Ancient Sports/Athletics Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Wer sich für den heute etwas im Hintergrund stehenden Pferdesport der antiken Olympischen Spiele interessiert, wird nicht nur nach der materiellen Hinterlassenschaft dieser Wettkämpfe fragen, sondern seine Aufmerksamkeit auch auf die antike schriftliche Überlieferung richten.
Der vorliegende Band macht die verstreut vorhandenen einschlägigen Quellenaussagen im Originaltext und in deutscher Übersetzung bequem zugänglich und ermöglicht somit authentische Einblicke in die antiken Vorstellungen von der Welt des olympischen Pferdesports.

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- Ancient Sports/Athletics

This series provides sophisticated and authoritative overviews of periods of ancient history, genres of classical literature, and the most important themes in ancient culture. Each volume comprises between twenty-five and forty concise essays written by individual scholars within their area of specialization. The essays are written in a clear, provocative, and lively manner, designed for an international audience of scholars, students, and general readers.

Plato did more than hang out in Athens’ gymnasia, he actually set up a
philosophical school in one. How education in Plato’s Academy differed from traditional
Greek gymnasia is the subject of Chapter 5. In the utopian vision of Republic, Plato used
athletics as part of the guardians’ education explicitly for the purpose of selecting and
developing souls capable of forgoing personal pleasures, studying philosophy and,
eventually, becoming leaders (Reid 2007). He seems to have believed that athletics can
promote arete, which he describes as harmony among the intellectual, spirited and
appetitive parts of the soul, because sport requires the intellect to apprehend the rules of
the game and then to recruit the spirit and appetite to its cause. Plato’s real-life
gymnasium, however, did not exist in the utopian kallipolis but rather in democratic
Athens. An aristocrat by heritage, Plato was critical of democracy, but he did believe that
arete was a matter of training rather than birth, and that training citizens for virtue is the
best way to ensure good democratic government. The methods used to cultivate arete in
Plato’s Academy probably reflected the customary values of the gymnasium: military
preparedness, athletic beauty (kalokagathia), even erotic partnerships.
The Academy no doubt remained a place for gymnastic training under Plato, but the
focus of kalokagathia (being beautiful and good) shifted from the body to the soul.
Military training, too, probably focused on cultivating virtues such as courage and wisdom
rather than mere weapons skills. And educational pederasty was exchanged for chaste
partnerships that directed erotic desire away from the body and towards ideals such as
wisdom. Plato’s emphasis on the soul also prompted the inclusion of females, both in the
utopian Republic and the real-world Academy. It is likely, of course, that Plato added
philosophical dialogue and maybe even lectures to the existing gymnastic curriculum at
the academy. But it is unlikely that he reduced or eliminated the gymnastic training and athletic games traditionally associated with that place. Sport is made educational by its
ends, not simply its practice, and Plato adapted sport quite explicitly to the end of arete.

- by Heather Reid
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- Plato, Philosophy of Sport, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient Sports/Athletics

As Hellenic hero expert Gregory Nagy has effectively argued, ancient Greek athletics may be understood as the reenactment or mimēsis of the feats of heroes for the religious purpose of activating their life-giving spirits. I would sharpen that interpretation to say that athletes were in fact re-enacting the heroes’ virtues, while the poet’s and artist’s celebration of those feats was yet another act of mimēsis which served a larger cultural conspiracy to celebrate and inspire virtue (aretē). Mimēsis that puts athletics and poetry in the service of aretē seems like something that Plato would endorse, but it may be subject to the same criticisms that poetry and other arts undergo in Republic. In this paper I argue that athletic mimēsis may be part and parcel of Platonic education, but only if it is understood as reenactment not of heroic persons, or even of heroic feats, but rather as the reenactment of divine virtues.

- by Heather Reid
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- Plato, Mimesis, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Greek Heroes and Heroines

What does Philostratus' Gymnasticus have to offer modern students and scholars of sport? To find out, we need a reading that considers historical context, Hellenic paideia, and the relationship between nature and culture. To understand Philostratus’ Gymnasticus, we must get beyond surface appearances and attune ourselves to the symbols and meanings that underpin Greek athletics. If we do this, we will learn that gymnastics is not just a form of healthy recreation, but a meaningful activity that demands education and develops a kind of ethical aesthetic. We will discover that, beyond technical expertise, wisdom is needed to make the most of our experience with sport. And, most of all, we will come to understand that those who practice and appreciate athletics constitute a community with a particular identity informed by a glorious history.

