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Athens Government Education in Athens ATHENS GOVERNMENT The Ekklesia Athenian democracy was made up of three important institutions. The first was the ekklesia, or Assembly, the sovereign governing body of Athens. Any member of the demos–any one of those 40,000 adult male citizens–was welcome to attend the meetings of the ekklesia, which were held 40 times per year in a hillside auditorium west of the Acropolis called the Pnyx. (Only about 5,000 men attended each session of the Assembly; the rest were serving in the army or navy or working to support their families.) At the meetings, the ekklesia made decisions about war and foreign policy, wrote and revised laws and approved or condemned the conduct of public officials. (Ostracism, in which a citizen could be expelled from the Athenian city-state for 10 years, was among the powers of the ekklesia.) The group made decisions by simple majority vote. The Boule The second important institution was the boule, or Council of Five Hundred. The boule was a group of 500 men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on the Council for one year. Unlike the ekklesia, the boule met every day and did most of the hands-on work of governance. It supervised government workers and was in charge of things like navy ships (triremes) and army horses. It dealt with ambassadors and representatives from other city-states. Its main function was to decide what matters would come before the ekklesia. In this way, the 500 members of the boule dictated how the entire democracy would work. Positions on the boule were chosen by lot and not by election. This was because, in theory, a random lottery was more democratic than an election: pure chance, after all, could not be influenced by things like money or popularity. The lottery system also prevented the establishment of a permanent class of civil servants who might be tempted to use the government to advance or enrich themselves. However, historians argue that selection to the boule was not always just a matter of chance. They note that wealthy and influential people–and their relatives– served on the Council much more frequently than would be likely in a truly random lottery. The Dikasteria The third important institution was the popular courts, or dikasteria. Every day, more than 500 jurors were chosen by lot from a pool of male citizens older than 30. Of all the democratic institutions, Aristotle argued that the dikasteria “contributed most to the strength of democracy” because the jury had almost unlimited power. There were no police in Athens, so it was the demos themselves who brought court cases, argued for the prosecution and the defense, and delivered verdicts and sentences by majority rule. (There were also no rules about what kinds of cases could be prosecuted or what could and could not be said at trial, and so Athenian citizens frequently used the dikasteria to punish or embarrass their enemies.) Jurors were paid a wage for their work, so that the job could be accessible to everyone and not just the wealthy (but, since the wage was less than what the average worker earned in a day, the typical juror was an elderly retiree). Since Athenians did not pay taxes, the money for these payments came from customs duties, contributions from allies and taxes levied on the metoikoi. The one exception to this rule was the leitourgia, or liturgy, which was a kind of tax that wealthy people volunteered to pay to sponsor major civic undertakings such as the maintenance of a navy ship (this liturgy was called the trierarchia) or the production of a play or choral performance at the city’s annual festival. EDUCATION IN ATHENS What were the objectives of education in Ancient Athens, and how did education prepare students for their roles in society? Athens was the main educational, intellectual and cultural center of Ancient Greece. The main purpose of education in Ancient Athens was to make citizens trained in the arts, and to prepare them for both peace and war. It was aimed at the cultivation of the students' physical, mental, and moral qualities. From Athens we get the motto: A sound mind in a sound body. All schools were very small private schools, and education was very valued. Boys Until age six, boys were taught at home by their mother or a male slave. Age six to 14 was primary school. The teacher in school was always a male. Once the youths were 16, their 'basic education' was complete. The boys who didn't have to work could now study the sciences and philosophy. From the ages of 18 to 20, able bodied young men had to take military trainging for the army or the navy. Athenians wanted their sons to have a well rounded education so that they would know a variety of things and appreciate lots of things. Girls Girls were taught at home by their mothers or a private tutor. The objective was to prepare girls for being a stay-at-home mum, to look after and educate their children just as they had been educated. What subjects did students take in Ancient Athens and why? Boys' education in Ancient Athens consisted of three main courses: Grammata , Music, and Physical Education. Grammata included reading, writing, and arithmetic. The literal translation of 'grammata' is 'letters.' After the students had learnt their letters, they went onto learning the words of famous poets such as Homer. The second course, music , consisted of singing, playing the lyre and the flute, reciting, and musical performance of poetry. Through this students learnt history, geography, and ethics. The third course, physical education, was when the children practiced wrestling, jumping, running and throwing of discus and javelin. They also played team games such as early forms of field hockey and soccer. This was to make their body 'strong and courageous.' The aim was not to produce athletes, or soldiers like in Sparta, but young men who were graceful, fit, and attractive, and it was hoped they would develop habits of fitness that they took with them their whole lives. Teachers also added whatever else they knew to the school course. Girls were mostly taught by their mothers in the comfort of their own homes. They learnt things like motherhood and housekeeping. Girls were also allowed to take part in sports such as wrestling. This was because parents were afraid girls would be spoiled if they learnt how to read. In later life, their husband would be the one doing all the work, so he would need the subjects he did at school, and a girl would stay at home and raise the children, doing housework. This was how the separate schooling systems for boys and girls worked and fitted in with what they needed to know for later life. However, some families employed a private tutor, so some Athenian women were very well educated ROLE OF WOMEN IN ATHENS Women in ancient Athens had very little choices open to them. If they were lucky, they could read a little, play an instrument, and owned slaves to do the daily household tasks. Women could not vote nor own property. They could not choose whom to marry nor own/sell anything of great value. Role of the Respectable Woman A respectable woman’s main role in ancient Athens was to stay home, keep pretty, and bear children. Her life centered on the house and the children. Most citizen wives had slaves to do the cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. Once she gave birth, her father could not take her back. It was difficult, but not impossible, for a woman to divorce her husband, but easy for her husband to divorce her. With divorce, her property which was turned over to her husband upon marriage was returned to her father or male guardian. She would also lose all rights to her children. Her husband was within his rights to lock her up in the house if she wasn’t behaving like he thought she should. Publically she would only be seen at religious events, weddings, and funerals. Other Classes of Women There were other classes of women though, which were less respectable than a citizen wife. These included hetaera, pornoi, poor women, and slaves. If there was a woman in the middle of an intellectual debate in public park, she was a hetaera (courtesan). Courtesans had the ability to go where they wanted, when they wanted. They were normally educated in dancing, singing, music ,and conversation. The one exception to the classes of women were the priestesses. Priestesses were necessary to conduct and organize the over 100 annual religious events that occurred yearly in Athens. These women had high status, relative freedom, and remained unmarried. And as true today, most events would have fallen apart without their organization by women. Daily Life The daily life of a house wife would involve supervising the household tasks and slaves for the day, the care and raising of any children, making clothing and any other items the house needed for daily running, and, of course, waiting for her husband to come home much later. While her life focused on the smooth operation of her house, his life centered mostly outside the house. This was her only sphere of influence and even that could be over-ruled by her husband if he wished. Despite the lack of control, citizen wives were respected and sheltered. Well-to-do women did not have to work and could pass the day in leisure while slaves did the labor necessary to keep the house running.
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