To the ancient Greeks, Paideia (παιδεία) was "the process of educating man into his true form, the real and genuine human nature." (1) It also means culture. It is the ideal in which the Hellenes formed the world around them and their youth. Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around one thousand years. ...

Since self-government was important to the Greeks, Paideia combined with ethos (habits) made a man good and made him capable as a citizen or a king. (1a) This education was not about learning a trade or an art, which the Greeks called banausos (mechanical) unworthy of a citizen, but was about training for liberty (freedom) and nobility (The Beautiful). Paideia is the cultural heritage that is continued through the generations. Banausos (Ancient Greek , plural , banausoi) is an epithet of the class of manual laborers or artisans in Ancient Greece. ...

"Paideia" is probably best known to modern English speakers through its use in the word Encyclopaedia. 1913 advertisement for Encyclopædia Britannica. ...

Origins and foundations

The Greeks considered Paideia to be carried out by the aristocratic class, who were said to have intellectualized their culture and their ideas. The culture and the youth are then 'moulded' to the ideal. Starting in Archaic times love played an important part in this process,^[1] as adult aristocrats in most cities were encouraged to fall in love with the youths they mentored. The aristocratic ideal is the Kalos Kagathos; "The Beautiful and the Good." This idea is similar to medieval knights, their culture and the English concept of the gentleman. Pederastic courtship scene Athenian black-figure amphora, 5th c. ... Kalos Kagathos (καλός καγαθός) or kalokagathos is the combination of two words; “kalos” and “agathos”. “To kalon” (τό καλόν) is “The Beautiful”. It was an ideal that... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or gens, and man, cognate with the French word gentilhomme, the Spanish gentilhombre, and the Italian gentil uomo or gentiluomo), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, the Latin generosus (its invariable translation in English...

Greek Paideia is the idea of perfection, of excellence. The Greek mentality was "to always be pre-eminent." Homer records this charge of King Peleus to his son Achilles. This idea is called arete. "Arete was the central ideal of all Greek culture." (2) Homer (Greek: , Hómēros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... Peleus consigns Achilles to Chirons care, white-ground lekythos by the Edinburgh Painter, ca. ... The Wrath of Achilles, by François-Léon Benouville (1821–1859) (Musée Fabre) In Greek mythology, Achilles, also Akhilleus or Achilleus (Ancient Greek ) was a hero of the Trojan War, the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad, which takes for its theme, not the War... Arete (Greek: , pronounced in English ) in its basic sense means goodness or excellence of any kind. ...

In the Iliad, Homer portrays the excellence of the physicality and courage of the Greeks and Trojans. In the Odyssey, Homer accentuates the excellence of the mind or wit also necessary for winning. Arete is a concomitant of what it meant to be a hero and a necessary component in warfare in order to succeed. It is this ability to "*make his hands keep his head* against enemies, monsters, and dangers of all kinds, and to come out victorious." (3) It has been suggested that Deception of Zeus be merged into this article or section. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... Sir Galahad, a hero of Arthurian legend, detail of a painting by George Frederic Watts From the Greek , in mythology and folklore, a hero (male) or heroine (female) usually fulfills the definitions of what is considered good and noble in the originating culture. ...

This mentality can also be seen in that the Greeks only reproduced and copied the literature that was deemed the 'best.' The Olympic games were products of this mentality. Moreover, this carried over into literature itself with competitions in poetry, tragedy and comedy. 'Arete' was infused in everything the Greeks did.

The Greeks described themselves as "Lovers of Beauty." They were very much attuned to Aesthetics. They saw this in nature, and a particular proportion, the Golden Mean (roughly 1.6) and its reccurrence in many things. Beauty was not in the superficialities of color, light or shade but in the essence of being which is structure, line and proportion. The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ... In philosophy (especially that of Aristotle), the golden mean is the felicitous middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency; for this meaning, see golden mean (philosophy). ...

