In the times of the ancient Greek philosophers, according to T.E. Rihll, education was not as well structured as it is today. Some of the problems that philosophers faced were getting an audience, and finding serious students instead of people who just wished to be entertained.
The first big problem was that in order to attract students, philosophers had to somehow let people know they existed. One important way that this happened was through giving speeches at festival days, "when many people would be out and about in the public places, and would be in holiday mood" (Rihll 171). This was an effective way to spread ideas, because of the crowds and the fact that people did not need to be able to read to listen to the speech. Interestingly, philosophers might also have gained audiences by being made fun of. Plato was "the butt of jokes in at least 13 different plays by 7 different comic," suggesting he was very well-known (Rihll 171).
Perhaps because people first heard philosophers' speeches and ideas at public events and in comic plays, another problem was that not everyone who sought them out for philosophy afterward was interested in learning. Instead, philosophers had crowds with "those who want to be entertained, and those who want to learn" and had to sort out the serious students among them (Rihll 176). Some of the tricks for getting rid of students who weren't serious seem to have involved being rude. For instance, Zenon apparently "would ask the bystanders for coppers, so that, in fear of being asked to cough up, people might refrain from crowding around him," or would make rich people sit next to beggars so that they left (Rihll 178).
Works Cited
Rihll, T.E. "Teaching and Learning in Classical Athens." Greece & Rome, vol. 50, no. 2, 2004, pp. 168-190.
