A Study Of Athenian Ephebe System

The Athenian ephebe system had a profound effect on the Greek.It is inseparable from the civic system,as an institution to train would-be citizens for the city,and its specific training contents can also reflect the true vision of the Athenians for their ideal citizens.With the development of States,the ephebe system presents different characteristics in each stage,but it also reflects the intention of city-states in this stage to some extent.This thesis takes the youth of Athens from 18 to 20 years old as the research object,not only trying to explore the origin of the system,but also trying to explain the basic situation of the operation of the Athenian ephebe system,and analyzing the relationship between the Athenian ephebe system and Athenian citizenship and citizenship education.In this thesis,I will spread out discussion mainly from three chapters.The first chapter attempts to explore the historical overview of the ephebe system in Athens,that is,the origin of ephebe and the development of the ephebe system in various stages.This problem of origin and ephebe system show different characteristics in different times,which to some extent,reflects the actual city-state condition and the intention of the city-states at that time.The second chapter mainly focuses on the operation of ephebe system.Sports training and competitive activities are the main contents of the training process of the ephebe.In addition,the analysis of this chapter mainly includes the salary and reward of ephebe and the religious life of ephebe.The third chapter focuses on the study of the social function of ephebe system and discusses it from three aspects.First of all,it explores the ephebe system and the confirmation of Athenian citizenship.This system actually contains the expectation of the Athenians qualified citizens.By analyzing the strict citizenship examination system,the importance of citizenship for Athens city-state also can be illustrated.The second section mainly focuses on the content of ephebe oath and analyzes the content of the ephebe oath to think about the responsibilities that city-state citizens need to fulfill.In addition,we makes a comparison with Sparta to further understand the social function of the system.Through the study of the Athenian ephebe system,we find that the system is always closely related to the development of the city-state.The design of the ephebe system reflects the expectation of the city-state for its future citizens,and hope to cultivate qualified city-state citizens through the system,which is also contained in the ephebe oath.The exploration of the social functions of ephebe will help us to better understand the relationship between the ephebe system and the citizenship system of Athens,the fulfillment of civic responsibility and civic education.