But in spite of all his misdemeanours and punishments, in letters, music and gymnastics, the Athenian boy was educated until he was eighteen years old. The stories of the ancient heroes who had fought at Troy, and those of more recent times who had defeated the Persians filled him with enthusiasm for his race and a love of freedom for his city. Having to learn many things without the aid of books, his mind grew quick, alert and observant, and his music and gymnastics taught him the beauty of self-control and dignified restraint. [Illustration: MUSIC SCHOOL SCENES. From a Hydria in the British Museum. (E 171.)] At eighteen, the Athenian youth left school. The state did not give him the full rights of a citizen until a few years later, and until then he was required to perform certain military duties, but he was no longer a boy, and he was considered old enough to understand the meaning of citizenship, {231} and to know what were its duties and privileges. So it was then, at the time of leaving his boyhood behind, and entering upon the richer and fuller life before him, that the youth took the oath of the Ephebi or young men. He was given the shield and spear of the warrior, and then in the temple, before Zeus, the Lord of Heaven, and in the presence of the highest Athenian magistrates, he swore: "Never to disgrace his holy arms, never to forsake his comrade in the ranks, but to fight for the holy temples, alone or with others: to leave his country, not in a worse, but in a better state than he found it; to obey the magistrates and the laws, and defend them against attack; finally to hold in honour the religion of his country." [1] From _The Schools of Hellas_, by Kenneth J. Freeman. [2] Lucian, translated by Kenneth J. Freeman, in _The Schools of Hellas_. [3] Plato: _Protagoras_, translated by Jowett. [4] Xenophon: _Banquet_. [5] See p. 312. [6] Plato: _Laws_. [7] Plato: _Republic_, translated by Davies and Vaughan. [8] Herodas: _Mime_, III, translated by Kenneth J. Freeman in _The Schools of Hellas_. {232} CHAPTER XIV THE GREEK THEATRE The Greek drama began as a religious observance in honour of Dionysus. To the Greeks this god personified both the spring and the vintage, the latter a very important time of year in a vine-growing country, and he was a symbol to them of that power there is in man of rising out of himself, of being impelled onwards by a joy within him that he cannot explain, but which makes him go forward, walking, as it were, on the wings of the wind, of the spirit that fills him with a deep sense of worship. We call this power _enthusiasm_, a Greek word which simply means _the god within us_.