The Greeks sought this out in all aspects of human endeavor and experience. The Golden Mean is the cultural expression of this principle throughout the Greek paidea, architecture, art, politics and human psychology.

In modern discourse, the German-American classicist Werner Jaeger, in his influential magnum opus Paideia (3 vols. from 1934; see below), uses the concept of Paideia to trace the development of Greek thought and education from Homer to Demosthenes. The concept of Paideia was also used by Mortimer Adler in his criticism of contemporary Western educational systems, and Lawrence A. Cremin in his histories of American Education. Werner Jaeger Werner Jaeger (July 30, 1888 - October 9, 1961) was a classicist of the 20th century. ... Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera), from the Latin meaning great work,[1] refers to the best, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer, and most commonly one who has contributed a very large amount of material. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mortimer Adler around 1963 Mortimer Jerome Adler (December 28, 1902 – June 28, 2001) was an American aristotelian philosopher and author. ... A kindergarten classroom in Afghanistan. ...

Schools with Philosophy

• The Paideia School, Atlanta, Georgia
• Jones Paideia Elementary Magnet, Nashville, Tennessee [1]
• Merrol Hyde Magnet, Hendersonville, Tennessee
• Sylvan Park Paideia School, Nashville, Tennessee [2]
• Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts Chattanooga,Tennessee
• Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences Chattanooga,Tennessee
• Powell Elementary, Chicago School District
• Paideia Academy, Kenosha, Wisconsin.
• Paideia Program, Oakland Technical High School, Oakland, California

Oakland Technical High School, in Oakland, California, known locally as Oakland Tech, is a public high school located on Broadway in North Oakland. ... Oakland, founded in 1852, is the eighth-largest city in California[1] and the county seat of Alameda County. ...

Sayings & Proverbs that Defined Paideia

• "'Know thyself' and 'Nothing in Excess', which were on everyone's lips." (4) Words inscribed on the temple at Delphi.

• "Hard is the Good." (5)

Definition of: gnothi seauton gnothi seauton (Greek): Know thyself. ... Delphi (Greek Δελφοί — Delphee) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in a valley of Phocis. ...

See also

• Agoge
• Classical education
• Mentoring
• Pederasty in ancient Greece
• Philosophy

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Classical education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages of Western culture is roughly based on the ancient Greek concept of Paideia. ... Mentoring refers to a developmental relationship between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced partner referred to as a mentoree (sometimes vernacularized into mentee) or protégé. // Historical The roots of the practice are lost in antiquity. ... Pederastic courtship scene Athenian black-figure amphora, 5th c. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...

Notes

References

• Paideia:The Ideals of Greek Culture, Werner Jaeger, Trans. Gilbert Highet, Oxford University Press, NY, 1945. Three Vol.
• The Greek Way, Edith Hamilton, W. W. Norton & Co., NY, 1993.
• The Echo of Greece, Edith Hamilton, W. W. Norton & Co., NY, 1957.
• The Roman Way, Edith Hamilton, W. W. Norton & Co., NY, 1993. (There she compares the Roman culture to Greek culture.)
• The Greeks, H. D. F. Kitto, Penguin Books, Baltimore, MD, 1970.
• Greek Civilization and Character, Arnold J. Toynbee, Mentor Books, NY, 1961.
• The Greek Experience, C. M. Bowra, Mentor Books, NY, 1964.
• Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, edited by M. C. Howatson, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, NY, 1989.
• Harpers Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities, edited by Harry Thurston Peck, Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., NY, 1962.

Werner Jaeger Werner Jaeger (July 30, 1888 - October 9, 1961) was a classicist of the 20th century. ... Edith Hamilton (August 12, 1867 - May 31, 1963) was a classicist and educator before she became a writer on mythology. ...

External links

• Mississippi Teacher Corps Focus Paper on Paideia
• [3] "From (mis)education to Paideia" by Takis Fotopoulos, Inclusive DemocracyE-Journal, Issue 4, 2005