- by Heather Reid
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- Second Sophistic, Philostratus, Philosophy of Sport, Ancient Sports/Athletics

In tandem with athletics and philosophy, democracy’s emergence from ancient
Hellenic soil has roots in Olympia’s revolution. Confidence in the veracity of contest results
derived not just from the structure and administration of the contest, but most
importantly from the fact that the gathered public personally observed the proceedings.
Indeed the Greek word ago¯n, which refers to an athletic contest, originally indicated the
gathering place where the event was observed – it shares a root with agora, the familiar
term for a city’s public market place. The selection of winners to be accorded public
honour cannot help but be politically charged, especially in a place such as the ancient (or
modern) Olympic Games where so many groups arrive believing their own representative
best deserves that honour. It is easy to see how the secret or arbitrary selection of the
honouree could lead to discord and even fighting. The public nature of the athletic
contest, however, like the public nature of philosophical debate, shifted the authority in
decision making towards the many (hoi polloi) and served, as a
foundation for the invention of democracy.

- by Heather Reid
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- Sports History, Democracy, Ancient Sports/Athletics

Her name was Flavia Thalassia and she came from Ephesus. She won the stadion race for parthenoi at the Isolympic Sebasta Games in Napoli sometime during Domitian's reign in the late first century CE. The evidence is carved in stone and clear for all to see in the recently excavated victors' lists from the games: [Π]ΑΡΘΕΝΩΝ ΣΤΑΔΙΟΝ [ΦΛΑΟ]ΥΙΑ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΙΑ ΕΦΕΣΙΑ. The existence of footraces for unmarried females is well-known in the history of Greek athletics, indeed the event at Olympia that came to be called the Heraia may have been founded simultaneously with men's events there. But Flavia's case, specifically the fact that she came all the way from Ephesus and had her name engraved in stone alongside the male victors, raises new questions about ancient female athletics. What was the social purpose of these races? What virtues did the athletes display? And how did these events compare philosophically to male athletics? I will attempt to explain the significance of Flavia's victory using mythology, iconography, history, literature, and philosophy. I will examine not only the Hellenic past of female footraces, but also their purpose in the context of the Roman Empire. Finally, I will comment on its significance for women's sports today. 2

- by Heather Reid
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics, Women and Sport

The Terme Boxer, a life-size naked bronze athlete, complete with bleeding cuts, a broken nose, and cauliflower ears, is, by any count, a striking piece of sculpture. In it, some see the athletic embodiment of Hellenic aretē, others see an indictment of the brutality inherent in Roman games. Understanding what this boxer represents depends on having a particular perspective, which was itself the subject of debate and cultivation in Greco-Roman literature and philosophy. Dio Chrysostom’s encomium of Melancomas sets the boxer up as an example to be emulated—not just for his beauty, but for his virtue, which is the source of his beauty—a beauty which infuses his entire being and eschews both adornment and luxury. Epictetus’ Discourses promote the same ethical aesthetic, ridiculing the Roman penchant for primping and plucking. It is as if athletic statues incarnate Socrates’ ideally educated citizen in the Republic (402d). “If someone’s soul has a fine and beautiful character and his body matches its beauty and is thus in harmony with it…wouldn’t that be the most beautiful sight for anyone who has eyes to see?” Crucially, though, having “eyes to see” depends precisely on having a proper education, one that enables a person to love the beautiful youth without touching him, because his real love is for the “fine and beautiful.”(402d-403c). Such love for the fine and beautiful depended on a Hellenic education, even for Romans. Melancomas’ eulogy ends with an exhortation: “Come then, train zealously and toil hard, the younger men in the belief that this man’s place has been left to them, the older in a way that befits their own achievements; yes, and take all the pride in these things that men should who live for praise and glory and are devotees of virtue.” (29.21). Hellenic virtue is as much about discernment of beauty as it is about sweat and toil. The kaloskagathos must be capable of appreciating and even loving athletic beauty—perhaps even the battered athletic beauty of a statue like the Terme Boxer.

