What Exactly Is An Academy?

What does the academy mean, and where does it come from?

The ancient Greek historian Plutarch wrote that the Athenian king Theseus (the slayer of the Minotaur) abducted the beautiful 12-year-old Helen of Troy (long before she married Menelaus, met Paris and was the cause of the Trojan War). Due to this outrage, her twin brothers Castor and Pollux invaded Attica to liberate their sister and threatened to destroy Athens. One local man, Akademos, spared the city by telling them where she was (hidden at Aphidnae).

For this, Akademos was venerated by the city as a saviour. Long story short, Akademos owned an olive tree orchard, which was called, guess what, Academia. The Greek philosopher Plato later chose the place to converse with his followers and deliver his lectures, and thus the phrase “the garden of Academe” arose. Due to this, Akademos’ name has been linked to the archaic name for the site of Plato’s Academy, the Hekademeia, outside the walls of Athens.

Nowadays, there are Academies (read schools) everywhere in the world. We even have one in South Australia: the Adelaide Robotics Academy.

(Wikipedia)