Download Greek Boys and Greek Men - Latter

History 1-31b—Greek Boys & Greek Men
Greek Boys and Greek Men
I
From American Beginnings in Europe, by Wilbur F. Gordy
n imagination let us visit the city [of Athens] at the time of its greatest splendor,
in the age of Pericles (461-429 B.C.) We must remember that Athens, like other
city-states of Greece, was politically not merely a group of houses with a wall
running around it. It included also the country outside the wall. The Athenians,
then, were not only the people who dwelt within the city walls, but those also
who made their homes in the peninsula of Attica.
. . . The Athenians had put up their dwellings with little attention to symmetry of
streets, which were narrow, crooked, and crowded with houses. But this was the
case in all old cities. The purpose was to make the walls as small in circuit as
possible and therefore easy to defend against assailants. Those of Athens were
only about five miles around, enclosing an area very small for the number of
people who had to dwell within the city.
. . . The well-to-do Athenian cared little for what we call business. In fact he did
not work at all, but spent most of his time out-of-doors with his fellow-men,
talking politics in the market-place or attending the public assembly. . . .
He rose very early in the morning—about daybreak—and after a slight breakfast
of wine and bread sallied forth bareheaded, with his hair carefully dressed and
his cloak pulled about his body, to meet his friends or take part in public affairs.
Later in the morning, if he was not called to the public assembly, he would take
a walk or ride out to his country house to look after his estate. At noon he
enjoyed a hearty meal, his real breakfast, after which he went to the
gymnasium either to take exercise or to look on and enjoy the sports while
chatting with his friends. At sunset he returned to his home for dinner.
[Young Athenian boys were trained from childhood to take their place as
leaders in the city.] As the Greeks believed that a beautiful body indicated a
beautiful soul, they made bodily exercise an important part of a boy’s training.
In Athens gymnastics were taught at the wrestling grounds, which were partly
shaded fields on the outskirts of the city. Here . . . the boys practiced wrestling,
jumping, boxing, running, and throwing the discus and spear. When the work
was over they scraped off the oil [with which they had coated their bodies] and
plunged into fresh water for a bath. As a result of their training in sports the boys
had strong, manly, graceful bodies.
At sunrise every morning, in all kinds of weather, the Athenian boys trooped to
school. The school buildings were not large and pleasant like ours. They were ill-
© 2012 American Heritage Schools, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for copying of the notebook pages and other online resources for
use by the original purchaser’s own immediate family. No part of this publication may be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
History 1-31b—Greek Boys & Greek Men
furnished and without desks. Sometimes the school was held in the open air,
and then there were not even benches.
At school the boys were taught music and grammar. Music included singing
and playing on musical instruments, though the main object was an
acquaintance with the songs of the poets. In the study of grammar, largely
through the use of Homer and other Greek poets, the boy was not only to learn
how to use his mother tongue, but also to gain knowledge of life, of the gods
and his relations to them, and also of the kind of service he should render his
state. For the Athenian always kept in mind the preparation of the boy for the
part he was later to play as one of the rulers of the Athenian state.
As for girls, they received no training even in reading or writing, except what
their mothers and nurses were able and willing to give them. To the Greeks this
seemed quite enough, for Greek women were expected to spend nearly all
their time within their homes attending to the duties of their households. The girls
were therefore taught to cook, spin, weave, and do things pertaining to the
care of the home and to the children in the home. . . .
At the age of eighteen the Athenian boy was required to take an oath never to
disgrace his holy arms; never to forsake his comrade in the ranks, but to fight for
the holy temples and the common welfare, either alone or with others; to leave
his country better than he had found it; to obey the laws; and to hold in honor
the religion of his country. When he took the oath he received the warrior’s
shield and spear. He was made a full citizen at twenty, when he became a
member of the public assembly.
The oath shows that Athens gave to every citizen a share in the common life of
the city and expected him to take his part in the work of the state. As a member
of the public assembly he helped to make the laws and to decide what should
be done for Athens. In other words, he was a member of the Athenian
democracy, in which the citizens were both the rulers and the ruled. This great
truth, that every free citizen should have a part in making the laws and in ruling
the state, the Greeks were the first to teach the world.
The assembly was held in the open air, and early in the forenoon, on a hill just
outside the city. Every man who attended in the time of Pericles was paid a
small fee, and any member of the assembly, whether rich or poor, had the right
to address the meeting. The speakers wore crowns of myrtle and stood on a
stone platform ten or eleven feet high, reached by a flight of steps.
Let us imagine ourselves at one of these meetings on a day when Pericles is to
speak. There are thousands in the vast throng, for all are eager to hear the
gifted orator. The place of assembly is in the shape of a half-circle and covers
© 2012 American Heritage Schools, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for copying of the notebook pages and other online resources for
use by the original purchaser’s own immediate family. No part of this publication may be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
History 1-31b—Greek Boys & Greek Men
an area of two and one-half acres. Some of the men sit on stools brought from
their homes and others find places upon the bare earth.
When Pericles ascends the stone platform we note his serious face and his noble
bearing. At once we fall under the spell of his presence. It is clear that he loves
Athens and feels a deep interest in the welfare of the people. He speaks briefly,
but his words carry weight, and he convinces his hearers that they should vote
for the measures he urges upon them.
Pericles was a man of wealth, accomplished, broad-minded, and devoted to
the interests of the people. He tried to teach them that each man’s happiness
depended on the welfare of the whole body politic. As a far-seeing statesman,
he believed that all citizens should share in the rule of the city, and that they
should be trained for that duty. He therefore encouraged education. As a lover
of art, he sought to make Athens beautiful, and it was largely through his
influence that the Acropolis was adorned with statues and with the Parthenon,
the most beautiful temple in Greece and in the ancient world.
© 2012 American Heritage Schools, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for copying of the notebook pages and other online resources for
use by the original purchaser’s own immediate family. No part of this publication may be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.