- by Heather Reid
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- Aesthetics, Plato, Virtue Ethics, Ancient Sports/Athletics

This book examines the relationship between athletics and philosophy in ancient Greece and
Rome with special emphasis on changing ideas about the connection between athleticism and
virtue. Its aim is to enable a foundational understanding of ancient sport and philosophy that
makes a sincere dialogue with modern practices both possible and fruitful. The book begins by
observing that the link between athleticism and virtue is older than sport, reaching back to the
athletic feats of kings and pharaohs in early Egypt and Mesopotamia. It then traces the role of
athletics and the Olympic Games in transforming of the idea of aristocracy as something acquired
by birth to something that can be trained. The idea of training virtue through the techniques and
practice of athletics is examined in relation to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Then Roman
spectacles such as chariot racing and gladiator games are studied in light of the philosophy of
Lucretius, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. The concluding chapter connects the book’s ancient
observations with contemporary sports issues such as the use of athletes as role models, the
relationship between money and corruption, the relative worth of participation and spectatorship,
and the role of females in sport. The author argues that there is a strong link between sport and
philosophy in the ancient world, calling them offspring of common parents: concern about virtue
and the spirit of free enquiry. In order to preserve this connection between enquiry, virtue, and
sport, she concludes, we must understand its ancient origins.

- by Heather Reid
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- Philosophy of Sport, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient Sports/Athletics

Almost every human society has played games, from dice and board games to hunting and sport. But why are games such a universal human phenomenon? What exactly do games accomplish and what are their roles in societies? This course explores the concept of ‘gaming culture’ and seeks to develop and expand ideas on the role of games as a distinct human cultural phenomenon. We will explore games through the lenses of multiple fields, from anthropology and archaeology to sociology, psychology, and philosophy. We will actually play games, ancient and modern, in order to take a hands on and experimental approach in exploring themes and topics. Through such approaches and reflections, this course will equip students to more readily question how games are important and essential parts of human lives, in ways that are not entirely obvious or expected. Start your turn and see where the dice land!

- by Carl Walsh
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- Game studies, Video Games and Learning, Video Games, Ancient Sports/Athletics

MOTS CLÉS : athlète, harmonie, kalos kagathos, kalokagathia, corps, esprit, Grèce

- by Elena C . Partida
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- Ancient Religion, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Ancient Mosaics, Urban Elites
- by Martin O'Reilly
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- Sociology of Sport, Sports Medicine, Ethics, Normative Ethics
- by Bryan Reynolds
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- Sociology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, Social Psychology

O acompanhamento musical das práticas esportivas é uma característica marcante dos jogos na Grécia antiga, seja nos treinamentos, seja nas competições. Este acompanhamento se dava com instrumentos de sopro, especificamente o aulos e a salpinx (trombeta). Amplamente representado na pintura dos vasos áticos de figuras negras e de figuras vermelhas (séc. VI-V a.C.), o acompanhamento das práticas atléticas com o aulos, sobretudo nas provas que integram o pentatlo, tem recebido maior atenção dos estudiosos. Nosso objetivo é abordar a presença da trombeta nos jogos, representada com menos frequência no registro iconográfico, porém informada pelas fontes literárias de diferentes períodos, sobretudo do período imperial (nomeadamente, Plutarco, Ateneu e Pólux). Analisaremos as seguintes situações: acompanhamento musical de corridas (a pé ou de quadriga), contribuindo para marcar o ritmo; celebrações de entrega de prêmios; função comunicativa, pela divulgação de anúncios por intermédio da emissão de sinais; competições para trombeteiros, relacionadas à constituição de um perfil social deste músico-atleta baseado na força muito acima da média. Esta força superlativa, misturada com costumes bizarros, faz do trombeteiro um tipo popular no mundo helenístico-romano.

