A survey of Greek athletics from Homeric times through the fourth century C.E. From the games of the Iliad, to the foundation of the Olympic games, to the poetry of Pindar and the Olympic Festival, this book covers all aspects of Greek athletics: the events themselves—from the running events held at the first competitions to the later 'heavy' events of wrestling, boxing, and the pankration, to the pentathlon, jump, discuss, and javelin, held only at festival; the religious and athletic centers; the festivals in which the games took place; the voices of the games' celebrators (like the poet Pindar), critics, and the athletes themselves; the gyymnasion and its culture; and the evidence—literary, artistic, archeological, and historical. The introduction examines the nineteenth-century bias that created the myth of Greek amateurism. An extensive bibliography aids the reader in pursuing further study. CD containing all the references in English, makes this work also a unique reference.
Special Features
- Introduction examines the bias in earlier treatments of Greek athletics and the "myth of Greek amateurism."
- Six Chapters examine evidence from Homeric times to the Golden Age of Athens
- Illustrations throughout
- Extensive bibliography for further reading
- CD of over 377 pages and 15MB containing all of the ancient references in English translation
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Winning at all costs mattered most in ancient Olympics
STEVE WILSTEIN, AP Sports Columnist. Associated Press. New York: Jul 10,
2004. pg. 1
Abstract (Document Summary)
"An ordinary Greek ate olives, grains and grapes, wine and cheese," [William
Blake Tyrrell] says. "He didn't eat meat unless there was a sacrifice in his
city or he had money to afford animals. An athlete just pigged out on meat and
was considered kind of dull and dumb for that. But he was eating all that meat
on the assumption that it was enhancing his ability to win. Not only would they
take performance- enhancing substances, they did it."
[Pierre de Coubertin], a French pedagogue with an aristocratic bent, traveled to
England to study the British system of sports in the "public schools" _ private
prep schools, mainly for the wealthy. That became the model for the modern
Olympics, which excluded pro athletes and rescinded medals from those who made
even a few bucks playing sports _ most famously Jim Thorpe.
"Successful athletes were wealthy people," Tyrrell said. "A drachma was the kind
of thing that the ordinary Greek never saw. A guy could win one race and sit on
his butt doing nothing the rest of the year. But he's not going to stop there.
He's going to leave Olympia and go off to the Pythian Games at Delphi or the
Nemean Games and run the circuit. He's going to be racing every year."
Full Text (882 words)
Copyright Associated Press Jul 10, 2004
The ancient Greeks would have been puzzled by the modern Olympic obsession with
catching athletes who use performance-enhancing substances.
"Winning was everything," says Olympic scholar William Blake Tyrrell of Michigan
State and author of "The Smell of Sweat: Greek Athletics, Olympics and Culture."
"I have no doubt whatsoever that they would have taken anything to win. If they
thought a rhinoceros horn would help them win, they would have ground it up."
In pursuit of a winning edge and godlike strength and speed, ancient Greek
athletes departed from diets typical of the times.
"An ordinary Greek ate olives, grains and grapes, wine and cheese," Tyrrell
says. "He didn't eat meat unless there was a sacrifice in his city or he had
money to afford animals. An athlete just pigged out on meat and was considered
kind of dull and dumb for that. But he was eating all that meat on the
assumption that it was enhancing his ability to win. Not only would they take
performance- enhancing substances, they did it."
Herbal medications were freely used in Greece, including some for mood and
behavioral changes and one that purportedly prevented drunkenness, Olympic
historian Jeff Segrave of Skidmore College says.
"While we don't know, of course, how they would have responded specifically to
performance-enhancing drugs like steroids or stimulants, it's doubtful that any
treatments would have been prohibited," he says.
"There are two ways to look at it. One is that when an athlete competed in the
Olympic Games, he was doing it to honor the gods. There was a certain sense
that, in competing, he was trying to resemble a god. That implied a sort of
religious sanctity and integrity.
"On the other hand, when they were competing, winning was what counted. Losing
was a disgrace. We have many examples of losing athletes going back to their
city-states in humiliation, taking back roads so they weren't seen."
The ancient Greek athletes weren't above trickery during the games.
"There was all sorts of skullduggery in some of the events, particularly in an
event like the 'dolichos,' the long-distance race where tripping, pushing and
shoving often went on, especially when they went around the posts in the
ground," Segrave says. "We don't have any examples of races being rerun and we
know these things went on. That was simply the nature of the beast."
Taking or doing anything to win, within the general rules of the contest, would
have been a concept acceptable not only to the athletes of ancient Greece but to
the spectators watching them.
"Win at all costs _ that's what it was about," Tyrrell says.
The original Olympians would have scoffed at the Olympic Creed composed by Baron
Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern games in 1896, and shown on the
scoreboard at every opening ceremony:
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part,
just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.
The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."
As noble as that creed may sound to modern ears, it is "something that an
ancient Greek athlete would think is bananas," Tyrrell says.
Winning was so important in those days, he says, that athletes wouldn't compete
at all if they didn't think they could win. That's what happened once when a
giant wrestler named Milo of Croton showed up and scared off all opponents.
"That approach extended into politics and war," Tyrrell says. "If you couldn't
win, then you would not compete, because the shame of loss could be avoided by
not competing."
The ancient Greeks also would have laughed at the idea that Olympians ought to
be amateurs, a concept promoted by de Coubertin and carried on by Olympic
leaders until the 1980s.
De Coubertin, a French pedagogue with an aristocratic bent, traveled to England
to study the British system of sports in the "public schools" _ private prep
schools, mainly for the wealthy. That became the model for the modern Olympics,
which excluded pro athletes and rescinded medals from those who made even a few
bucks playing sports _ most famously Jim Thorpe.
"An athlete in ancient Greece could make a very, very healthy living going
around and competing in all the Pan-Hellenic games," Segrave says. "There's no
question that when it came to Olympic performance, they could earn significant
sums of money."
At the Olympics, winning athletes would receive only the olive wreath. But
afterward they were rewarded handsomely by their city- states and patrons.
Athletes were paid with oil, food, coats, even a woman. They might get 100
drachma coins for winning the "stadion," the premier race similar to the modern
200 meters.
"Successful athletes were wealthy people," Tyrrell said. "A drachma was the kind
of thing that the ordinary Greek never saw. A guy could win one race and sit on
his butt doing nothing the rest of the year. But he's not going to stop there.
He's going to leave Olympia and go off to the Pythian Games at Delphi or the
Nemean Games and run the circuit. He's going to be racing every year."
___
Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to
him at swilstein(at)ap.org
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or
distribution is prohibited without permission.
People: Tyrrell, William Blake, Segrave, Jeff, Coubertin, Pierre de
Dateline: Undated
Text Word Count 882
Document URL:
