This study, first published in 1964, presents a highly readable but scholarly account of Greek education as exemplified by Athenian practise in the period 450-350 B.C. In a substantial introductory chapter the story of Greek education is traced from its origins in Mycenaean times down to the Classical period. This is followed by a lengthy chapter on the actual practice of education at Athens, in which many misconceptions are reviewed.

The work of each of the great educators is explored in turn. Plato is situated against the more normal, 'democratic' tradition of Greek education as represented by the sophists and Isocrates. There are chapters on Plato's Academy and Xenophon, both of which have been curiously neglected in most writings on Greek education. The central importance of myth and poetry in the early period and their transformation into science, philosophy, history and rhetoric in the Classical period are recurrent themes throughout.