- by Fábio Vergara Cerqueira
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- Classical Archaeology, Iconography, Organology, Ancient Sports/Athletics
- by Nigel Spivey
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics

Öz
Bu çalışmada Roma'nın kurulmasından Doğu-Batı olarak ikiye ayrıldığı M.S. 395'e kadar geçen sürede Roma'da spor, oyunlar, yarışmalar ve gösteriler hakkında ilgili literatür sunulmaya çalışılmıştır. Konu ile ilgili çeşitli kaynaklara ulaşılıp; Etrüsk ile Yunan sporunun ve kültürünün Roma'ya olan etkileri, Roma sporunun özgün yanları, düzenli tekrarlanan oyun ve gösteriler, kadınların spor ve oyunlardaki yeri, spor ve oyunların içerikleri, spor ve oyunların yapıldığı belli başlı mekanlar, Hristiyanlığın oyunlar ve gösteriler üzerindeki etkisi gibi konular açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır. Roma'da oyunlar ve eğlenceler yöneticilerin her zaman titizlikle ve düzenli yerine getirdikleri birer etkinlik olmuşlardır. Siyasi yönden halkı idare etmenin bir aracı olarak kullanılmışlardır. Diğer antik uygarlıklar gibi Roma'daki sportif uygulamalar, oyunlar ve gösterilerde de yoğun bir dini ve mitolojik etki hissedilmektedir. Roma sporu ve oyunları farklı kültürlerden etkilense de kendine has özelliklerini korumuştur. Spor ve oyunlar Roma'da aileden sosyal hayata kadar pek çok alanda etkili olmuştur.
Abstract
In this study, literature that the sport, games, contests and demonstrations in Rome is presented for periods between the establishment of Rome to A.D 395 when it was divided as East-West. Topics such as effects of Etruscan and Greek sport and culture on Rome, unique sides of Roman sport, regularly repeated games and demonstrations, place of women in sport and games, contents of sport and games, main places where sport and games played, effects of Christianity on games and demonstrations are tried to explain by reaching out various resurces about the subject. Games and entertainments were always implemented carefully and regularly by administrators in Rome as an activity. They were used as a tool to govern public by politically. It is observable that as other ancient civilizations sport related activities, games and demostrations in Rome were inspired by intense religious and mythological motives. Although Roman sport and games had been affected by other cultures, its specific properties were protected. Sport and games had affected many things in Rome from family to social life.

- by Deniz YILDIZTURAN
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- European History, Roman History, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Roman Archaeology

Milo of Croton, a famous sixth-century BC athlete is undoubtedly the most celebrated sportsman of the Ancient World. We owe details of Milo's career, with his six Olympic victories in wrestling, to Pausanias the Periegete mainly, and -as oftenin our ranking of top-sportsmen of the Ancient World we have to rely on his estimates. Milo's fame was however far greater, and -unlike most Olympic victorshe is a hero of numerous anecdotes, stories, and last but not least of history. As stated Pausanias is the most reliable source for the biography of Milo, although he

- by Sebastian Fink
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics, Akkadian, Sumerian & Akkadian literature, Sumerology

