Coming of age in ancient times.("Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood From the Classical Past" exhibition) From: U.S. News & World Report | Date: February 2, 2004| Author: Mulrine, Anna | COPYRIGHT 2004 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Childhood was, until recently, considered a rather new concept. In his groundbreaking 1962 book Centuries of Childhood, the sociologist Philippe Aries argued that kids were generally treated as tiny adults until the Victorians introduced the idea of childhood innocence and of shielding little ones from the struggles and unpleasantness of the grownup world.

But a new exhibit "definitely helps disprove" that theory, says Jenifer Neils, classics professor at Case Western Re...