The Senior Spartiate appointed as the educator of males between 7 and 30 is called what?

• A. Paedagogus
• B. Sophists
• C. Socrates
• D. Paidonomus

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is the role of the Paidonomos in Sparta. This senior Spartan official was entrusted with supervising and guiding the education of male youths from age seven up to thirty, overseeing the rigorous agoge, enforcing discipline, and shaping soldiers for the state. The term paidonomos distinguishes this official duty from other educational roles: a paedagogos is a private tutor or slave who accompanied boys in their early years, not the state-appointed overseer of the entire youth curriculum. Sophists and Socrates belong to other contexts—Sophists were itinerant teachers in many Greek cities, especially Athens, and Socrates is the famous Athenian philosopher—not part of Sparta’s formal youth education system. So the educator described is the paidonomos.