ÜssRLncuNGEN zuR f,'uNKTroN üBERREGToNALER Fpsre rvr ARCHAISCHEN GRIECHENLANDI Bei der Analyse der sogenannten panhellenischen ebenso wie der amphiktyonischen Feste stand und steht die Frage nach der Funktion dieser Fesüe gegenüber jener nach ihrem religiösen Gehalt im Hintergrund. Zum Movens für ihre Entstehung wird in der Regel der Kult erklärt, Auf das Aussehen der am Fest beteiligten Sozietäten und die Frage, welche Bedeutung die Feste ftir die Teilnehmerabgesehen von einer religiös begründeten Bedürfnisbefriedigungbesitzen, wird dabei nur selten berührt. Es gibt allerdings einige bemerkenswerte Ausnahmen. So haben L. de Ligt und P. W. de Neeve bei ihrer Suche nach der Verbreitung und dem Inhalt des Wortes 'Panegyris' die ökonomisch bedeutsamen Teile an den großer1 Festen, auch an den zur Debatte stehenden überregionalen Festen hervorgehoben'. [rg"n die beiden niederläindische Autoren den Schwerpunkt auf den Z,eitravrr ab der griechischen Klassik, so beschäftigte sich Cathrine Morgan in ihrer im Druck 1990 erschienenen, den nicht glücklichen Titel tragenden Dissertation Athletes aild Oraclcs mit der Geschichte und der Funktion der großen Feste (bes. Olympia und Delphi, aber auch Isthmia, Nemea und am Rande Delos, Dodona) n der Z.eit vor dem 7. Jahrhundert. Das von ihr erzielte Ergebnis erweckte zurecht Aufmerksamkeit. In den Dark Ages hätten die Feste im Rahmen einer vielleicht zyklisch wiederkehrenden "conspicuous consumption" den "petty chiefs"t bzw. dem lokalen Adel dazu gedient, den eigenen Reichtum und vielleicht auch die athletische Stdrke an einem neutralen Platz öffentlich zu präsentieren. Diese Präsentation habe zum Tiel gehabt, auf diese Weise den persönlichen Status in der eigenen sozialen Gruppe abzusicherna. Regionale Prestige-Feste: dieT.eit der Dark Ages Die wesentliche Veränderung im Ansatz Morgans gegenüber der geläufigen Betrachtungsweise ist die, daß die Feste in die gesellschaftlichen und sozialen Bedingungen der Dark Ages, wie sie sich durch die Neuinterpretation des ständig anwachsenden archäologischen Befundes ergeben haben, eingebunden werden. Hierflir greift Morgan auf eine Reihe von Studien zurück, die im Umfeld der in einem jüngst erschienenen Lexikon schon als "Cambridger Schule" bezeichneten Richnrng in der Archäologie anzusiedeln sinds. Deren Kennzeichen ist es, daß als Eckpfeilei 1 DerBeitrag wurde überarbeitet, hat aber gegenüber der mündlich vorgetragenen Fassung seinen Charakter insofern nicht verändert, als die vielfältigen Detailprobleme nur angedeutet werden konnten und auch die Literaturangaben nur erste Hinweise bieten können. 2 DE LIcr/DE NEEvE 1988, 393ff. Vgl. bes. auch das von SINN 1992 ver{retene Konzept der 'Festwiese'. 38 Christoph LJlf fär das an die archäologische Hinterlassenschaft angelegte Interpretationsmuster

Sport was practiced in ancient Greece since at least the Bronze Age; however, athletic activities are not extensively documented before the Archaic period. In the Homeric epics, competition in a number of events (including running, discus, jumping, and chariot racing) is presented primarily as an elite activity that is integrated in the network of the Homeric aristocratic ethos of masculine valor and peer interaction. Archaeological, literary, and epigraphic evidence unequivocally suggests the rapid growth and popularity of competitive sport in the centuries that followed. By the mid-6th century BCE the periodos circuit of Panhellenic athletic games, which were integrated in the celebration of major religious festivals in interstate sanctuaries, was firmly established. City-states almost invariably hosted their own athletic competitions. At the same time, a culture of athletic training in the gymnasia of Greek communities emerged and flourished. Such training was conducted as part of preparation for competitions or in the context of a regime of intellectual and military education of youths, or both. The model outlined above (competitive athletics in Panhellenic and local festivals; gymnasium-centered physical training) was largely adopted by cities in the eastern Mediterranean region following the conquests of Alexander the Great and the creation of Hellenistic empires, and it remained the order of the day in much of the Romancontrolled, Greek-speaking East. As far as the Roman world is concerned, there is some evidence for the relative popularity of Greekstyle athletics in Archaic Etruria. Moreover, there were some attempts to establish Greek-style agones in the city of Rome and other parts of the Roman state. But ultimately, the sporting preferences of the Romans as well as of the inhabitants of most of the Romancontrolled West lay in arena spectacles and chariot racing in the hippodrome. Arena spectacles eventually spread in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire as well and coexisted with traditional Greek athletic competitions and the gymnasium culture. The bibliography that follows covers all major aspect of Greek-style competitive and civic athletics from the Bronze Age to late Antiquity. For Roman sports, it focuses on chariot racing. It should be noted that Roman chariot racing was in many respects distinctively different from the equestrian competitions conducted in Greek agones. This article also discusses Greek-style athletics conducted in Rome and the Roman provinces. Arena spectacles such as gladiatorial shows and beast hunts are treated in a separate Oxford Bibliographies article.Preference has been given to more recent titles that contain up-to-date references to primary sources and modern literature, but older and still fundamental items are also duly noted.

