Greek Spectacles and Games a supplementary sourcebook on Greek sports Siobhán McElduff Table of Contents

Figure 2: Vitruvius’ plan for a Greek gymnasium, along with gymnasia at Olympia from Vitruvius THE TEN BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE, Trans. M.H. Morgan (Harvard University Press, 1914):

Figure 3: Side B of a Panatheniac vase; winners received a number of these (the number depended on the sport) filled with olive oil – this held considerable monetary value because of the oil and because the vases were highly valued. All these vases had Athena on one side and the sport on the other. This one is now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and dates from c. 490 BCE.

1^ The first winner of the stadion at the Olympic Games.

2^ In addition to being the home of the Pythian Games Delphi was also the location of the oracle of Apollo, which was often consulted by Greek and other states.

3^ Augustus once forbade women to appear at an exhibition of Greek athletics because of this. The Greeks (apart from the Olympic Games) seem to have had no such worries about their womenfolk seeing men compete naked.

4^ An = Anacharisis; So = Solon.

5^ The four great stephanitic/crown games, so called because the winners did not win money, but were awarded crowns. Some of the crowns’ materials changed over time, though that at Olympia was always olive.

6^ The Panathenaea was an annual festival in Athens; every four years there was an especially elaborate festival which had international appeal. The prizes were amphorae of olive oil – which held considerable monetary value both because of the oil and the quality of the vases (the Athenians did a thriving trade in ‘fake’ Panatheniac vases, such was the appeal of the design).

7^ This was a common complaint about athletics by some Greeks as well – that it did not train people for war and fighting to protect their cities.

8^ The Panathenaea also had a male beauty competition as one of its events.

9^ This was a form of taxation in Athens: rich citizens had to provide choruses and pay for putting on plays out of their own incomes.

10^ Hermes was the Greek god most associated with gymnasia. Games were often held in his honour.

11^ Palaestra is interchangeable with gymnasium.

12^ This was a common building material in Rome.

13^ Many events had a boy’s class, even though assessing ages might be an issue in a world without birth certificates. However, you did have situations where a 15 year old might be asked to wrestle with a 25 year old.

14^ These are Greek letters of the alphabet.

15^ A blade fitted to the end of the plough to turn up earth.

16^ A large island in the North East of Greece.

17^ This type of statue is now called a Kouros. Here is a good example of the type of status Pausanias is describing.

18^ Victors at Olympia were given a crown of olive.

19^ The sacred precinct of Olympia – see figure 1 for map.

20^ The zanes: their bases are still visible, although the statues have vanished.

21^ This exclusion of married women from watching events is very unusual; other athletic events had no such restrictions. And given the reputation for the Olympics for rowdiness, it probably was not a suitable place for children of either gender. We know that many parents would not let their sons compete there because of anxieties about this.

22^ For information on Philostratus see this page at Livius

23^ You should learn the Greek term for this as the Greek long jump is not at all like the modern one.

24^ They won the four horse chariot race in 480 BCE and the horse race in 472.

25^ He had plenty of those, given that the Athenians wanted at one point to try him for sacrilege and he eventually betrayed the city by going over to their deadly enemies, the Spartans.

26^ Thucydides was an Athenian historian; Euripides wrote tragedies.

27^ You should not assume from this that Alcibiades would risk driving one of these chariots himself; like most competitors he hired professionals, which all the glory went to him.

28^ Agamemnon was in charge of the Greek army that sailed to Troy; on his return his was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra.

29^ The Greeks had established colonies in North Africa, as well as Italy, Southern Gaul and a number of other cities.

30^ He also wrote a (now lost) work on training horses.

31^ In other words his competitors withdrew rather than fight him.

32^ Croton was a wealthy Greek town in Southern Italy.

33^ This was one of the foundations of Nemea.

34^ These were a special select force in the Persian army.

35^ In the 6^th century BCE the Athenian politician Solon gave Athenians 500 drachmas if they won the Olympics; 100 if they won the Isthmian Games.

36^ There was a myth that Hercules conquered Elis – which was defended by the god Hades, who got wounded in the battle.

37^ I would give a great deal to know what actually happened that caused them to only run this event once.

38^ The competition was far less fierce for the boys’ events than for the adults, hence it would be a huge advantage to be classed as a boy rather than a man; the same went for foals.

39^ Not the famous Alexander the Great, but Alexander I, king of Macedon from c.492-450 BCE.

40^ In some city states (Athens in particular) Greek women spent most of their time indoors, and weaving was their main activity. The Spartans, however, had enslaved the surrounding populations so thus did not need to do domestic or agricultural labour.

41^ The Greek word that I translate as sponsor can also refer to the person in charge of the games as well.

42^ Apollo killed a giant serpent called Pytho to get control of the Delphic Oracle.

43^ The great statue of Zeus at Olympia was sculpted by Phidias (you can still see the remains of his workshop): it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

44^ A mule car race: it was eventually dropped because it was felt to be undignified. The boys pentathlon only lasted for one Olympics before it was dropped.

45^ The people in charge of the Pythian games

46^ Daphne, who was a daughter or a river god and who did not wish to marry; she turned into a laurel tree while fleeing from Apollo.

47^ A Roman senator