This History of Classical Education
Before addressing the history of classical education, I need to address an assumption that most of us make when thinking about classical education: that it is like other educational options. C. S. Lewis addressed a similar misconception in his essay, The Parthenon, and the Optative. In it, Lewis writes, “I have tended to use the Parthenon and the Optative as the symbols of two types of education. The one begins with hard, dry things like grammar, dates, a prosody; and it has at least the chance of ending in a real appreciation which is equally hard and firm though not equally dry. The other begins in ‘Appreciation’ and ends in gush.”
The idea Lewis wanted to convey was simple yet profound. The Parthenon is an object of admiration, not a living instrument of Greek culture. The Optative, in contrast, is a complex Greek verb mood that requires hours of disciplined study to be mastered. His point was that true education must progress through rigorous labor before it yields a product worthy of admiration. When engaging history, we tend to admire the product while forgetting the process that made it possible. We do this with history because its processes have long been forgotten. The same is not true of classical education; it belongs not only to the past but also to the present and to the future. It is education, as it should be. One that demands effort, cultivates lifelong learning, and develops the whole person. Therefore, this is not a history as much as it is a testimony of education at its highest level.
Where it Began: Education for Wisdom and Virtue
Classical education, the oldest continuous educational tradition in Western civilization, began in ancient Greece, known at the time as Hellas. Across its rugged peninsula and its many isolated city-states, a systematic approach to education was developed rooted in thought, wisdom, and virtue. The Hellenes used the word paideia to describe this educational ideal. It was a word that referenced more than academic instruction; it was one that encompassed the holistic formation of the entire person fully capable of participating in and contributing to the Hellenes way of life. It was education rooted in dialectic thinking, moral foundation, and civic responsibility. Its aim was to form the heart and soul and not just fill the mind. Philosophers such as Aristotle argued that simply knowing what was right does not make one good; a virtuous paideia is only formed through the cultivation of good habits and their consistent practice.
Eventually, the Romans conquered the Greeks, and integrating this Greek ideal of paideia into their own culture. They developed it into the seven liberal arts we know today, dividing them into two groups: the Trivium and Quadrivium. The Trivium provided the foundation for learning, while the Quadrivium provided the application of those foundational skills in the study of the natural world. The Romans believed that mastering these seven liberal arts in their proper order was essential to developing the whole person. Through this paideia, citizens would be prepared to participate meaningfully in all of society.
Christianity Preserves Classical Education
As the Roman Empire declined, church fathers like Augustine of Hippo and Basil the Great began to embrace classical education. They employed it as a means of deepening theological study and gaining a better understanding of Scripture. They debated many issues using the classical methods of reasoning and rhetoric, with one of those debates centering on whether Christians should study pagan classical authors alongside Christian ones. Thinkers like Augustine argued that all truth is God’s truth, opening classical education to Christianity. When the Roman Empire fell, the Church and its monasteries became the primary guardians of classical education. Monks assumed responsibility for it: copying ancient manuscripts by hand, studying the liberal arts, and educating the next generation of scholars in classical education.
It was the Christian church, during the Middle Ages, that was instrumental in establishing the first formal universities. Universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Bologna adopted theology as the “queen of the sciences” and used classical methods like dialectic thinking and rhetorical debate to structure instruction and expand learning. They required their students to first master the trivium before proceeding to advanced study in fields like theology, law, and medicine. The underlying idea was that one could not study any discipline well until one first learned to think, reason, and communicate.
The Decline and the Revival
Over the years, classical education fell out of favor until the Renaissance, when scholars revived the study of Latin, Greek and the works of classical antiquity. This renewed emphasis on classical learning help shape many of the era’s leading thinkers while also contributing to many of its significant advances. However, during the 19th and 20th centuries, educational philosophy shifted away from the classical model as modern theorists promoted learning that was more progressive and practical. By the middle of the 20th century, classical education had largely disappeared from mainstream schooling.
In 1947, the British novelist Dorothy Sayers delivered an address at Oxford University titled The Lost Tools of Learning. In this address, she argued that modern education had failed because it had not taught students how to properly learn, think, or live. Her solution was a return to a classical approach to education—to the Trivium. Over time, her essay became one of the foundational texts of the modern classical education movement and continues to shape the educational philosophy of many classical schools, including ours.
Why This History Matters Today
Today, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, whose sacrifices created opportunities for our children to receive a Christian classical education. Classical education is not a relic of the past to be admired, but an enduring model of education to be learned, practiced, and faithfully passed on to the next generation. It is, in my opinion, not one option of many but education at its highest level.
At Greenville Classical Academy, classical education is about continuing an educational tradition that has formed thoughtful, virtuous, and articulate men and women for centuries. Our classrooms are part of a much larger story—one that began thousands of years ago and continues today as we seek to cultivate wisdom, virtue, and a love of truth that glorifies God in thought, word, and deed.