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- by Maria Luisa Catoni and +1
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics, Classics: Ancient History and Archaeology, Ancient Greek Sculpture

In this article, I propose a new way of interpreting athletic metaphors in early Christian literature. I argue that the metaphorical figure of the athlete would have evoked for ancient readers not simply the ideas of competitive struggle, but also the idea of sexual abstinence , a lifestyle choice closely associated with athletes in the Greco-Roman world. The article collects and discusses evidence for the practice of athletic celibacy, drawing together a dispa-rate collection of medical and philosophical literature, with Christian sources, from the second and third centuries CE. It demonstrates that athletic celibacy was a familiar concept in this period , and that many observers were interested in the methods that athletes used to control their sexual urges, including applying lead plates to their loin muscles. The treatment of this evidence suggests that there was greater interest in sexual abstinence among non-Christians than has previously been understood, and that athletes were implicated in controversies about whether or not total abstention from sex was a healthy lifestyle choice. As such, I argue that it is plausible to regard the athletic imagery of early Christians not only as a met-aphorical comparison between two kinds of strident individuals, but also as advocacy for the celibate life as the most healthful lifestyle.

- by Jared Secord
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- Patristics, Asceticism, Early Christianity, Galen

Northwestern University Press, 2018) is a recent exception. Metcalf argues that Plato's philosophy is essentially agonistic, and he cites Nietzsche (Twilight of the Idols §23) as an authoritative precedent for the idea. 2 A view primarily... more

- by Heather Reid
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- Plato, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Ancient Greek Philosophy

It is only within the last few decades that Classical scholars have begun to acknowledge the political and social impact of athletics on the ancient Classical world during the 5 th and 4 th centuries BCE. In this work, after assessing the theory of identity and the perceived distinction between the ancient Greeks and their "barbaric" neighbors, the Macedonians, I examined Olympia and Athens as two case studies that combine athletics and ritual within a single landscape. After recognizing how these sites reaffirm Greek identity, I have applied the same parameters to Macedonian Dion, where I believe the Macedonians similarly utilized the landscape to affirm their own Hellenicity.

- by Alan A D Peatfield
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics, Combat Archaeology, Minoan Archaeology

In a way, there is nothing surprising about Plato’s promotion of sport for
women in Republic and Laws; it is logically implied by his philosophical theories. In another way, Plato’s vision of female athletes is among the most radical proposals he makes. The purpose of this paper is to examine Plato’s arguments for women in sport and reflect on its relevance in our modern world. His texts include as many misogynist as feminist comments, but Plato’s consistent view in Republic and Laws is that females deserve equal education in gymnastics (i.e. movement activities) and equal opportunity to participate in athletic contests. This position derives from the convictions that athletics serves as training for
virtue and communities need to maximize the virtue of all their members. It is his vision of women in civic and military roles, specifically their need for aretē (virtue, excellence) to perform those roles, that motivates Plato to include them in sport. In our modern world, where women are citizens and rulers – and regularly participate in sport – it is worth exploring the educational link Plato saw between the two. (paper available via link)

Being aggressive have been acknowledged in combat sports competition to be adaptive and socially acceptable, essential for athletes be motivated in training and competition phases, Go-ahead, Tripping someone, and Assertive styles are Aggressive styles that had been tested with Mental Toughness, a developmental psychological construct that would involve a feeling of self-efficacy, emotional regulations, feeling of autonomy and control perceived with extensive combat experiences. Correlation results of the study show a positive correlation with Go-Ahead and Assertive aggressive styles, using a Regression analysis, the results show that Go-ahead and assertive aggressive styles are predictors of high Mental Toughness scores. The implications of the study can help in creating an Aggressive Efficacy oriented mentoring and coaching program that fighters, coaches, can use in screening mental preparation and aggressive styles of their members. this would also aid in reducing any unwanted conflicts that can lead to legal and safety concerns, and encourage members both beginners and veteran to try competitive combat sports as a learning and developmental experience

