogical thought in Ancient Greece are associated with the culture of city-states (VI-IV centuries BC), when education took a special place in society. The state begins to take upon itself the education of the propertied classes. It is known, for example, that in Crete young free citizens had the opportunity to receive education at the expense of the state. Education was revered as a necessary and inalienable quality of a worthy citizen of the polis. If they wanted to say something bad about a person, they would say, for example: “He can neither read nor swim.”

The school laid the foundation for everything great and beautiful that Ancient Greece left us. The schools were small - 20 - 50 students per teacher. Students were accommodated in the teacher’s house or simply on a city street. The teacher sat on a high chair, the children sat around on low folding stools. They wrote on their knees. Children of all ages studied at the same time: while some answered the teacher, the rest completed the task. Classes lasted all day with a long break for lunch. There were no vacations - weekends fell on city and family holidays.

They learned to read syllable by syllable, going through many combinations until they recognized them at first sight. Then they read the first words - the names of gods and heroes. Then they read the first phrases. They only read aloud. We remembered a lot by heart. They learned to write on polished tablets the size of a palm. The boards were fastened with laces into a book. They wrote with sticks - a stylus, pointed at one end: with the sharp end they scratched the letters, with the blunt end they erased what was written. For exercises in counting, a board was used - an abacus, divided into cells for units, tens, hundreds, etc. Pebbles were placed on the cells - from one to nine. The four arithmetic operations were taught with the help of the abacus. Singing was taught only in unison, from the voice, since there were no notes. The singing was accompanied by playing the seven-string cithara.

6. Art and literature.

The literature and art of Ancient Greece gave impetus to the development of European culture. Ancient Greece discovered man as a beautiful and perfect creation of nature, as the measure of all things. Magnificent examples of the Greek genius manifested themselves in all spheres of spiritual and socio-political life: in poetry, architecture, sculpture, painting, politics, science and law.

One of the visible results of the development of Greek civilization was ancient sculpture. Borrowed by the Greeks from the ancient and refined, but impersonal and uniformed despotic civilization of Egypt, already in the archaic era it differs from the numb and sketchy Greek figures in its greater softness, liveliness and greater individualization of outlines. And with the beginning of the classical era, characterized by a massive increase in the self-awareness of free citizens of democratic cities, the sculpture acquired specific antique original features. It ceases to serve as a symbol of the inviolability of the privileges of the clan nobility, frozen in a wooden pose, and begins to reflect the dynamics of relations between full citizens of the polis.

Greek architecture was also fused with dynamic social processes. Before the Hellenistic era, royal palaces were not built due to the lack of royal power. The main buildings of cities at first were the houses of deities, patrons of cities - temples. As prosperity grew and democracy developed, another important center of the polis - the agora, the square where people gathered to solve both political and economic problems (in particular, for the exchange of goods), began to be equipped with buildings intended for various public needs - various kinds of government institutions , meetings, etc. This is the building of the city council - bouleuterium, theater, gymnasium, palaestra, stadium. Greek architecture made a number of original developments, in particular both the shape of temples and their individual details. And despite the monumental nature of the Greek public architecture of classical times, the sense of proportion did not allow the creation of structures that served the purpose of suppressing and belittling the feelings of a free citizen of a free state, in contrast to the architecture of ancient Eastern despotism, Hellenistic and Roman times, where individualistic-monopolistic tendencies encouraged hypertrophied monumentality and the enormity of the structures. (Since Hellenistic times, palaces of kings and villas of royal nobles and wealthy people have appeared in Greek architecture.) Private buildings, along with the growth in the well-being of the general population of democratic cities, were also improved. Cities were supplied with water supply and sewerage. Newly built cities (for example, Piraeus) were created according to the Greek philosophy of architecture, the most prominent representative of which was Hippodamus of Miletus (Hippodamian layout). Ancient civilization arose as a civilization of city-states and remained such until its end, despite the loss of the cities' right to conduct an independent foreign policy, supported by their own independent armed forces. But in the process of the increasing attack of the imperial central government on the rights of municipal self-government (even to the point of draconian taxation by Justinian), the cities lost their sources of not only development, but also regeneration and fell into decay.

Together with the ancient city, Greek and then Roman literature was formed, all those genres and literary examples that will largely determine the development of European and world literature. In the archaic era, a recording is made of preliterate epics created in the dark ages, in particular Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, which became subjects of school education not only in the gymnasiums of antiquity, but also in the humanistic (classical) gymnasium of modern times. A living epic is no longer being created, but only parodies of it, since its natural environment - the aristocratic community - is giving way to democracy. An emancipating person fulfills his need for expression and awareness of feelings and experiences in another type of literature - in lyrics. It was in the archaic era that a whole constellation of masters of different lyrical forms emerged - Alcaeus, Sappho, Anacreon, Archilochus and many others. In the classical era, drama became the leading genre, and theater became an obligatory attribute of the architecture of every city. The greatest playwrights of tragedy are Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and comedies - Aristophanes. Isegory (equal freedom of speech for all citizens) and isonomia (political equality) cause the flourishing of the once aristocratic art of oratory, for the manifestation of which there were enough occasions at meetings of the national assembly, council, court, at public festivals and even in everyday life. Demosthenes and Socrates were special masters of this art and at the same time political figures. And besides them, dozens of names can be named, since oratory never died in antiquity, although with the fall of Greek democracy and the Roman Republic it rather turned into eloquence.

The development of public self-awareness caused the emergence of literature describing states in the process of development, that is, historiography, the most prominent representatives initial stage which were Hecataeus of Miletus, Herodotus and Thucydides. The relationship between subject and object, personality and the surrounding world, that is, the problems that arose along with Greek freedom, is tried to be comprehended by the Greek philosophy that was born with it using various approaches, which, unlike other areas of Greek spiritual culture, never received real development in Roman culture .

