ABSTRACT
Higher education was, from ancient time, practiced by clerics and strictly interconnected with religion. Non-vocational teaching wisdom gained impetus with the dawn of Greek philosophy. The method of study in ancient time was essentially mnemonic, and this gave rise to learning that still today is more acquisition of data than formative. As early as in ancient time, knowledge was related to social rank, a relation that today can degenerate to a misuse of knowledge. Every society, in order to maintain its stability must create institutions for the transmission of culture from one generation to other. Nowadays, in the Western world, with elementary education imposed by law, illiteracy is virtually non-existent, and in some countries students are required to attend school until they reach eighteen years. One general observation regarding ancient Greek higher education is the tendency to teach values and cultivate virtues, rather than confer vocational competence that permitted its pupils to face the material challenges posed by life.
