Arete
eBook - PDF

Arete

Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

  1. 257 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Arete

Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

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.

Information

Publisher
University of California Press
Year
2012
Print ISBN
9780520274334
Edition
3
eBook ISBN
9780520953949
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

Table of contents

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

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