Theater and dramaturgy.

Theater and drama achieved particular flourishing and significance during the classical period. It is explained by the very nature of theater and the peculiarities of the forms of social life of the ancient Greeks. Theater in Greece was a genuine school for the education of man and citizen, for the moral formation of the individual. He enjoyed the exceptional love of the masses, posed and decided the most important actual problems. The origin of the ancient Greek theater is closely connected with cult actions, especially dithyrambs in honor of the god Dionysus. The specifics of the cult holidays in honor of Dionysus also determined the origin of the names of the genres of ancient theater - tragedy and comedy. Ancient Greek theaters were built in the open air, taking into account the terrain, but nevertheless had perfect acoustics. They had a horseshoe or oval shape and were huge in size. Theatrical performances were given at the Great Dionysia for several days, when each playwright staged a tetralogy, consisting of a tragic trilogy and the so-called satyr drama.

Features of ancient Greek tragedy

The tragedy of the classical era almost always borrowed plots from mythology, which did not at all interfere with its relevance and close connections with the pressing problems of our time. Remaining the "arsenal and soil" of the tragedy, mythology was subjected to it special treatment, transferring the center of gravity from the plot of the myth to its interpretation depending on the demands of reality. The features of the aesthetics of ancient tragedy should also include a chronologically consistent attitude to myth and its criticism. Of the features of her poetics, it is necessary to name: a minimum of actors, a chorus, a luminary, messengers, and an external structure.

Conclusion.

The ancient Greeks were cheerful and life-loving. They worked very hard for the benefit of their state. They were patriots of their state, this is evidenced by the fact that a lot of patriotic songs and anthems were written. Also, the Greeks were very wise people, because they were interested in everything, they constantly thought about what the sky is, where it came from, why it is impossible to stop time, and so on. They wanted to know everything. They even created their own culture. There were no analogues of this culture anywhere in the world. There were a lot of talented people in Ancient Greece. Some of them could write poems, odes, hymns, epigrams, some could make sculptures, some could draw a drawing of a temple, some could play the musical instruments. In Greece there were a lot of people who went down in history, for example: Phidias, Homer, Aesop, Sappho, etc. They built houses and temples very well. They made very beautiful sculptures and ceramics. The ancient Greeks were very brave warriors. They defended their state, standing to the death, this is confirmed by the poem “Iliad” written by Homer. Greece is a state that has no analogues, has never been and never will be.

Bibliography.

1. A.M. Vachyants. World Art. M.: Iris press, 2004.

2. L.D. Lyubimov. Art of the Ancient World. M.: Education, 1980.

3. N.A. Dmitrieva. Short story arts M.: Education, 1986.

4. N.V. Miretskaya, E.V. Miretskaya. Lessons from ancient culture. Obninsk: Title, 1996.

5. P.P. Gnedich. The World History arts M.: Sovremennik, 1996.

6. Borzova E.P. - History of world culture - St. Petersburg: "Lan", 2001

7.Pigalev A.I. -Culturology - Volgograd: "Libris", 1999

Control questions.

1.Who began archaeological excavations on the territory of Greece and discovered the most ancient period of its history.

2.Who was the founder of Greek democracy?

The founders of Greek democracy were Solona (594 BC) and Cleisthenes (508-507 BC). According to the norms of this democracy, every freeborn became a citizen of the polis.

3. How did the Athenian and Spartan schools and education systems differ?

The Athenian system is aesthetic, and the Spartan system of education is military.

The Athenian system, despite the great attention to physical education and the study of martial arts in Athenian schools, great attention was paid to aesthetic, humanitarian education. In addition to grammar, arithmetic, and history, oratory and rhetoric, music and graphics were studied.

Spartan education system: from the ages of 7 to 30, Spartan youths underwent a period of intensive military training, with the main emphasis being placed on the development of human physical strength. However, by highlighting the care of the body, the Spartans ignored many sciences, which enabled some philosophers to call them “absolutely illiterate” people.

4. What sciences did the ancient Greeks create?

The ancient Greeks had the priority of creating philosophy as a science about the universal laws of development of nature, society and thinking, a system of ideas, views on the world and the place of man in it; exploring the cognitive, value, ethical and aesthetic attitude of man to the world.

In mathematics, Pythagoras stands out, who created the multiplication table and the theorem that bears his name, who studied the properties of integers and proportions.

In the field of physics, one can name the works of Archimedes, who was not only the author of the world-famous law, but “the author of numerous inventions.”

Democritus, who discovered the existence of atoms.

The works of Hippocrates in the field of medicine and ethics are well known. He is the founder of scientific medicine, the author of the doctrine of the integrity of the human body, the theory individual approach to the patient, the tradition of keeping a medical history, works on medical ethics, in which he paid special attention to the high moral character of the doctor, the author of the famous professional oath that everyone who receives a medical diploma takes.

5. Which of the ancient Greek philosophers was the founder of cultural knowledge?

The founder of cultural knowledge is L.A. White.

6. Which ancient Greek is called the “father of history”?

One of the sciences originating in Ancient Greece is history. The first historian known to us was Herodotus.

7. What was the reason Trojan War?

The cause of the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, by Paris.

8. What is an architectural order? What orders did the Greeks create?

An order is one of the types of architectural composition, the main elements of which are columns with corresponding parts. There are Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and complex orders. The Architectural Order, as an integral compositional system, appeared already in the first stone temples and other public buildings as a deliberately generalized reflection of the wooden structures of the architecture of the Dorians and Ionians, full of artistic conventions. The prototype of the Doric Order (architect.) were buildings with a flat ceiling on beams and a gable roof, covered with a thatched or reed (later tiled) roof, the prototype of the Ionic was a building with a flat roof (earthen roof over a solid flooring of beams or small round timber).

