Schooling and Paideia in Classical Greece: Institutions, Curriculum, and Discipline in Primary Education
Keywords:
paideia; Classical Greece; primary school; curriculum; school discipline; Athens and Sparta.Abstract
This article provides a historical-educational synthesis of primary schooling in Classical Greece, focusing on Athens and, by contrast, Sparta. Drawing on literary and philosophical sources (Plato, Aristotle, Aristophanes, Thucydides and Plutarch) together with specialized scholarship, it outlines early childhood socialization and the transition to formal schooling, profiles the key educational agents (paidagōgós, grammatistḗs, kitharistḗs and paidotríbēs), and describes the core curriculum (reading and writing, music and gymnastics) and its civic aims. The paper also examines disciplinary practices and corporal punishment within the cultural framework of the polis and contemporaneous ethical debates. Finally, it considers girls’ education and the boundaries of access, highlighting the social and political dimension of paideia. Overall, the discussion helps clarify the continuity between Greek school culture and enduring features of the Western pedagogical tradition.
References
Aristófanes. (2016). Comedias II: Las nubes, Las avispas, La paz, Las aves (L. Gil Fernández, Trad.). Gredos.
Aristófanes. (2020). Lisístrata (L. Gil Fernández, Trad.). Gredos.
Aristóteles. (2022). Política (M. García Valdés, Trad.). Gredos.
Beck, F. A. G. (1964). Greek education, 450–350 B.C. Methuen.
Bloomer, W. M. (Ed.). (2015). A companion to ancient education. Wiley Blackwell.
Booth, A. D. (1973). Punishment, discipline and riot in the schools of antiquity. Échos du monde classique / Classical Views, 17, 107–114.
Cribiore, R. (2015). School structures, apparatus and materials. In W. M. Bloomer (Ed.), A companion to ancient education (pp. 149–159). Wiley Blackwell.
Esquines. (2002). Discursos: Testimonios y fragmentos (J. M. Lucas de Dios, Trad.). Gredos.
Griffith, M. (2001). Public and private in early Greek institutions of education. In Y. L. Too (Ed.), Education in Greek and Roman antiquity (pp. 29–35). Brill.
Griffith, M. (2015). The earliest Greek systems of education. In W. M. Bloomer (Ed.), A companion to ancient education (pp. 26–60). Wiley Blackwell.
Heródoto. (2020). Historia. Libros I–II (C. Schrader, Trad.). Gredos.
Joyal, M., McDougall, I., & Yardley, J. C. (2009). Greek and Roman education: A sourcebook (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203448328
Legras, B. (2008). Violence ou douceur. Les normes éducatives dans les sociétés grecque et romaine. Histoire de l’éducation, (118), 11–34. https://doi.org/10.4000/histoire-education.2018
Marrou, H.-I. (2004). Historia de la educación en la Antigüedad. Akal.
Menandro. (1986). Comedias (P. Bádenas de la Peña, Trad.). Gredos.
Murcia Ortuño, J. (2024). Maestros y discípulos en la antigua Grecia. Alianza Editorial.
Platón. (2010). Protágoras (C. García Gual, Trad.). Gredos.
Platón. (2020). La república (C. Eggers Lan, Trad.). Gredos.
Platón. (2023). Leyes (F. Lisi, Trad.). Gredos.
Plutarco. (1984–2004). Obras morales y de costumbres (Moralia) (Vols. I–XIII). Gredos.
Signes Codoñer, J. (2004). Escritura y literatura en la Grecia arcaica. Akal.
Tucídides. (2019). Historia de la guerra del Peloponeso. Libros I–II (J. J. Torres Esbarranch, Trad.). Gredos.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Revista Internacional Interdisciplinar de Divulgación Científica
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
