Physical culture and sports in ancient Greece. Non-systemic sports in ancient Greece and their alleged source

Tourism and rest 06.09.2018

August 17th, 2010 , 12:15 am

How to discuss antiquity on single artifacts?

A few days ago in a post discussion " Santagloria expressed the opinion that it is impossible to judge the prevalence of the game by a single picture, whether trained athletes or dancers play it ("an atypical plot, rarely found").
That women in Rome probably did not play sports (" why there are practically no images of women playing sports (although there are thousands of men, from mosaics to statues) why all contemporaries describe virtuous matrons and no one ever mentions that they periodically went in for sports?). And, the strongest statement is that the differences between us and the ancient Romans are so great that intuition will not help us, it is better not to rely on it. ("... that is, you are engaged in history, relying not on facts, but on intuition?))) Without hesitation, believing that two thousand years is a short period, and cultural, aesthetic, religious and other differences between us, Russian speakers in The 21st century and the ancient Romans are so insignificant that one intuition is enough to draw conclusions?)

In this example, we include a general definition of aesthetics: to consider objects beyond their usefulness. AT Olympic Games ah not only competed to show mastery and reach a place on the podium, it was also the best scenario for thinkers to move forward to spread their ideas, acquiring this era known as the fertile period. Then "Olympia" turned into a great "fair" where thousands of people came from many neighboring villages. The religious rite was added to sports practice and intellectual discussion, honoring the god Zeus and the god Apollo, developing pagan cult, which was later rejected by the Christians, ruling on their abolition.

There is no particular doubt that it would be better to know more, but:
1. Facts are often not enough. And for Ancient Greece there are fewer of them than for Rome. Well, not to believe in single artifacts?

2. About women's sports in antiquity. It is hard to believe that in a society where the physical culture of the male body was at its best, women did not go in for sports. At least for Greece, the example of Sparta is immediately recalled, where women underwent solid sports training, which they needed to keep the helots in obedience during the campaigns of the Spartan men. And other facts about the participation of ancient Greek women in physical activity requiring preparation were collected, for example, by Brett Mills.
Mills, Brett D. Women of Ancient Greece: Participating in Sport?
As for Rome, let's remember at least about women gladiators. This is a species that requires outstanding physical qualities and training. These are not some virtuous matrons, of course. Lesser Roman women could also play sports, and this reduced their chance of getting on the mosaics.

The very moral values ​​that characterized these famous Olympic Games decayed after Greece became a Roman province, and eventually turned the games into a show of circus performances, gambling and corruption as a result. Finally, in the year 394 of the Christian era, Theodosius the Great forbids games. The question is, can we say today that we are the heirs of some of the negative aspects of this Roman culture? Is social and economic re-evaluation and sporting success an end in itself?

The answers may generate intense and interesting debates, but outside of the debate, we cannot ignore that sport has become a social fact of great importance, thanks to its dissemination through the media, with millions of followers and fanatics around the world. This striking fact in our country was even a source of inspiration for the theme of the year of the Methodist Colleges of Education.

3. I mainly rely not on intuition, but rather on the observation that there are certain connections between the level of technology, society, society, including sports. I see in the Greeks and Romans a serious rational basis, manifested in their technology, philosophy, and organization of society. A rational approach frees from prejudice. And I believe that the ancient woman was already emancipated enough for sports.

And what is the connection between the Olympic Games and education? Well, if we do a search in history, we will find a lot of similarities, in fact, we will see that there is a very close relationship between sports, in general, with education. One of the original reasons for the existence of the Olympics already has a distinct identity with the principles of education, which is a celebration among nations. Unsurprisingly, this year's college theme is "fraternization for life."

So let's find out a little more. The games were held in the city of Olympia, where citizens of other cities participated to participate in competitions. In addition to religiosity, the Greeks looked to the Olympic Games for peace and harmony between the cities that made up Greek civilization. For them, sport was important in promoting integration and maintaining health.

Let's try again to talk about ancient sports in an area where artifacts are almost always single.
These are sports that were non-systemic, were not included in the Olympics program, but they existed in society.

The range of sports and competitions in Ancient Greece was always wider than the program of the Olympic Games.

Suffice it to recall that the games themselves developed from a single stadia race (192.27 m) to a program that required 5 days (6-4 centuries BC) - by expanding the program, adding many sports and their varieties.

However, after the end of Hellas, the Olympics faded into oblivion for centuries, and sporting events were developed individually in civilizations, without the same expression of those that took place in Olympia. The teacher restores the Olympics in modern times. Another relationship of the Olympic Games to education is a salvation in itself in the modern age.

Baron de Coubertin believed that the practice of sports should be encouraged in modern society, especially among young people. Moreover, he was interested that there was an international sports organization that would help promote "peace among peoples" since at that time the world was filled with rivalries between imperialist powers that affected all sections of society.

So, at the 14th Olympic Games (724 BC), the program included diaulos - a run for the 2nd stage, and 4 years later - a dolichodrome (run for endurance), the distance of which ranged from 7 to 24 stages; on the 18th (708 BC) wrestling and pentathlon (pentathlon) competitions were held for the first time, which included, in addition to wrestling and the stadium, jumping, as well as javelin and discus throwing; on the 23rd (688 BC) fisticuffs were included in the competition program, on the 25th games (680 BC) chariot races were added (drawn by four adult horses, over time this type of program expanded 5-4 centuries BC, chariot races began to be held, harnessed by a pair of adult horses, young horses or mules); at the 33rd Olympic Games (648 BC), horse racing appeared in the program of the Games (in the middle of the 3rd century BC horse racing began to be held) and pankration, a martial art that combined elements wrestling and fisticuffs with minimal restrictions on "forbidden tricks". Varieties were also introduced in running disciplines: running in full armor (i.e. in a helmet, with a shield and weapons), running of heralds and trumpeters, alternating running and chariot racing.