Doric order: peripterus standing on a stylobate (of three steps). The column, decorated with vertical grooves - flutes, did not have a base. It was completed with a simple round
the pillow is an echin, above it is a square slab - an abacus. The frieze is an alternation of square slabs (metopes) and vertically elongated slabs (triglyphs), the pediments are decorated with sculpture. The columns were sometimes replaced by male figures - Atlases.

The Ionic order is more elegant and elegant. The slender column had a base at its base
and was strengthened by a capital in the form of graceful curls, which were called
volutes The relief-zoophore-was not torn into triglyphs and metopes, it was continuous
tape. Columns of the Ionic order were sometimes replaced female figures- caryatids.

Corinthian order, characteristic feature which has a capital in the form of a basket with leaves, owes its fame to the Romans, among whom it received extremely wide use. Among the Greeks he played very minor role and is considered only as a more luxurious version of the Ionian order.

9. What elements of ancient Greek theater have survived to this day?

Ancient Greek drama had a huge influence on the development of world theater. What is especially attractive in ancient Greek drama is the presentation of large socio-political and philosophical questions, the saturation of the works of ancient theater with ideas of patriotism, attention to man with all the richness of his spiritual life, and the deep depiction of heroic characters that educate the consciousness of the audience.

Explanations for this, obviously, should be sought first of all in the fact that many of the ideas that guided the ancient authors in their work, as well as the images they created, are more or less consonant with our era.

10. What monuments of art of Ancient Greece have survived to this day?

The sights of Ancient Greece - temples, amphitheaters, remains of public buildings - have been preserved in many European countries. But most of them, of course, are on the territory of the modern state of the same name. The most important monuments of ancient material culture are ancient Greek temples. In Hellas, they were built everywhere, because it was believed that the gods themselves lived in them. These world-famous sights of Ancient Greece stand out noticeably against the background of other architectural monuments of Ancient Hellas - the remains of Greek acropolises and other ancient ruins.

Parthenon Perhaps the most famous monument of ancient Greek architecture is the Parthenon Temple. It was built in 432 BC in Athens, and today is the most recognizable tourist symbol of modern Greece. It is known that the construction of this majestic Doric temple was led by the architects Callicrates and Ictinus, and it was built in honor of the goddess Athena, the patroness of the Athenian Acropolis.

Temple of Poseidon The Temple of Poseidon, or rather its remains, is located on Cape Sounion. It was built in 455 BC. Only 15 columns have survived to this day, but they speak eloquently of the majesty of this structure. Scientists have established that on the site of this temple, long before construction began, other religious buildings already existed. They are approximately dated to the 7th century BC.

Raising Children in Ancient Athens
A child under seven years old - both a boy and a girl - was under the supervision of his mother or nanny. They lived with their mother in the female half of the house - the gynecium. Children under seven years of age walked mostly naked, this was explained by the Greek unpretentiousness in clothing and practicality.At two or three years old, boys passed from the hands of wet nurses to the supervision of teachers, special slaves who, for one reason or another, could not do housework; he had to constantly look after the child, and subsequently take him to school.

The Greeks well understood how important, although not easy, to maintain moderation in raising children, without resorting to too harsh methods, but also not allowing the child to grow up spoiled and pampered. “Effeminacy makes the character of children heavy, hot-tempered and very impressionable to little things; on the contrary, the excessively brutal enslavement of children makes them degraded, ignoble, hating people, so that in the end they become unfit for life. life together" Here Plato talks about observing moderation in raising children; a golden mean must be found everywhere, especially in education.

The child grew up and little by little his horizons became wider and the world of his ideas richer. This happened thanks to fairy tales, toys, cooperative games and communication with peers.

Older children made toys for themselves from clay or wax, they built sand palaces, rode on sticks, harnessed dogs or goats to strollers or small carts, and played blind man's buff. Little Hellenes knew swings, hoops and even kites. But most of all, the children loved outdoor games. In them, like modern preschoolers, they imitated the young Hellenes. They organized running and jumping competitions, but most of all they loved playing ball. These and similar games prepared children for the harsh teenage life, which began at the age of seven, when childhood ended, and the boys came under the care of their father (they lived in the male half of the house and obeyed their father) and went to school. The girls remained in the gyneceum, under the supervision of their mother and a slave nanny.

Plato advised adults to monitor children's games: children should strictly follow the rules of the game and not introduce any innovations into them; otherwise, having become accustomed to this in the game, they will want to make changes to the laws of the state, but this cannot be allowed. Plato believed at the same time that all sciences should be taught to children not by force, but playfully, because free man no science should be studied slavishly.

From seven to thirteen or fourteen years old, boys studied at the school of a grammarian and citharist. At the grammar school, teachers taught children reading, writing, and counting. Counting was taught with the help of fingers; pebbles and a special counting board resembling an abacus (abacus) were also used. Children wrote on waxed boards with thin sticks (stylus). Later they began to write on papyrus with ink using a reed stick. The teacher punished naughty and lazy people. For this he had rods and a stick.

At the citharist school, boys received a literary education; here they were specially trained aesthetic education— taught to sing, recite, play musical instruments. First they read the old writers Homer and Aesop with their wise fables, then they studied the poems of Hesiod, the poems of the legislator Solon, and the works of Theognis. The cithara teacher instilled in the boys the skills of playing the lyre or cithara. To the sounds of these instruments, they sang songs and hymns - solo or in chorus. Music accompanied the Greeks throughout their lives. Athletes trained to music and hoplites went into battle. Music was played at holidays and in the theater. The teachers also taught the boys horse riding, archery, throwing spears, and throwing stones from a sling.

