In 1864 he became professor of comparative grammar at the Collège de France, in 1875 member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres, in 1879 inspecteur général for higher education until the abolition of the office in 1888.

He attended the 1894 Founding Congress of the International Olympic Committee at the Sorbonne in Paris; at its concluding dinner, he was seated next to the father of the modern games, Pierre de Coubertin.

[5] Soon after the congress, on September 15, 1894, Bréal sent Coubertin a letter outlining his idea: Puisque vous allez à Athènes, voyez donc, si l’on peut organiser une course de Marathon au Pnyx.

"[6][5] As part of his sponsorship of the race, Bréal had a Paris jeweler create Breal's Silver Cup for the winner, who ended up being the Greek Spyros Louis.

Among his works, which deal mainly with mythological and philological subjects, may be mentioned: He also wrote pamphlets on education in France, the teaching of ancient languages, and the reform of French orthography.