The Earliest Greek Systems of Education

Abstract

This chapter summarizes various interlocking systems of Bronze Age and Archaic Greek training and instruction, leading up to the beginnings of the classical “school.” It discusses the Mycenaean and Minoan (Cretan) training and educational practices that are of intrinsic interest and because they seem in some cases to present possible prototypes or origins of later practices that become recognizable, even prevalent, in some parts of Archaic Greece. The chapter begins with the Minoans who contributed significantly to the formation of Bronze Age Greek palace culture. For the majority of the non-elite population, “education” consisted largely in acquiring the basic skills appropriate to the type of labor and expertise of one's family's occupation. For most Greeks of the Classical period, education was a monolingual affair; and the sense of a distinct and exclusive “Hellenic” identity was further reinforced by the Persian invasions of the early fifth century.

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