At the age of thirteen or fourteen, teenagers went to the palaestra, where they engaged in physical exercises and mastered the pentathlon (running, wrestling, javelin and discus throwing, swimming). The most respected citizens held conversations with students on political and moral themes. For best result The principle of competition was used in training - agonism, noble and fair competition. This principle came to the school from the Olympic Games.

In Athens, education was not strictly compulsory, but, nevertheless, was considered the duty of parents towards their children. Plato notes on this issue that children who are not given an education are completely free from any obligations to their parents. And these duties were very strict.

Children in ancient Greece were completely under the authority of their father. The main responsibility of children (mostly sons) in Ancient Greece was to honor and obey their parents. The son was obliged to take care of the maintenance of his parents if they needed it. The law commands that parents be supported, and parents are considered to be father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, great-grandfather and great-grandmother. In addition, the son was obliged to pay his deceased parents the honors prescribed by the laws of religion. It was considered a crime for a son to destroy his parents' grave or deprive them of the funeral honors they demanded. A son who failed to fulfill these duties towards his parents could be brought to justice. The choice of punishment was left to the decision of the court, which sometimes imposed a death sentence.

So, all training lasts exactly ten years and ends at the age of sixteen. Plato notes that “it is not permissible for the father or the child himself to increase or decrease this study time established by law.” However, it was necessary to pay for schooling. Although this fee was small in Athens, the sons of the poor did not go to school for long. After all, they started working on their own early. Children of rich parents studied longer, so they became more educated people.

Rich parents sent their children at the age of sixteen to a gymnasium, where they continued to improve in the art of pentathlon and also studied philosophy and literature. Much attention was paid to poetry and music. The task of the students was not only to master a certain number of texts and the ability to pronounce them in appropriate situations (at religious festivals, at feasts, etc.) The teenager was supposed to derive a deeper benefit from this reading: poetry was called upon to serve aesthetic education. Music served the same purpose.

At the age of eighteen, the young men transferred to the ephebe, where their military-physical training continued for two years. Enrollment in ephebia coincided with civil adulthood. Enrollment in ephebia was associated with taking an oath of allegiance to serving the state. Taking the oath turned young man into a civilly capable person, giving him the right of inheritance, the right of guardianship (by the way, over his mother), the right to dispose of property, everything except participation in political life. The ephebes swore an oath that they would not disgrace the weapons entrusted to them, would not abandon their comrades in trouble, and would defend home altars and the borders of the state. A year later, in a solemn ceremony in the theater, the ephebes were presented with a shield and sword as if they were real warriors. They spent the second year of training on the borders of the policy, on duty at guard posts. After two years, the young men became full citizens.

The ephebes performed physical exercises under the guidance of a trainer - pedotrib, and the instructor - didaskal - was directly involved in military training. The ephebes were taught fencing, archery, javelin throwing, horse riding, and handling a catapult (a device for throwing arrows, spears and stones). The lesson program also provided for further training in poetry and music, since one of the duties of the ephebes was Active participation in state celebrations. Training in ephebia different times lasted from two to four years.

But even at these levels the training might not end. Young men in whom “the rational part of the soul predominated” could continue their studies with philosophers until the age of 30, studying philosophy, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music theory, and developing abstract thinking. The Greeks called philosophers people who sought to understand and explain how the world works - nature, man, human society. They reflected, asked themselves questions, observed. Therefore, the first philosophers were also the first scientists - they studied astronomy, mathematics, medicine, geography and other sciences. The intellectually strongest students of philosophers who stood out were often involved in government activities.

Girls in Athens remained in the gyneceum, they were taught women's crafts: spinning and weaving. Although the girls did not attend school, they were taught to read and write, because future wife a citizen must be educated. The girls' education program included singing and dancing, which was necessary for participation in religious and social celebrations. The girls also studied literature, but they were kept away from conversations on literary topics among men. In male society, only hetaeras (courtesans) could shine with wit and erudition, and never freeborn women. The girls stayed at home until they were married off. This happened at about 15-16 years old. With rich parents, girls lived more freely and cheerfully. In poor houses there was no time for music and dancing. Like boys, girls started working early, helping their parents. Having reached maturity, girls could already get married. Having collected children's toys, the girls took them to the temple of Artemis, which indicated that childhood was over and they had become adults.

Having examined the philosophical and pedagogical views of the Greeks, we can say that their idea of ​​education was that it should be holistic, that is, complete, consisting of all the necessary components, in accordance with the Hellenic classical principle of “everything in moderation, nothing in excess” . Today these parts of education could be designated as intellectual education, artistic education, sports and military education. All these parts in Greece formed one inseparable harmonious whole.

This is the pedagogical merit of ancient Greek philosophy; it was the first to give an idea of ​​the holistic, harmonious education, which was in effect until the very end of the Hellenistic era, but with the advent of Christianity it was forgotten for more than a millennium.

Raising Children in Ancient Sparta

In Sparta, the situation was different: from the age of seven, the boy came under the care of the state, that is, he was simply taken away from his family. The purpose of education was to raise children to be strong, obedient and fearless men. They were interrupted in special institutions- angels, where they stayed until they were eighteen years old. The main emphasis was on physical development; there was no talk of comprehensive and harmonious development; it was believed that if a person was physically developed, then everything else would follow.

