eBook - PDF

Arete

Name: Arete
ISBN: 9780520953949

Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

Stephen G. Miller,

256 pages
English
PDF
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - PDF

Arete

Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

Stephen G. Miller,

About this book

From the informal games of Homer's time to the highly organized contests of the Roman world, Miller has compiled a 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. This bestselling volume on the culture of Greek athletics is updated with a new preface by leading scholar Paul Christesen that discusses the book's continued importance for students of ancient athletics.

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Yes, you can access Arete by Stephen G. Miller in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

University of California Press

Year

2012

Print ISBN

9780520274334

eBook ISBN

9780520953949

Edition

Topic

History

Subtopic

Ancient History

Index

History

I

The

Earliest 

Days 

of

Greek 

Athletics

1

In

the

two

passages 

from 

Homer 

which 

are

presented 

here 

a

picture

emerges 

of

what 

we

may

call 

Homeric 

athletics.

The

question 

is,

however,

whether 

that 

picture 

is

one

of

his

own

day

or

a

valid,

if

somewhat 

blurred,

reflection 

of

the

athletic 

practices 

of

the

Mycenaean 

era.

Comparison 

with

archaeological 

discoveries 

from 

that 

era

finds 

relatively 

little 

in

common

with 

the

Homeric 

picture,

while 

comparison 

with 

the

development 

of

the

Olympic 

program 

(Appendix) 

suggests 

that 

the

Homeric 

picture 

would

have 

been 

valid 

only 

as

of

the

early 

7th

century 

b.c.

If

so,

the

informality 

of

the

Homeric 

games 

might 

have 

been 

the

case 

as

well 

for

the

early 

days 

of

the

Olympics.

1

Homer,

Iliad

23.256–24.6

ca.

750

b.c.

Patroklos,

the

childhood 

and

lifelong 

friend 

of

Achilles,

has

fought 

in

Achilles’ 

place 

and

been 

killed 

by

Hektor 

outside 

the

walls 

of

Troy.

The

corpse 

of

Patroklos 

has

been 

cremated 

and

the

crowd 

at

the

funeral 

begins

to

disperse:

But

Achilles 

held 

the

people 

there 

and

sat

them 

in

a

broad 

assembly,

and

brought 

prizes 

for

games 

out

of

his

ships,

cauldrons 

and

tripods 

and

horses

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Foreword
Introduction
I. The Earliest Days of Greek Athletics: 1–2
II. Nudity and Equipment: 3–19
III. The Events at a Competition
IV. Organization of a Panhellenic Festival
V. Local Festivals
VI. The Role of the Games in Society: 128–148
VII. Women in Athletics: 149–162
VIII. Athletes and Heroes: 163–175
IX. Ball playing: 176–178
X. Gymnasion, Athletics, and Education: 179–189
XI. The Spread of Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period: 190–199
XII. Greek Athletics in the Roman Period: 200–204
XIII. Amateurism and Professionalism: 205–223
XIV. Nationalism and Internationalism: 224–231
XV. Beauty and Reality: 248–256
Appendix: The Olympian and Pythian Programs
Select Bibliography
Index and Glossary
Sources for the Chapter-Opening Sketches

About this book

Frequently asked questions

Information

Table of contents