This example of ancient Greek pottery shows a girl learning to read at school

Boys began their education aged seven. The poorest left with a grasp of the basics after three or four years, but wealthier pupils stayed at school for up to 10 years. Even some girls were formally educated in the Greek world, although not as commonly as boys and in separate schools.

Pupils learned under three types of teachers: the grammatistes, who taught reading, writing, arithmetic and literature; the paidotribes who coached wrestling, boxing and gymnastics; and the kitharistes who taught music, especially singing and playing the lyre.

At 18, boys had to undergo two years of military training, after which they often returned to higher education to prepare themselves for public life. One of the first of these places of higher learning was the Academy, a school of philosophy founded by Plato c.385BC. Aristotle ran a similar establishment, called the Lyceum, where the curriculum was broader. These schools provided the model for today’s universities.