To identify the most dexterous and courageous, adults deliberately quarreled students among themselves, causing fights. Teenagers were supposed to steal food, but if they were caught doing this, they were flogged. They were punished not for stealing, but for being too clumsy and getting caught. Over the years, their upbringing became more and more harsh, they were shaved bald, forced to walk barefoot and not accept warm baths, and sleep on hard beds made of reeds.

Education in the angels was led by paedonoms, people specially allocated by the state. The students were divided into two groups: juniors or boys from seven to fourteen years old, and ephebes from fourteen to eighteen to twenty years old

At the first stage, basic intellectual training was given to the Spartans, limited to the ability to read and write, knowledge of several military and religious songs, as well as some information about the traditions of Sparta, its history, religion and rituals. Also, much attention was paid to the development of “laconic speech” in children. They paid the greatest attention to the military-physical training of children, taught them to run, jump, wrestle, throw a discus and a spear, taught them to unquestioningly obey their elders, despise slaves and their main occupation - physical labor, and be merciless to slaves. The training was severe: children were taught perseverance and endurance, the ability to endure any hardships and hardships, hunger, cold, pain, readiness for hiking, sports training, weapon ownership. At the end of this stage, the teenagers faced a test in which endurance and readiness for further tests were tested. The teenager was severely whipped in front of the altar of Artemis, he was not supposed to make a sound. Another test for teenagers was cripia - raids on the settlements of slaves - helots, with the aim of exterminating the most obstinate slaves. Here the ability to clearly and ruthlessly follow orders was tested.

Education was the work of the entire Spartan community; often military leaders and statesmen visited the angels, had conversations with children on moral and political topics, were present at competitions, admonished and punished the guilty.

The second stage, from fourteen to eighteen to twenty years old, took place in ephebia. Real warriors have already been trained here. The young men were taught to master all types of weapons, the rules of warfare, etc. Before the end of their training, the young men passed the last test, it was called cryptia: whole year the young man had to wander through the mountains and valleys, hiding so that he could not be found, getting his own food and sleeping right on the ground. After serving the kripia, the young man became an irene, he became a man, and now he could take part in the joint meals of men accepted in Sparta - fidityas. He was enlisted in the army, in which he was obliged to serve until the age of thirty, only after which the young Spartan could be considered a full citizen

Girls in Sparta were raised at home, but in their upbringing, physical development, military training, and teaching them how to manage slaves came first. They were trained to be the mothers of future citizen-soldiers. Girls did gymnastics just like boys, and practiced running, discus throwing and wrestling. But, just as in Athens, since they had to take part in religious rites, they were taught sacred songs and dances. When the men went to war, the women themselves guarded their city and kept the slaves in obedience.

Even though the format of the Unified State Exam was not familiar to ancient Greek teachers and students, contemporaries, in relation to the field of teaching various sciences, use names familiar to the Greeks. It is from the land of olive trees that the concepts of “school”, “gymnasium”, “lyceum”, “academy”, “university” came to Russian, and other languages ​​as well.

Ancient Greece and, in particular, Athens is not only the cradle of architecture, but also the foundation of European civilization. Greek thinkers concentrated knowledge brought from different states on the territory of their country. This includes Asia Minor, Egypt, Byzantium. And subsequently, Greek sciences, developed and multiplied, became the knowledge base for the same neighboring countries, with their own unique culture and traditions.

Greek thinkers collected and systematized knowledge in a special way and conducted various studies.

Greek education

Already in Antiquity, the ancient Greeks thought about the education of the younger generation. And at all times, the Greeks sought to give children not only knowledge, but also to raise decent, intelligent, healthy, physically and morally developed representatives of society. Not only the beauty of the body was valued, but also the mind, honor and conscience.

There were practically no illiterate people in Greece. This is evidenced by historical sources dating back to the 5th century BC. However, initially education took place at home, but later schools and gymnasiums were created.

Greeks began to receive education upon reaching the age of 7. Until this time, the child was in the care of his mother, and he also had a wet nurse. From school, the father and slave-teacher came to the fore. It was the slaves who were the teachers. Literally translated from Greek, the word “teacher” means “accompanying.” The slave assigned to the young schoolboy not only accompanied him to school, but also ensured his decent upbringing.

At the school itself, each of the children had at least 3 teachers:

• Grammarian.
• Teacher-expert in church orders.
• Musician.

The main one was the grammarian. He was in charge of teaching children not only writing and literacy, but also counting. The grammarian, together with his students, studied and chanted various poems. Aesop's fables and the works of Homer were especially revered.

The usual notebooks in our understanding were a pair of tablets fastened together. Diptychs were opened like a book. The inside of the boards was waxed. They wrote with a stick made of metal (stylus). After writing, the text could be erased with a spatula attached to the back of this kind of notebook. In some cases, diptychs were used as envelopes, sealed and sent to various recipients.

Children were taught counting using pebbles. If the calculations were complex, the abacus was used. By the way, this method is still used today, and in different countries.

Religious studies in our understanding, and in Greece the teaching of church crafts and chants was carried out no less intensively than grammar. There were many in Greece religious holidays, which always attracted a lot of people. Church songs were performed everywhere at such celebrations.

The boys sang ritual songs. Choir or solo. The repertoire also included hymns for special occasions. Teachers who taught children songs were called “kifarists.” They also taught how to play a variety of instruments. More often these were the kithara and the lyre.

Intensive physical development began at the age of 12. Gymnastics classes were compulsory. The physical education teachers were called “pedotrib,” which translated from Greek means “child’s coach.”

In Greek city-states it was very prestigious to grow up dexterous, strong, flexible, hardy, physically strong, intelligent, well-read, and enlightened. The boys were also prepared for military service. Pedotrib was able to teach the younger generation javelin throwing, discus throwing, running, swimming, wrestling, long and high jumps, and horse riding. Children performed in various gymnastics competitions.

