Athens has no kindergartens. The first teaching which
children will receive is in the form of fables and goblin tales from
their mothers and nurses,—usually with the object of frightening them
into "being good,"—tales of the spectral Lamiæ, or of the horrid witch
Mormo who will catch nasty children; or of Empusa, a similar creature,
who lurks in shadows and dark rooms; or of the Kabaloi, wild spirits in
the woods. Then come the immortal fables of Æsop with their obvious
application towards right conduct. Athenian mothers and teachers have no
two theories as to the wisdom of corporeal punishment. The rod is never
spared to the spoiling of the child, although during the first years the
slipper is sufficient. Greek children soon have a healthy fear of their
nurses; but they often learn to love them, and funeral monuments will
survive to perpetuate their grateful memory.
William Davis, A Day in Old Athens
