(4th cent. bce), of the *deme of Sphettus in Attica, a devoted follower of *Socrates, was present at his trial and death. He wrote speeches for the lawcourts and taught oratory, but fell into poverty and took refuge at the court in *Syracuse, returning to Athens after the expulsion of *Dionysius (2) II in 356. Best known as the author of Socratic dialogues which resemble *Xenophon (1)'s more than *Plato (1)'s, Aeschines was apparently not an original thinker, and his Socrates expounds common ethical views. Although only fragments survive today, seven dialogues were considered genuine in antiquity: Alcibiades, Axiochus, Aspasia, Callias, Miltiades, Rhinon, Telauges. The first of these was partly intended to defend Socrates against charges of corrupting the young *Alcibiades. The dialogues of Aeschines were highly esteemed for their style and their faithfulness to Socrates' character and conversational manner.
Born in *Nicomedia in *Bithynia, he held local office and pursued studies with *Epictetus, whose lectures he later published (allegedly verbatim) as the Discourses and summarized in the Encheiridion (‘Manual’). In Greece between 108 and 112 he attracted the friendship of *Hadrian, who later adlected him to senatorial rank (see adlection) and after his consulate (?129) employed him for six years (131–7) as legate of *Cappadocia. Subsequently he retired to Athens, where he held the archonship (145/6), and perhaps survived into the reign of *Marcus Aurelius.One of the most distinguished writers of his day, Arrian represented himself as a second *Xenophon (1) and adopted a style which fused elements of Xenophon into a composite, artificial (yet outstandingly lucid) diction based on the great masters, *Herodotus (1) and *Thucydides (2). The Cynegeticus is an explicit revision of Xenophon's monograph in the light of the revolution in *hunting brought by the Celtic greyhound; and Xenophon's influence is demonstrable in the short essays he wrote in Cappadocia: the Periplus (c.
Greek ideas of education (paideia), whether theoretical or practical, encompassed upbringing and cultural training in the widest sense, not merely schooling and formal education. The poets were regarded as the educators of their society, particularly in the Archaic period, but also well into the classical, when *Plato (1) could attack *Homer's status as educator of Greece (e.g. Resp. 606e, and generally, bks. 2, 3, 10; cf. Xen. Symp. 4. 6 for the conventional view). Much education would have taken place in an aristocratic milieu informally through institutions like the *symposium (as in the poetry of *Theognis (1)) or *festivals (cf. the children reciting *Solon's poetry at the *Apaturia, Pl. Ti. 21b), backed up by the old assumption that the *aristocracy possessed inherited, not instructed, excellence. Important educational functions were seen by some in the relationship of a boy and an older lover (see homosexuality); or in the very institutions of the city-state (*polis), the city festivals and rituals (e.