Sports activities took place in specially designated places. The premises, more like gymnasiums or arenas, were called “palestra”. The lessons were accompanied by the sounds of the flute. In Greece, since ancient times, it has been customary to provide musical accompaniment when practicing any sport.

Upon reaching 16, in some policies 18 years old, boys continued their education in gymnasiums. It was more high level than school. No less popular for children of this age were schools of rhetoricians or philosophers.

Training for the fair half

As for the girls, they were also taught to read and write. Only this was done under the supervision of mothers. The young female half not only learned the basics of various sciences, but also became involved in household work. From an early age, girls were taught needlework, weaving, and they spun. Dancing and singing were compulsory in the training program. This became necessary when participating in rites and ritual holidays.

Literature was not ignored either. According to various sources, already in the 7th century. BC. In almost all regions of Greece, schools for girls were built everywhere. There they practiced poetry, dancing, singing, and learned to play various instruments. The most famous such educational institution was the school of Sappho. The famous poetess led it for quite a long time. By the way, in the sources you can find poems by Sappho dedicated to her pupils. From these lines it is easy to understand that the young ladies received their education in an atmosphere of unsurpassed beauty and grace.

Sparta

The education of the children of Sparta was completely different from that in other Greek cities. Here education was reduced exclusively to the goals of physical development and the creation of a militant citizen. As for women, they were brought up with the spirit of a warrior mother.

From the age of seven to 20, boys were raised in camps. These institutions were state owned. Young people constantly trained their endurance and increased their strength. Not a day went by without physical training. The conditions in such institutions were what is called “Spartan”. This means quite tough. The boys slept almost on bare boards. The smartest ones had to collect straw for bedding. The camp inmates had no clothing other than loincloths. She got it at the age of about 12 years. It was believed that if a child lived to such years, he would be a warrior, a worthy resident and defender of Greece.

The girls of Sparta paid no less attention to sports. They even had the opportunity to compete with boys in various competitions. But the Spartans, even girls, studied music and various other arts much less.

By the way, the main methods of education in Sparta were cruelty and severity, and various punishments were practiced. In everything, the teachers of Sparta showed strength of character and restraint. At the same time, there was an excessive passion for military affairs, which was considered the norm for Sparta, but not for the rest of Greece. Of course, the damage that was caused to the mental and creative development of Spartan children was irreparable. For this, the contemporaries of the Spartans, the Athenians and residents of other policies, criticized their upbringing, since throughout the rest of Greece the so-called “kalokagathia” was more revered - the ideals of beauty, goodness, wisdom, creativity, in modern terms.

Athens

In ancient Greece, unlike the Spartans, the Athenian school was also widely known. It dates back to the 5th century. BC. Later, almost all city-policies adhered to the principles of Athenian education or principles close to them.

Great attention was paid to mental development, but they did not forget about the physical characteristics of young Greeks. By the way, a citizen of this state should have grown up morally and diversified.

Athenians went to school at the age of 7. Training could also take place individually, if the family’s wealth allowed. But more often the children studied in groups. As soon as the first thresholds of learning the alphabet, counting, and writing were overcome, children were given more difficult tasks. The first of these, and perhaps the only one, is learning poetry by heart. That's all, the students were not asked anything else. Next is high school.

Not every Greek family was able to provide education in gymnasiums, lyceums, and especially universities. The training was too expensive. And after Solon’s reforms, not all parents sent their children to school. It has become customary to educate children informally, namely, to give them the simplest skills of writing and counting, as well as reading. Parents taught literacy as best they could. Some hired teachers, but most used slave labor.

Those who could pay for education sent their offspring to gymnasiums (“gymnasiums”) after school. The youths were also prepared for military service. Operated in Athens educational institution, which by modern standards resembles a military school. Boys joined it from the age of 18. Subsequently, they were expected to serve in the army.

However, gymnasiums after the 5th century. BC. modified. In Athens they became centers of pedagogy and science. The liberal arts flourished in these venues

Thessaloniki in Greece. History, sights (part three).

A unique historical heritage and decoration of the central part of Thessaloniki are the ruins of the Roman Forum. The forum, the heart of social life in antiquity, was built at the end of the 2nd century. BC. on the site of the former Macedonian agora. Until the 5th century it was the executive center of Thessaloniki, playing a major economic, political and social role in the life of the city, regularly gathering high-ranking, influential and authoritative personalities who came here to experience the rhythm of social life.

Restaurants and taverns in Greece

The most common buildings in Greece after residential buildings are churches and taverns. The former satisfy spiritual hunger, and the latter, of course, bodily hunger. And if the history of the Church in Hellas goes back almost 20 centuries, then the history of cooking goes back 40! The very first cookbook on Earth was written by the Greek chef Archestratos in 330 BC. Greek cuisine has always been and is the most distinguished favorable influence on the human body and his lifestyle.

Family camp in Greece "The Secret of the Old Amphora"

Pythagoras' unusual attitude towards women

We perceive Pythagoras as a great mathematician, but few people know that he devoted part of his time to spiritual discussions with women. His task was to instill in them a love of beauty. Remembering that a woman is a keeper hearth and home. It may seem strange that such a famous person paid attention to family issues.

Kastoria is not only a fur coat paradise!

A small quiet provincial town in northern Greece called “Kastoria” is known to most fashionistas from all over the world. It is here that their wildest dreams of the best and most beautiful fur coat made of natural fur can come true. After all, Kastoria is rightly called the “fur paradise” on Earth,

Ancient Greece was a country that united many slave-owning city-states - policies. In the history of Greece, two policies were of particular importance - Athens and Sparta. In each of them, special educational systems developed, the originality of which was determined by the patterns of development of a slave-owning society, on the one hand, and the peculiarities of the development of a given country, on the other.

