Academy
An English word for an institution of learning, derived from the Akademeia, the grove outside Athens where Plato established his school of philosophy in 387 BCE
The Meaning of Academy
The word "academy" derives from the Akademeia, a sacred grove of olive trees about a mile northwest of the walls of Athens. The grove was named after the legendary hero Akademos (or Hekademos), who according to tradition revealed to the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, where Theseus had hidden their sister Helen. In gratitude, the Spartans spared the grove during their invasions of Attica. In 387 BCE, Plato established his school of philosophy in this grove, and it operated for nearly three hundred years until the Roman general Sulla destroyed it in 86 BCE. The Academy was one of the most important intellectual institutions in the ancient world, where Plato and his successors taught mathematics, dialectic, natural science, and political theory. Aristotle studied there for twenty years before founding his own school, the Lyceum. The word "academy" entered European languages through Latin and has been applied to institutions of learning ever since — from the French Academie Francaise to the United States Military Academy at West Point to the Academy Awards. Every institution called an academy echoes a grove of olive trees outside Athens.
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Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Academy
💭 conceptEducation, scholarship, institutional learning
A place of learning or scholarly institution, from Akademos, in whose sacred grove Plato founded his school.
Stoicism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching virtue, rational self-control, and acceptance of fate as the path to flourishing
Paideia
💭 concepteducation, culture
The complete cultural education that formed the ideal Greek citizen — encompassing literary, musical, gymnastic, and philosophical training to cultivate the whole person.
Mentor
💭 conceptLanguage and education
An English word meaning a wise and trusted guide or teacher, derived from Mentor, the friend of Odysseus who was entrusted with the education of his son Telemachus
Philosophy
💭 conceptLanguage and thought
An English word for the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, and ethics, derived from the Greek philosophia meaning love of wisdom
Pygmalion Effect
💭 conceptPsychology and education
A psychological phenomenon in which higher expectations lead to improved performance, named after the mythological sculptor whose statue came to life because he believed in her so completely
Epicureanism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching that pleasure through modesty, knowledge, and friendship is the highest good
Sophistes
💭 conceptphilosophy, education
A professional teacher of wisdom — originally honorable, then systematically contested as a label for those who sold rhetorical skill without genuine knowledge.
Anamnesis
💭 conceptPlato's theory that learning is remembering
Plato's doctrine that the soul possesses innate knowledge from before birth, and that learning is really recollection.
Melete
💭 conceptphilosophy, education
Practice, care, or mental exercise — the discipline of repeated philosophical and rhetorical rehearsal that transforms knowledge into habit.
Neoplatonism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A late antique philosophical system teaching that all reality emanates from a transcendent, ineffable One
Agora
💭 conceptLanguage and civic life
An English word for a public gathering place or marketplace, derived from the Agora of Athens, the civic and commercial centre where democracy, philosophy, and daily commerce intersected