Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

Stephen G. Miller

University of California Press, Jun 7, 2004 - History - 248 pages

From the informal games of Homer's time to the highly organized contests of the Roman world, Miller has compileda trove of ancient sources: Plutarch on boxing, Aristotle on the pentathlon, Philostratos on the buying and selling of victories, Vitruvius on literary competitions, and Xenophon on female body building. Arete offers readers an absorbing lesson in the culture of Greek athletics from the greatest of teachers, the ancients themselves, and demonstrates that the concepts of virtue, skill, pride, valor, and nobility embedded in the word arete are only part of the story from antiquity.

Contents

• The Earliest Days of Greek Athletics: 1
• Nudity and Equipment: 16
• The Events at a Competition: 23
• WRESTLING: 27
• BOXING see also no 35: 32
• PANKRATION see also nos 22 23 29: 37
• PENTATHLON: 39
• EQUESTRIAN: 50
• HERALD AND TRUMPETER: 57
• MUSIC: 58
• POETRY AND PROSE COMPOSITION: 59
• ACTING: 61
• Organization of a Panhellenic Festival: 63
• PREPARATIONS OF THE ATHLETES: 65
• THE TRUCE: 67
• PRELIMINARIES REGISTRATION AND CERTIFICATION: 69
• SCHEDULE HEATS AND PAIRINGS: 70
• PROHIBITIONS AND PENALTIES: 73
• OFFICIALS: 75
• REWARDS FOR VICTORY: 76
• Local Festivals: 81
• THE ELEUTHERIA OF LARISSA IN THESSALY: 86
• THE BOMONIKAI OF SPARTA: 88
• The Role of the Games in Society: 89
• Women in Athletics: 105
• Athletes and Heroes: 111
• Ball Playing: 120
• Gymnasion Athletics and Education: 126
• The Spread of Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period: 153
• Greek Athletics in the Roman Period: 160
• Amateurism and Professionalism: 165
• Nationalism and Internationalism: 181
• RELATIONS BETWEEN THE PANHELLENIC SANCTUARIES: 184
• RELATIONS BETWEEN CITYSTATES AND THE PANHELLENIC SANCTUARIES: 186
• RELATIONS BETWEEN CITYSTATES AT THE PANHELLENIC SANCTUARIES: 190
• Beauty and Reality: 192
• Appendix: 201
• Select Bibliography: 203
• Index and Glossary: 209

About the author

Stephen G. Miller is Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Nemea Excavations. He is the author of The Prytaneion (1978), coauthor of Nemea: A Guide to Site and Museum (1990), and general editor of the forthcoming publications from the Nemea excavations, all published by the University of California Press.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources
• Author: Stephen G. Miller
• Edition: 2
• Publisher: University of California Press, 2004
• ISBN: 0520931033, 9780520931039
• Length: 248 pages
• Subjects: History / Ancient / General