Raising children in Sparta

The Spartan state was one of the earliest in Ancient Greece. It arose at the beginning of the 9th century. BC.

The population of Sparta was sharply divided into Spartiates - the ruling class (conquerors), perieki - citizens of the propertied, personally free, but deprived of political rights, and helots - enslaved people, deprived of all rights, but left by the conquerors on their former land, which became the property of the entire state. The consequence of the brutal exploitation of the helots was their frequent uprisings. This forced the Spartiates to maintain their dominance by force of arms. In this regard, the life of the Spartiates had a unique militarized form: all adults are male? the population of the Spartiates constituted an army that kept the helot slaves in constant fear and obedience.

Under these conditions, a Spartan state system of education developed, the purpose of which was to train the children of Spartiates as warriors, persistent and hardened, future slave owners. State controlled family education children from the moment of their birth. The elders examined the newborns and handed over only the healthy ones back to the father; the sick and weak were destroyed. Babies, as a rule, were raised by their mothers with the help of slave nurses. Often these were educated women who already had teaching experience. The nurses took care of the life and health of the children, tempered them, and instilled in them the behavioral skills characteristic of the Spartiates. Children were not swaddled, they were raised to be unpretentious in food, they were taught not to be afraid of the dark, to easily endure hunger, thirst, inconveniences and difficulties possible in future military campaigns.

Seven-year-old boys were taken from their families and placed in special state educational institutions - agels, where they were kept until the age of 18. Education in the angels was led by pedonoms - people specially designated by the state. They paid the greatest attention to the military-physical training of children, taught them to run, jump, wrestle, throw a discus and a spear, taught them to unquestioningly obey their elders, despise slaves and their main occupation - physical labor, and be merciless to slaves. Education in the Agellas was limited to learning to write and count. Special attention focused on developing children’s ability to answer questions clearly and concisely.

From 18 to 20 years old, young men underwent special military training in ephebia, then they were enlisted in the army. Only from the age of 30 were young Spartiates considered full citizens.

The girls were raised at home, but physical development, military training, and teaching them how to manage slaves came first in their upbringing. When the men went to war, the women themselves guarded their city and kept the slaves in obedience. Girls took part in public celebrations and sports competitions.

Education and school in Athens

Athens was the most developed slave state - a democratic republic, which reached its peak in the 5th century. BC e. Athens left humanity a rich legacy in the fields of philosophy, art, literature, and pedagogy.

Great importance was attached to the upbringing and education of children and youth in Athens. The Athenians strove for a combination of mental, moral, aesthetic and physical development of a person, since they considered the ideal one who was beautiful both physically and morally. But in slave society physical labor was considered the responsibility of slaves only. The general thrust of the Athenian educational system is contempt for physical labor and slaves.

Until the age of 7, all children were raised in the family. Much attention was paid physical development children. Taking care of the mental education of little citizens, they were told fairy tales, read literary works, and played with them. The life of the Athenians was constantly accompanied by music; one of their favorite musical instruments was the flute. They played it while reading poetry. From an early age, children were taken to public celebrations and holidays, and sports competitions.

From the age of 7, the boys attended various schools. Until the age of 13-14, they studied at the school of a grammarian and citharist. At the grammar school, teachers, didaskals, taught children reading, writing, and counting. Counting was taught with the help of fingers; pebbles and a special counting board resembling an abacus were also used. Children wrote on waxed boards with thin sticks (style). At the harpist's school, boys received a literary education, and here they were specially trained in aesthetic education - they were taught to sing, recite, and play musical instruments. At the age of 13-14, teenagers went to the palaestra, where they engaged in physical exercises and mastered the pentathlon (running, wrestling, javelin and discus throwing, swimming).

The rich slave owners of Athens sent their children to gymnasiums (later gymnasiums), where they studied philosophy, literature, and prepared for government. At the age of 18, as in Sparta, young men transferred to ephebia, where their military-physical training continued for two years.

Such a diverse upbringing and education was available only to the children of large slave owners. For the majority of the free population - the demos - it ended in the palaestra; the slaves were completely alienated from the school.

The life of Athenian women was limited to the family circle and took place in the female half of the house - in the gyneceum.

In Ancient Greece and in the Hellenistic states in the 2nd century. BC e. A special three-stage education system developed - this structure existed until the very end of antiquity. The first educational stage is learning to write, read, and count; second stage - grammar school. Required items The training here included reading classical writers (poets, orators, historians) with explanations from all fields of knowledge. By the age of 16, schooling ended and third-level education began—rhetorical school. The main goal of this stage of training was the practical mastery of the art of written and spoken word, that is, oratory. Elements of law (as preparation for a career as a judicial speaker) and philosophy (logic and ethics) were also studied. With the higher humanitarian education of the rhetoric school, special higher education in the philosophical school coexisted and competed, which claimed the status alternative source gaining knowledge.

Teaching music in an ancient Greek school

In Ancient Greece, a number of factors emerged that determined the development of pedagogy and education, as well as the philosophy of rationalism, which gradually acquired the status of a special type of knowledge. Firstly, these are specific natural conditions, under the influence of which commerce and handicraft production develop rapidly, which in turn requires certain skills, knowledge and, of course, the level of education. This predetermined the development of the ancient Greek system of education and schools, where teachers represented a special social class necessary for the training of professional artisans and traders. The classes of traders and artisans represented a serious economic and political force in Ancient Greece, which developed and gained authority in society. The democratic framework also had a significant influence on ancient Greek education. social organization, which was realized in the institution of the polis, creating conditions for creative freedom and individual initiative. The third factor that influenced the formation educational system In Greece, the philosophy of rationalism began to develop, which was generally initiated by reasons of a religious nature. Religious culture of the ancient Greeks was more or less “liberal”: the ancient Greek gods were, in fact, idealized people; the Greeks did not have sacred books (in the sense of divine revelation embodied in the text); did not have a strictly fixed religious and ritual dogma, and the ancient Greek priests did not play a significant role in the life of the polis.

