From The Peak Of Mount Olympus To Aristotle's Lyceum

The educational thought of ancient Greece was born from philosophy. Before philosophy, people thought about and interpreted the world in the form of mythology. Therefore, the educational thought of ancient Greece came from the mythology of ancient Greece. What values most in Greek mythology is her unique spirit embodied in secularity, theooria and humanism. This spirit not only was carried on and developed by the later philosophers and educators, but laid the foundations of western humanist culture as well. Till today, the individual cultivation of the harmony of body and soul with an all-round development is still the goal of education all over the world.This paper consists of five parts:Part One, the definition of conceptions. Part Two, education in Greek mythology and the Heroic Times. First three basic characteristics of Greek mythology are generalized, and then a brief description of education in this period is given. Part Three, the influences of Greek mythology on the educational practices. Greek mythology not only had a direct educational function,but also deeply influenced the educational practices of ancient Greece. Part Four, the influences of Greek mythology upon the educational thoughts. First, the rise of natural philosophy from traditional mythology and its effects on education are discussed. And then, the main influences of Greek mythology upon Greek educational thoughts are emphatically discussed in three ways: the relations between gods and man, the theory of spirit and the idea of harmonious education, and theories of moral virtues. In this course of development, the educational thought, which shot forth from mythological thought with the individual moral completion and harmonious development as its core, was unceasingly being carried forward and sysmatically summarized in Aristotle's educational thought.Conclusion, the far-reaching significance of the harmonious educational thought of ancient Greek...