Tradition in the hellenistic world

Greek culture differs from Hebrew in that it has no overriding concern with a paramount revelation given and received historically. Tradition nevertheless operates within the culture in relation to ancient epic and gnomic poetry and is held to be an essential part of moral education. After the pupil had mastered the alphabet and could understand the written word, he was confronted by ‘the works of good poets to read’ and compelled to learn them by heart with a view to moral improvement. His teacher chose ‘such poems as contain moral admonitions, and many a narrative interwoven with praise and panegyric on the worthies of old, in order that the boy may admire and emulate and strive to become such himself. Rote learning was the basic way of receiving and absorbing such tradition, which was presumed to have important implications for moral improvement. Nicerates is reported as saying: ‘my father, designing to make a virtuous man of me, ordered me to get by heart every verse of Homer; and I believe I can repeat to you at this minute the whole Iliad and Odyssey’.