human life (the so-called integral education), which was supposed to be made possible by culture. Hence, the main purpose of culture was to perfect the human being. Initially, the Greek ideal model of humanity developed within one – aristocratic class and later acquired a universal meaning.
As Werner Jaeger indicates, the Greeks were the first to believe that education must be a process similar to construction. At the same time, the greatest work of art for which that nation heard a calling was the living human.1 Therefore, ←17 | 18→they compared education to artistic, plastic shaping while taking into consideration the model of the idea existing in the artist’s mind. Only after understanding education this way can we refer to it using the term “formation” in its actual meaning, in which it first appears in Plato’s works for the first time, as a visualisation of education procedures.2
The transmission of culture hinged upon the creation of an ideal model which had certain characteristic features. There was a certain ideal model of man, at which the entire process of education was aimed. The characteristic feature of those times was the fact that the focus was not on the practical aspect of that process.
The Greeks distinguished the “transmission of culture” from “education” understood as techné – professional skills and abilities, craftsmanship. These two processes stem from different sources.3 Here, culture is seen as a consciously nurtured ideal model of human excellence. Culture understood in this way is expressed in the entire human character – both in his external behaviour and actions and in his inner attitude. That line of conduct, as well as the internal attitude are not caused by accident, but are the result of conscious effort leading towards a specific goal. Such preparation begins in an inner social circle, within a noble layer of a given nation. In terms of aristocratic origin, the Greek – classical kalos kagathos resembles the English ideal model of a gentleman.4 Initially, both those terms referred to an ideal representative of a higher class of a chivalrous character. The history of the Greek culture, i.e. the process of shaping the Greek national personality begins within the old Hellenic nobility with the formation of a specific ideal model of man of the higher rank, which the education of the nation’s elite aims at. Over time, when the place of the upper class of knights started to be occupied by a middle-class society, adopting the same ideal model, it became a universal good and a generally followed formula.
In addition, the beginnings of an old Hellenic noble culture are closely related with the concept of areté.5 It was the best expression of the then views concerning ←18 | 19→an ideal of a human and a citizen. Its beginnings are associated with the way of life of the chivalry nobility. Areté is a proper expression appertaining to a noble man.6 The Greeks understood it primarily as efficiency, an ability to do something. It was an indispensable condition to occupy the chief position. In the works of Homer, it denoted the heroic valour which combined the moral value with the physical strength. It had a similar meaning as the terms agathos and áristos.7 The indicated expressions refer to people combining the knightly bravado with the aristocratic origin. Areté indicated a man of noble birth who had to obey certain rules of conduct, both in everyday life and in war, non-existent for ordinary men.8 A simple man has no areté. This notion in the aristocratic concept is therefore a natural feature, associated with the excellence of a family (eugeneia) and the possession of an estate (plutos).9 According to the then ethics, man does not become agathos, he is agathos (or is not) by nature.10
Thus, the code of conduct applying to a knightly state, the so-called noble moral code became the foundation of the Greek education. Moreover, the aristocratic ideal included such features as: the harmonious development of the body and soul, mind and heart, the refinement of custom and an impressive way of life. The indicated synthesis of physical and spiritual virtues constituted the essence of the ideal embodied in the phrase: kalos kagathos anér.11 The fullness of ←19 | 20→areté (kalokagathía) is achieved only by man fully aware of his worth. Therefore, the sense of self-worth denotes a higher level of areté.12
It is significant that nobility imposed certain obligations on those who were entitled to it. An educative aspect of nobility was realized in instilling a sense of duty with regard to the ideal by which man was guided. Additionally, the concept of areté was closely connected with reverence expressing itself by evaluating the community to which a given person belonged. The reverence (timé) and publicity (kleos) were the natural consequences of acquiring primacy. The reverence was regarded as an objective social manifestation of the universal appreciation (charis) that man deserved for the performance of excellent deeds, for which no adequate, material award could be found.13 Hence, areté was measured by appreciation that a given person enjoyed among equals.14 It was on that recognition and respect that the social position of nobility was based. The sources of reverence or disgrace were praise and reprimand. They pointed to the existence of objective evaluation criteria in social life. The reverence constituted therefore a natural standard of measuring the level of being near the ideal of areté. It is necessary to add at this point that a characteristic feature, an ethical virtue distinguishing the noble man was the recognition of self-esteem, namely the justified pride. However, it must be underlined that the true self-esteem was regarded as the most difficult feature to achieve by man. The sense of aristocratic pride (aidós) boosted a constant heading in this direction. The opposite action aroused the righteous anger in the environment (nemesis).15 The sense of pride prevented man from performing acts regarded as despicable (aischron) and from doing something that might compromise him in the eyes of his fellow citizens. Thus, the two concepts (aidós and nemesis) were the typical concepts of the aristocratic moral code in Homer. It is worth noting here that there was a change, in the later philosophical thought, based on the fact that man looked for acceptance in his own conscience.16 Over time, people started to consider reverence (timé) as ←20 | 21→a mere reflection of the inner value of an individual person in the opinion of a human community. In Homer’s works, however, man was dependent – as far as self-esteem was concerned – solely on the judgement of the community to which he belonged.17 Due to the fact that he was a member of his state, he measured his areté by an appreciation of others. Homer’s ethics was therefore the ethics of reverence. For the aristocracy of his time, no reverence given by the environment was the greatest tragedy that man could encounter. Praise (epainos) and reprimand (psogos) were the sources of reverence and disgrace.18
The aforementioned characteristics of the early stages of the Greek culture are included in the works of Homer. He is regarded as one of the first and greatest creators who shaped the Greek ideas of humanity.19 His poems are the source of knowledge on the oldest Greek society and its ideals20. He immortalized the world of great demands and proud traditions in them. He presented the principles governing the operation of the high noble culture that expressed universal ideals. Therefore, those epics became the core of ubringing and education of not only the nobility, but with the advent of democracy, of the whole youth – initially in Greece and then in other countries influenced by Hellenism21. The very word areté – virtue, perceived as having the highest quality feature, presented by Homer, is crucial for the understanding of culture. In culture, the central place was occupied by human areté (valour), for the appearance of which education was indispensable.22 It is through education that man gains the skills and qualities necessary to be fully human. Homer, speaking through the mouth of Phoenix – the tutor of Achilles – expresses his opinion on the two most important skills being the goal of education: “to be both a speaker of words and a doer of actions.’23
←21 | 22→
We can find a description of an ideal model of heroism and an irreversible destiny of a great warrior in The Iliad. The author presents the figures of heroes, who are typical representatives of knighthood, against the backdrop of the Battle of Troy. They are characterized by a militant temperament and a passionate pursuit of glory. They fight, competing for the wreath of the highest areté.24 A brave man in this poem is at the same time a highborn man. The fight and the victory constitute the proper content of his life, the highest