- by Jojo Anghang Tabang
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- Business, Resilience, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Athletics
- by Antti Ijäs
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics, Hellenistic Greece

This article addresses how the sophistic-style analysis in Philostratus’ Gymnasticus gives expression to the physical and social complexities involved in ancient athletic training. As a case in point, the article provides a close reading of Philostratus’ description and criticism of the Tetrad, a four-day sequence of training, which resulted in the death of an Olympic athlete. To make physiological sense of the Tetrad, this method of training is compared to the role of periodization in ancient medicine and modern kinesiology. At the same time, Philostratus’ own critique of the Tetrad is compared to Foucauldian models of discipline and bodily attention. Ultimately, it is argued that the Tetrad fails because it does not incorporate καιρός, a theme common to athletics, medicine, and rhetoric. Overall, therefore, Philostratus’ critique of the Tetrad helps us to appreciate the underrepresented role that γυμναστική occupied in the larger debates on bodily knowledge in antiquity.

- by Charles H Stocking
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- Ancient History, Second Sophistic, History of Science, Galen

Flow, or what modern athletes call " the zone " is not a recent phenomenon. In fact, it may be the reason that ancient Greek games honoring gods and heroes included contests in music, drama, poetry and athletics. It is through the skilled performance of these arts-and the synergy between them—gods and heroes were invoked and evoked, in part through athletes' experience of Flow. The catalyst was aretē (virtue); by re-enacting the feats and celebrating the virtues of gods and heroes, athletes and artists renewed and reaffirmed aretē's cultural importance. Such moments of aretic ecstasy inspired, enlightened, and united entire communities—and they may still do so in sports today.

- by Heather Reid
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- Mimesis, Philosophy of Sport, Ancient Sports/Athletics

The purpose of this paper is to identify and articulate the philosophical ideals that, in our view, underpinned the ancient Olympic Games and may serve the modern Olympic Movement in its quest for global harmony. Although the claim of the ancient Games to unite the far corners of Hellas may appear quaint when compared to our worldwide festivals, the political and logistical challenges were arguably no less formidable than ours. Furthermore the ancient Games’ more than 1,000 year span makes the modern Games’ single-century history look like a flash in the pan. Big and strong as the modern Games seem, they should humbly acknowledge their infancy and look to their venerable ancestor for advice as they face an uncertain future. It was the ideals associated with Olympia that secured the ancient Games’ long-enduring success. We believe that only if the modern Olympic Movement actively understands and consciously preserves its ancient heritage, can the Games remain a beacon of idealism amid the headlong pursuit of worldly wealth and power.

- by Heather Reid
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- Olympics and Olympism, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Olympic Studies
- by Steven Ross Murray
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- Ancient History, Military History, Classics, Sports History

Woher Sport und Wettbewerb stammen, wurde und wird nicht bloß innerhalb der Sportwissenschaften oft heftig diskutiert. Zu diesem Thema haben sich vor allem auch Vertreter der Ethologie publikumswirksam geäußert. 1 Es gehört zu den Verdiensten von Ingomar Weiler die Zuständigkeit auch der Alten Geschichte für dieses Thema nicht nur betont, sondern durch eigene Arbeit nachgewiesen zu haben. Dieser Anspruch lässt sich nicht einfach in die in den letzten Jahrzehnten selbstverständlich gewordenen Ausweitung der Geschichtswissenschaften im Sinn einer Alltagsgeschichte einreihen. Er wurde von Ingomar Weiler vielmehr deswegen erhoben, weil der Gegenstand der Frage ohne einen interdisziplinären Ansatz nicht befriedigend behandelt werden kann. Und er hat selbst ausgeführt, dass für einen solchen Ansatz kaum ein anderer Bereich der Geschichtswissenschaften bessere Voraussetzungen bietet als die weite Räume umfassende und lange Zeiten umspannende Alte Geschichte. Das wurde von Ingomar Weiler 1989 in der Studie " Langzeitperspektive zur Genese des Sports " präzise dargelegt. 2 Hier kommen Prähistorie, Ethnologie, Ethologie, die Sportwissenschaften, aber auch die Soziologie und selbstverständlich die Alte Geschichte zu Wort, und es wird die Notwendigkeit herausgearbeitet, dass die einzelnen Disziplinen die Ergebnisse der jeweils anderen in ihre eigene Argumentation einbauen müssten. Von dieser gut begründeten Forderung ausgehend, wird im vorliegenden Beitrag auf eine weitere wissenschaftliche Disziplin und Perspektive hingewiesen, die es erlauben könnte, die Relation der durch die verschiedenen Disziplinen eröffneten Erkenntnismöglichkeiten zueinander präziser festzulegen. Es soll so versucht werden, die Basis für eine möglichst klar nachvollziehbare Antwort auf die einleitend genannte Frage zu umschreiben. 3

