Werner Jaeger (1888-1961) was at his time the most brilliant and the most influential German classicist. His most important project was a tripartite study that he finally published under the title of "Paideia. Die Formung des griechischen Menschen" (1933-1947). "Paideia" was much more than a detailed scholarly book on pedagogy in the ancient world. It was an attempt to interpret the history of ancient thought--from Homeric epics to Attic tragedy and Platonic philosophy--as rooted in the intention to educate (or rather to 'form') human beings. And it was the attempt to contribute to a contemporary German movement called 'Third Humanism'. In this article, I give a critical overview of this work, its strengths and its shortcomings.