elders, and, if he were sickly or deformed, he was 'ex- Exposure of sickly infants. posed' to die in the mountains; but if he appeared physically promising, he was formally adopted by the state and left with his mother for rearing until seven. At that age the boys were placed in charge of a state officer and ate and slept in a kind of public barracks. Here their life became one of constant drill and discipline. In addition to hard beds, scanty clothing, and little food, they were given a graded course in gymnastics. Barracks training of Besides ball-playing, dancing, and the pentathlum- boys. running, jumping, throwing the discus, casting the javelin, and wrestling-the exercises included boxing, and even the brutal pancratium, in which any means of overcoming one's antagonist-kicking, gouging, and biting, as well as wrestling and boxing-was permitted.

Little intellec

The Spartan boys, however, received only a little informal training in the way of intellectual education. tual or moral They simply committed to memory and chanted the training. laws of Lycurgus and selections from Homer, and they listened to the conversation of the older men during the meals at the common table, and were themselves exercised in giving concise and sensible answers to questions put to test their wisdom. Every adult was also required to choose as his constant companion or 'hearer' a youth to whom he might become an 'inspirer.'

Training in Youth and Manhood: Results. When a youth reached eighteen, he began the distinctive study of warfare. For two years he was trained in the use of arms and skirmishing, and every ten days had his courage, and his physique tested by being whipped before the altar of Artemis. Then he regularly entered the army, and for ten years guarded some border fortress and lived training.

Military

Similar education of girls.

upon the coarsest of fare. When he became thirty, he was considered a man and forced to marry at once, but even then he could visit his wife only clandestinely and was still obliged to live in common with the boys and assist in their training.

The education of women was very like that of the men. While the girls were allowed to live at home, they were given a similar physical training in the hope that they would become the mothers of sturdy sons. Thus the Spartan education was shaped entirely with reference to the welfare of the state. Their educational system served well its purpose of creating strong warriors and devoted citizens, but it failed to make for the highest manhood. Sparta developed practically no art, literature, or philosophy, and produced little that tended to promote civilization. She has left to the world little but examples of heroism and foolhardiness alike.

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Old Athenian Education: Its Aim and Early Training. For many centuries the Athenian education was not unlike the Spartan in promoting the welfare of the state without much consideration of individual interests. But even in early days Athens felt that the state was best served when the individual secured the most complete personal development. Hence, the Athenian boys Two types of schools: (1) the began to receive at seven years of age two kinds of trainpalaestra, furnishing physi- ing,- (1) the pentathlum and other physical exercises in the palaestra (Fig. 3) or exercising ground, and (2) singing and playing upon the flute or lyre, and reading and writing at the didascaleum (Fig. 4.) or music school. After the boy had learned his letters by tracing them in the sand, he was taught to copy verses and selections from wellknown authors, at first upon wax-tablets with a stylus,

cal training;

(2) the didasca

leum, furnishing music, reading, and

writing.

(Reproduced from illustrations taken from old vases by Freeman in his Schools of Hellas.)

and later upon parchment with pen and ink. It was, moreover, necessary for the pupils in singing to be taught the rhythm and melody, and to understand the poem so as to bring out its meaning. Hence the explanations and interpretations given by the teachers brought in all the learning of the times, and the moral and intellectual value of the studies must have been much greater than would be suggested by the meagerness of the course. Some moral training and discipline were also given the boy by a slave called the paedagogus, who conducted him The paedato school and carried his lyre and other appurtenances. This functionary was often advanced in years or incapacitated for other duties by physical disability.

Training for the Youth.-At fifteen the Athenian

gogus.

nasia, and

in military

boy might take physical training of a more advanced Advanced physical traincharacter at one of the exercising grounds just outside ing in gymAthens, which were known as gymnasia. He was now ephebic course permitted to go wherever he wished and become ac- duties. quainted with public life through first-hand contact. When eighteen the youth took the oath of loyalty to Athens, and for two years as an ephebus or cadet continued his education with a course in military duties. The first year he spent in the neighborhood of Athens and formed part of the city garrison, but in the second year he was transferred to some fortress on the frontier. At twenty the young man became a citizen, but even then his training continued through the drama, architecture, sculpture, and art that were all about him.

little training.

Effect of the Old Athenian Education.-Little attention was, however, given by the Athenians to the educa- Women given tion of woman. It was felt that her duties demanded no knowledge beyond ordinary skill in household affairs.