ATHENS vs. SPARTA  

  Athenian
Education & Military Training

The primary purpose of Athenian education was to produce thinkers, people well-trained in arts and sciences, people prepared for peace or war. Young Athenian boys were tutored at home until the age of six or seven, and then they were sent to neighborhood schools for primary education until they were 14 years of age. These schools were usually private schools, but tuition costs were low enough that even most poor Athenians could afford to send their boys to school for at least a few years.(3)

During primary school, younger boys learned calisthenics and often were taught how to play ball games, while older boys were taught more military-type activities, such as running, boxing, and wrestling. All Athenian boys were expected to read heavily, however, as literature played a very important part in their education. The national epic poems, Homer's Illiad and Odyssey, were mandatory teaching in all Athenian elementary schools. The boys were also taught how to play the lyre, sing, and do arithmetic. The emphasis of Athenian education was to prepare well-rounded citizens capable of performing whatever task was asked of them.(1)

At age 14, poorer boys usually stopped going to school and began apprenticeships at a trade. Boys from families that could afford it continued to remain in school for four more years. At age 18, regardless of social status, all Athenian boys were required to attend military school for two years, after which they were free to live out their lives as they saw fit. There were no permanent school for higher education until 390 BC, when teachers like Aristotle began establishing academies for higher learning.(3)

Athenian girls were not officially schooled, however. They were allowed to learn in the privacy of their own homes, but as a result, most Athenian women had primarily domestic educations.(1)

ATHENS
Education/Training
Rise to Power
Military Innovations
Downfall
SPARTA
Education/Training
Rise to Power
Military Innovations
Downfall
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