- by Christoph Ulf
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- Ancient History, Sports History, Ancient Sports/Athletics, HIstory of Sport

Victory in the great athletic games was widely seen in the Greek world as one of the
summits of human achievement. Yet a surprisingly large number of texts present a negative
view of athletics, including Xenophanes fr. 2 West and Euripides fr. 282 TrGF. The
reasons for this criticism – which has variously been interpreted as a critique of the
aristocracy, a polemic against professionalism in sport or the reaction of a minority of
intellectuals – remain obscure. This paper argues that opposition to athletics was not
political but part of a longstanding debate on the relative merits of different forms of skill
(τέχνη). This debate was prompted by widespread economic specialisation and professionalism
in the fields of athletics, poetry and philosophy (among others). The criticism
of athletics becomes part of a strategy, by which the professional promotes his own form
of τέχνη, with the implicit aim of winning respect and financial rewards. Professionals
operated in a market for knowledge, one in which they had to sell their skills, justify their
fees and counter common prejudices against paid work. Our texts reflect the tendency for
professionals to achieve these aims by launching pre-emptive attacks upon their competitors.
Athletes became a common target for such invective because their unwavering
popularity and success at eliciting rewards in the archaic and classical periods made them
a constant target of envy from other professionals.

- by Edmund Stewart
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- Greek Literature, Greek Lyric Poetry, Ancient Sports/Athletics

This book is a history of ancient Greek and Roman professionals: doctors, seers, sculptors, teachers, musicians, actors, athletes and soldiers. These individuals were specialist workers deemed to possess rare skills, for which they had undergone a period of training. They operated in a competitive labour market in which proven expertise was a key commodity. Success in the highest regarded professions was often rewarded with a significant income and social status. Rivalries between competing practitioners could be fierce. Yet on other occasions, skilled workers co-operated in developing associations that were intended to facilitate and promote the work of professionals. The oldest collegial code of conduct, the Hippocratic Oath, a version of which is still taken by medical professionals today, was similarly the creation of a prominent ancient medical school. This collection of articles reveals the crucial role of occupation and skill in determining the identity and status of workers in antiquity.

- by Edmund Stewart and +2
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- Sociology of Professions, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Ancient economy, Warfare in the Ancient World

Arctos welcomes submissions dealing with any aspect of classical antiquity, and the reception of ancient cultures in mediaeval times and beyond. Arctos presents research articles and short notes in the fields of Greek and Latin languages, literatures, ancient history, philosophy, religions, archaeology, art, and society. Each volume also contains reviews of recent books. The website is at www.

- by Antti Ijäs
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics, Greek Papyrology, Martial Arts Studies

Analyzing the textual and pictorial remains of the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., the author tries to describe the character of the early gymnasium. Gymnasia did not - as the communis opinio considers - constitute facilities for the training of hoplites, but a place of aristocratic culture. They were characterized by exclusivity, térpsis, but also sharp competition, features also found in the Homeric description of Phaeacian sport. The reason for the institutionalization of this athletic pattern lies in the development of the pólis. As the individual range of action of the individual was affected by the rise of the city-state, athletics grew in importance as a stage for aristocratic competition, resulting both in the foundation or reorganisation of the Panhellenic games and in the rise of the gymnasia.

- by Christian Mann
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- Ancient Sports/Athletics, Ancient Greek History, Hoplite warfare