ABSTRACT
The fifth century witnessed the emergence of schools in Athens and elsewhere. Like Greeks of the Archaic Period, Athenians in the fifth and fourth centuries looked to poets, including writers of tragedy, for instruction. Pederasty sometimes played a central role in the upbringing of Greek males. Themistocles was an important Athenian politician and general at the time of the Persian Wars. The dialogue as a whole provides valuable evidence for the role of pedagogues and the life of privileged boys in Athens in the late fifth century bc. Of all poets, Homer held the most important place in the education of Greeks both young and old. To Xenophon, the one element that comes to mind in describing the purpose of Athenian schooling is the learning of letters. The Athenians believed that the regulations had been introduced by the lawgiver Solon, who brought wide-ranging constitutional reforms to Athens in 594 or 590 bc.
