49
and that it is in this respect that those who are accounted wise and ignorant present the strongest contrast; and she knew, furthermore, that whether men have been liberally educated from their earliest years is not to be determined by their courage or their wealth or such advantages, but is made manifest most of all by their speech, and that this has proved itself to be the surest sign of culture in every one of us, and that those who are skilled in speech are not only men of power in their own cities but are also held in honor in other states.
50
And so far has our city distanced the rest of mankind in thought and in speech that her pupils have become the teachersFor Athens as the School of Greece see General Introd. p. xxviii; Isoc. 15.296; Thuc. 2.41.1. of the rest of the world; and she has brought it about that the name Hellenes suggests no longer a race but an intelligence, and that the title Hellenes is applied rather to those who share our culture than to those who share a common blood.See General lntrod. p. xxxiv and Isoc. 9.47 ff. Cf. the inscription on the Gennadeion in Athens: Ἕλληνες καλοῦνται οἱ τῆς παιδεύσεως τῆς ἡμετέρας μετέχοντες