Boys and girls were educated by their mothers until they were seven or eight years old, and then their lives diverged. Girls prepared for a life of domesticity, while boys started to attend the schools. Boys were put under the care of a pedagogue, a male slave or servant who accompanied the boy to and from his classes and beat him if his behavior was less than satisfactory. At the schools, which were all private in nature, boys were first taught letters: reading, writing, basic arithmetic, and recitation. Homer's works, the Iliad and Odyssey, were the typical tools for instruction. A cultured young man would be expected to quote at length from these epic poems. The Iliad was called the "bible of the Greeks" for the importance they placed on knowledge of the poem. Around the age of thirteen, boys branched out into musical and athletic training. A music teacher would instruct them in the art of playing the lyre (a six-stringed harp) and singing. Here again, Homer was used, as the boys were expected to put Homeric passages to music. The boys received a separate teacher at the gymnasium, one who developed the boy's bodies and health through exercise. Education ended for most boys in their mid-teens. Only the very wealthy continued their education; their fathers would send them to study with one of the so-called "sophists," who would teach them philosophy and rhetoric. Sophist means "a lover of wisdom," but this group of teachers was heavily criticized by , a famous Athenian philosopher. Sophists taught young men to argue any point, whether or not they truly believed in it. , they said, could be used to make any argument "true"; therefore, there was no ultimate truth in the universe. Socrates vehemently disagreed and declared he would accept no money for his wisdom, as the hated sophists did. Around the middle teen years, a boy's hair, which had always grown long, was ceremoniously cut and dedicated to one of the gods. Now he was officially a man. Around the age of eighteen, young men left for two years of military duty. The first half was spent learning archery, javelin-throwing, and the uses of heavy armor and weapons. The second half would be spent serving in garrison
Boys and girls were educated by their mothers until they were seven or eight years old, and then their lives diverged. Girls prepared for a life of domesticity, while boys started to attend the schools. Boys were put under the care of a pedagogue, a male slave or servant who accompanied the boy to and from his classes and beat him if his behavior was less than satisfactory. At the schools, which were all private in nature, boys were first taught letters: reading, writing, basic arithmetic, and recitation. Homer's works, the Iliad and Odyssey, were the typical tools for instruction. A cultured young man would be expected to quote at length from these epic poems. The Iliad was called the "bible of the Greeks" for the importance they placed on knowledge of the poem. Around the age of thirteen, boys branched out into musical and athletic training. A music teacher would instruct them in the art of playing the lyre (a six-stringed harp) and singing. Here again, Homer was used, as the boys were expected to put Homeric passages to music. The boys received a separate teacher at the gymnasium, one who developed the boy's bodies and health through exercise. Education ended for most boys in their mid-teens. Only the very wealthy continued their education; their fathers would send them to study with one of the so-called "sophists," who would teach them philosophy and rhetoric. Sophist means "a lover of wisdom," but this group of teachers was heavily criticized by , a famous Athenian philosopher. Sophists taught young men to argue any point, whether or not they truly believed in it. , they said, could be used to make any argument "true"; therefore, there was no ultimate truth in the universe. Socrates vehemently disagreed and declared he would accept no money for his wisdom, as the hated sophists did. Around the middle teen years, a boy's hair, which had always grown long, was ceremoniously cut and dedicated to one of the gods. Now he was officially a man. Around the age of eighteen, young men left for two years of military duty. The first half was spent learning archery, javelin-throwing, and the uses of heavy armor and weapons. The second half would be spent serving in garrison