Xenophon Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

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.