Legendary ancient Greek poet Homer

Speaking about the influence of spiritual culture on the formation of the ancient Greek educational model, one cannot fail to mention the role played in this process by the poems of Homer, which became a kind of Bible for the Greeks. Of course, the figure of the singer-storyteller Homer is rather legendary (many researchers consider him to be the same collective character as Shakespeare). However, the ancient Greeks were convinced of the existence of this divinely inspired poet, who single-handedly created large-scale epic canvases that replaced sacred texts. Like the Vedas, intended for the Brahmin priests, or the religious and philosophical texts of the Upanishads, Homer's poems had as their main goal the transfer of sacred knowledge from teacher to student. The tales of the ancient Greek aed can also be compared with the Hindu epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata, which combine stories of mythical and legendary events with adventure plots, love stories and edifying teachings.

By the end of the 5th century. BC e. in Athens all citizens could read and write

The founder of the famous philosophical Academy, Plato, in his fundamental treatise “The Republic”, considers the Homeric epic as a “life guide”: “... this poet raised Hellas, and for the sake of guidance in human affairs and enlightenment, it is worth studying him carefully in order to build his whole life according to him...” . Until about the middle of the 5th century. BC e. The education of youth is built on the basis of the image of an ideal hero, derived from the poems of Homer: an educated, noble young man must, in addition to physical perfection, have knowledge of poetry and certain “musical” skills, that is, the ability to play musical instruments. They studied and were raised according to Homer, and in his texts they found standards of behavioral “virtues,” while at the same time discovering hidden allegorical, almost sacred meanings. Thus, Homer acquired the status of a “divine teacher,” transmitting a clearly verified concept of the universe through stories about legendary events.

In the history of Ancient Greece special role played by two states-polises - Athens and Sparta. Each of them has formed its own unique systems of upbringing, training and education. It was with the emergence of the polis system of public administration that issues of education became the prerogative of the authorities, and the state assumed the costs of educating citizens. Thus, the ideal of Athenian education became a model that boiled down to a fairly abstract concept - a set of virtues.

The Athenians used agonistics - competition between individuals

This meant comprehensive development harmonious personality, at the same time possessing a developed intellect and a body close to ideal. It was believed that only a free and wealthy citizen of Athens had the right to achieve such a reference model of self-development and self-improvement. The competitive principle (agonistics) became the basis for the educational and educational practices of the ancient Athenians. Children and youth constantly competed in gymnastics, dancing, music, and verbal discussions, thereby honing their best qualities, gaining self-confidence and a corresponding reputation in Athenian society.

Ancient Greek philosopher Plato

The system of raising children in ancient Sparta is a topic for numerous idle discussions and disputes. The expression “Spartan upbringing” is often associated with harsh and sometimes even aggressive measures to influence a child’s behavior and has a very negative connotation. The citizen of ancient Sparta was, first of all, a warrior, and therefore military discipline and all its components covered the entire life of a Spartan, from early childhood to a very old age, so that a person was unquestioningly forced to submit to the harsh interests of the state. The upbringing of boys and girls in Sparta was different from each other. According to the ancient historian Plutarch, the Spartans threw babies born weak or incorrectly built into the abyss of the Taygetos ridge. Most likely, this is an exaggeration: children who did not meet the health criteria were most likely given up to be raised by free villagers, perieks. Strong boys, having reached the age of six, were transferred from their parents' home to public Spartan educational institutions, which were managed by a chief called a pedonom. He divided the boys into squads corresponding to the military formations of the Spartans, in which the young students would take a place in the future. Education in these institutions was very strict, with the goal of preparing students for service in the army, making them capable of enduring the difficulties and hardships associated with camp and camp life, and developing in them physical strength and good health. Therefore, the main occupation of boys and growing youths in these educational homes were gymnastic and military exercises: running, wrestling, jumping, discus throwing, javelin throwing, familiarization with the art of wielding weapons, military and strategic maneuvers.

Edgar Degas. Young Spartans

In addition to physical training, the Spartans also highly valued intellectual education. In their opinion, it was important not only the ability to understand and deftly conduct everyday affairs, which was acquired with experience and during conversations with wise people, but also the ability to express one’s thoughts briefly and clearly. The Spartans were resourceful, cunning, famous for the art of giving clear answers, speaking to the point and concisely. The most important mental advantage of a Spartan, a military man, was the art of quickly understanding the essence of the matter and, without hesitation, without wasting time, to act as state regulations dictate.

The position of women in Sparta was more honorable than in the rest of Greece

As for the upbringing of girls, in general, it was conducted in the same spirit as the upbringing of boys. However, the attitude of the Spartans towards women was truly chivalrous. The marriage was concluded from the moment the bride was kidnapped: there was a custom that during the first time of marriage the husband should see his wife only furtively, which gave the relationship of the young spouses a romantic mystery. In general, the position of women in Sparta was freer and more honorable than in the rest of Greece. Accustomed from childhood to feeling part of society and taking an active part in public affairs, they shared the political interests of men, sympathized with their belligerence, their way of life, and therefore enjoyed respect. Other Greeks even said that in Sparta it was women who ruled the roost.