170 GRECIAN EDUCATION. 



directed ultimately to that of Athens, as it is presented in Attic wri- 

 ters — at present the system of the great Spartan legislator, Lycurgus, 

 will furnish us employment. The great power of education in forming 

 man and giving him a specific direction, may be seen strikingly dis- 

 played in the hardy and courageous Spartans. With the state of things 

 which gave rise to the labors of the renowned lawgiver of Sparta, it is- 

 not necessary to intermeddle. Its civil and political arrangements are 

 well known. 



It is education as it existed amongst them, that claims investigation. 

 They vvere a peculiar people ; long did they retain their distinctive feat- 

 ures ; and it is, assuredly, instructive to examine, either in whole or in 

 part, its causes. Amongst the most powerful of these, as was to be ex- 

 pected, was the training of their children, which was so essential a part 

 of their system. The wisdom and patriotism of Lycurgus preclude the 

 idea that he would leave unerabraced, in the constitution which he pre- 

 pared for his country, the regulations which were necessary for the 

 rising generation. Well was it understood in that day, "just as the 

 twig is bent, the tree 's inclined." When Xenophon, as he relates in his 

 JloXtrttx £axeJ'a<j«.o»<6>v, reflected on the fact, that Sparta, a city with 

 a sparse population, had become the most populous and renowned in 

 Greece, it created much surprise, but when he looked at its arrange- 

 ments he no longer indulged in such emotions. In them he saw the 

 solution of the whole. The mystery was unravelled. Great was his 

 admiration of the genius of the man who invented and carried out this 

 plan. He ranked him amongst the greatest sages, »«< sia- rx itry^xrcc 

 juketXa a-epov ijyovf^xi. No blind copyist of others, he marked out a 

 course diametrically opposite, and nevertheless elevated his country to 

 the highest glory and happiness. 



Examining more particularly the arrangements which prevailed, we 

 learn that the children belonged to the state, and were under parental 

 control only so far as did not interfere with its paramount authority. 

 The government made provision for their education, provided supervi- 

 sion, directed the Ephori to attend to them, and appointed others to dis- 

 charge special duties — variously designated as uf^Trxi^if, ^siS-ixiot^ 

 and TTxt^ovof^oi. 



Every citizen was, in addition, invested with paternal supervision, 

 and could reprove what was amiss whenever it might occur — either on 

 the street oi in the Gymnasium. TTxvreg otof^oioi ttuvtuv kxi w«t«- 

 gfs eivxi Kxi TTxi^ctyayoi xai a^%ovrei, says Schwartz, to whom we 

 are indebted for many of our facts. Sparta's desire and joy was a beauti- 

 ful and brave race, sound in body and mind ; blooming sons and daugh- 



