In 2024, Elliniki Agogi marked thirty years of uninterrupted educational activity, dedicated to the teaching of Ancient Greek language and Classical education in general. Founded in 1994 as an ambitious educational endeavor, its aim was to bring children and adults into a living, meaningful contact with the language, thought, and values of Greek civilization. Today, it is a model private educational institution functioning as an extracurricular activity — not a typical tutoring center — offering 90-minute weekly lessons (both in-person and online) for students from Greece and abroad.
The program of Elliniki Agogi begins as early as preschool age, with activities for linguistic familiarization, basic vocabulary, dialogues, and mythological storytelling, gradually advancing to more demanding texts from ancient Greek literature, always adapted to the children’s age and level. In parallel, cultural events, theater performances, celebrations, visits, guided tours, re-enactments, and summer programs are incorporated, aiming to connect language with experience and learning with the joy of participation.
Since 2017, Eugenia Manolidou has taken over the direction of Elliniki Agogi, giving new impetus to the founding team’s vision. “Our vision is for children to love Ancient Greek. Our goal is not to produce philologists, but people who think clearly, express themselves with precision, and deeply understand their language and history. We believe that when learning is experiential and internally connected to the child, the result far exceeds the subject matter itself,” she notes.
This approach is particularly significant in an era where a profound linguistic impoverishment is evident even in the early school years. Many parents turn to Elliniki Agogi seeking a more essential education, beyond memorization. Through Ancient Greek, children enhance their verbal skills, analytical thinking, and cultural identity. In practice, strengthening their Ancient Greek also leads to notable progress in Modern Greek, in foreign languages, and across school subjects.
It is also important to note that Elliniki Agogi does not undertake preparation for university entrance exams. Its focus is on substance, not mere performance. Children who attend learn because they want to learn, not because they must. The teaching approach aspires to make Ancient Greek a free and natural part of their lives: to feel it as their own, to sense its continuity through Modern Greek, to use it as a tool for understanding the world — not as a source of anxiety, as is sadly too often the case in the school environment.
The pedagogical philosophy is grounded in experiential methods. Teaching does not rely on sterile grammatical rules alone, but on theatrical dialogues, storytelling, song, visual creation, and physical expression — drawing on everyday scenes from ancient life. Students participate actively, become engaged, and integrate knowledge in a living way, so that learning becomes a personal experience. The aim is not the rote memorization of moods, prepositions, or verb forms, but the reading and understanding of meaning through the original text itself — a text that contains the wisdom by which ancient Greek thought has remained timelessly relevant, a bearer of knowledge and values that established Greek civilization as a cornerstone of the Western world.
Along these lines, Elliniki Agogi organizes an annual summer program (summer camp), held every year after the school term ends, including daily excursions to the historical center of Athens. Children visit the Pnyx, the hills of the Muses and the Nymphs, the Ancient Agora, the Byzantine Museum, the Catacombs of the Russian Church, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Academy of Athens, and many other sites of historical significance, learning about Ancient, Byzantine, and Modern Greece on location, where history truly happened. The program is open to children aged 6–14, not only to students of Elliniki Agogi.
Beyond its programs for children, Elliniki Agogi also invests consistently in teacher education, with the aim of inspiring and supporting those who wish to approach Ancient Greek with fresh methods and an open spirit. A key initiative in this direction is the annual seminar “Hellenizontes Didaskomen” which this year will take place on September 4–5 in Thessaloniki and on September 6–7 in Athens. The seminar addresses philologists, teachers, and educators of all levels, offering both theoretical background and practical tools for experiential Ancient Greek teaching.
The response each year is impressive. Participants learn through theatrical play, music, creative reading and writing, rediscovering the power of language not as memorization, but as a field of experience and cultivation. Many teachers who have attended now apply these techniques in their schools, revitalizing students’ relationship with the subject — and, more importantly, with the language itself.
In parallel, Elliniki Agogi offers free educational programs for public and private schools, including interactive workshops and specially tailored presentations for each age group. Elementary, junior high, and high school students from all over Greece — as well as schools from the Greek diaspora — come into contact with Ancient Greek in a pleasant and engaging way adapted to their needs. Through performances, group games, themed storytelling, and technology, they strengthen their language skills, their cultural awareness, and their connection with their heritage.
In recent years, Elliniki Agogi has been actively involved in international conferences with universities, such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the Vivarium Novum Academy in Italy, and the Cultura Clàssica educational network in Spain. Its outward-looking spirit is also reinforced by its participation in the Delphi Economic Forum, with the Delphi Classics – Classics in Praxis session, a dialogue on the place of Classical education in the modern world, where leading international figures in Classical Studies participate. These presentations, lectures, and educational initiatives bring future students of Classical and Humanities studies into direct conversation with today’s institutions.
All of the above converge on one conclusion: the student of the future cannot be limited to using digital tools and managing information. They must be a bearer of culture, language, and thought. In a world where technology accelerates, Humanistic Education becomes the counterweight that upholds measure, discernment, and ethos. A grounding in Classical Studies liberates students and lays the foundation for a better, more meaningful future.
Over more than thirty years of its path, Elliniki Agogi continues to serve Education with consistency, creativity, and profound respect for our language and culture. The Greek language, its thought and wisdom, along with the education that accompanies it, have laid the foundation of European civilization and remain a point of reference for universities, research centers, and schools around the world. In an era when returning to spiritual roots is more necessary than ever, the turn toward Ancient Greek is a search for orientation. We, as Greeks, as bearers of this language and history, have an even greater responsibility to know it in depth — not only to honor our heritage, but to transmit its inner rhythm to our children, and ultimately to give meaning to what we call Education.
Source: Education Leaders, Sunday edition of To Vima, June 29, 2025.