The foundation of the modern educational system in Greece, with regard to legal as well as organizational, administrative and pedagogical aspects, took place after 1833 and was embedded in the dynamic development of Greek society after the war of independence against Ottoman rule. King Otto intended to create a strong center of power within the newly founded Greek state, in order to bring unity 'from above' into Greek society. Other essential factors influencing this problematic situation were the absence of a strong middle- class in the new state, the poverty of state and society, person-oriented power structures and a system of patronage, the state playing a crucial role in the development of the leading social groups, and finally the lasting influence of Orthodox Church and the lacking secularization of Greek society.A range of ideas originating in European enlightenment and the post-enlightenment era come into effect in the constitution of the educational system in Greece. The idea of the necessity of bringing about a perfection and moral improvement of humankind by means of the power of education combines with ideas about the value of ancient Greek traditions and ideas of the necessity of transforming Greece into a member of modern Western Europe. The educational system in Greece orients itself towards classical Greek ideas and is dominated by a 'grand' past. Under the influence of neo-humanism, the reconstruction and preservation of ancient Greek culture lastingly dominate the content and the goals of education. The school legislation systems of France and particularly Germany serve as a model for the construction of the Greek educational system. The central idea in this paper is the complexity resulting from Greece, which is located at the intersection between the Orient and the Occident, having a social structure that cannot be compared to that of other Western European nations, yet being subjected to Occidental influences in the construction of its educational system. I also follow up the idea that the reason why the educational systems and methods of Western European States were taken as a model, which happened in spite of proclaimed connections to ancient Greek culture, was not that those systems had been particularly efficient, but lay in the fact that educational perspectives within the newly founded state of Greece were lacking in any clear understanding of their own purpose or their own aims and in any commitment to a clear set of ideas developed specifically with regard to the educational needs of this state.