The place chosen was Athens, the capital of Greece, because Coubertin wanted to return the Games to his native country, and for this he also saved the symbols and traditions of the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece, such as lighting Olympic flame, to be present in current releases.

The Baron de Coubertin himself, created also by the very symbol of the Olympics, refers to the celebration of the nations. The famous "Olympic Rings" represent the five continents and their colors, with a blue ring corresponding to Europe, black to Africa, a red ring to the Americas, yellow to Asia, and green to Oceania. The intertwined form between the rings symbolizes the friendly and peaceful union of peoples. It sums up exactly the Olympic spirit of union and interaction between peoples and ethics in sport.

From the 37th Games (632 BC), young men under the age of 20 began to participate in competitions. At first, competitions in this age category included only running and wrestling, over time, pentathlon, fisticuffs and pankration were added to them. In addition to athletic competitions, an art competition was also held at the Olympic Games, which has become an official part of the program since the 84th Games (444 BC).

Coubertin's choice of ring colors was determined by the frequency in which they appear in flags. different peoples peace. At least one of the other colors is present on every flag. Thus, in addition to symbolizing the union of the five continents, it unites all the countries that give universal meaning to the Olympic Games.

On the contrary, not only at the Olympics - this is a sport, this is the current, and half way of life of many people and entities. Sport, in fact, is a great ally of education. If we do not consider the competitive role, but with the development of sports practice, we see that Sport is an agent in the pursuit of social, moral, ethical and integration principles, in addition to physical development and health promotion. For such reasons, it is present in schools either for physical education or even through the application various methods and formation of school sports teams.

http://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/istoriya/OLIMPISKIE_IGRI_DREVNE_GRETSII.html

So there was always a circle physical activities and exercises, which replenished the program of games and existed in parallel with them. There were competitions that never made it to the Olympics, but were popular in some circles and places. Information about such competitions is scattered and random, but there are.
Let's list some.

A child involved in sports tends to work in a team and understands the importance of a neighbor in social life, stimulating, in addition to group life, respect for friends, family and teachers. In addition, she knows the limits and also learns to overcome difficulties. Sport has the ability to integrate children and young people into society, transform their lives and reduce prejudices and stereotypes.

Therefore, sports practice is a promoter of quality of life, social transformation and citizenship building. For these purposes, Sport is present in Methodist education, from physical education classes, after-school seminars in the field of sports, to teams formed to participate in tournaments.

Weight lifting competitions.
There are images of this sport on vases. Or weight training.

Lifting weights - drawing on a vase 5 c. BC. IMAGE: The Art Archive/Corbis

Lifting weights - vase circa 450 BC Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

A wooden handle was sometimes inserted into such stones. Like the stone below

Soon we will bring new materials with information about social and educational relations with sports, as well as curiosity about the Olympic Games. Stay with us on the site and in in social networks your college. The term "Olympics" in the plural refers to a collection of events, more than one Olympiad, or when reference is made to events as a whole. To deal with a specific Olympiad in the text, and if the plural is needed, the term "Olympic Games" can be used.

When the Greeks held sports festivals in honor of Zeus. The names of the winners began to be registered. In the same year, Ifithos entered into an alliance with Likur and Kloten in the temple of Hera, in the sanctuary of Olympia - which gave rise to the term Olympiad. Thanks to this treaty, a “holy truce” was held throughout Olympia during the Olympic Games. The prize for victory would be a palm leaf and a crown of olive tree branches at the altar of Zeus.

This stone weighing 316 pounds (143.4 kg) is carved with the inscription "Bibon son of Fola, raised me above his head with one hand" Archaeological Museum of Olympia. By the appearance of the inscription, it was identified as the beginning of the 6th century BC. Experts have speculated about the possibility of lifting such a stone, and the idea has been proposed that the stone was lifted over the shoulder with two hands and over the head with one. If this is a fact, then Bibon was a strong man, trained at the level of the best modern athletes.

On the island of Thera, another stone was found, weighing 480 kg, with the inscription: "Eumast, the son of Critobol, tore me off the ground." Is this a joke? Did the Greeks joke like that? Or an amazing but real fact?
There are several more antique stones that were used for throwing, weighing 40-60 kg each.

Jumping into the water from the tower.

High jumper.c.480 BC Ceiling fresco in a Greek tomb in Paestum, Italy. Height 102 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Paestum

After the first Olympiad, it was decided that the Games would be held every four years in July or August. Gradually, the number of competitions increased to reach ten events in the fifth century BC: racing, pentathlon, discus throwing, long jump, dart throwing, wrestling, boxing, panning, wheel racing and horse running, all played in five days.

All Greeks who were free citizens and who had never committed murder or other crimes could compete. Women's participation was limited to horse racing, and only horse owners could participate. Decadence of the Olympic Games Ancient Era began in 456. When the Romans invaded and dominated Greece. The original spirit of integration was gradually discarded, and disputes, once cordial, came to be seen as fighting.

Although the proof of the development of this sport is single, it is difficult to refuse the presence of such a sport, since the Greeks were excellent swimmers, this is known.

Ball games.
There were many of them, and there were team games. Among these games you can find similarities with rugby, football, volleyball, handball, even baseball and field hockey. It is surprising that none of them made it to the program of the ancient Olympics. The Olympics were fundamentally connected with individual species sports.

The last Olympiad of the Ancient Era was contested in 393 AD. When Emperor Theodosius forbade the worship of the gods and canceled the Games. P. 293 The Olympic Games were held in antiquity. Since then, the Games have been held every four years. You are adrenaline junkies who love adventure and discovery, you will live a unique adventure in Greece. The extreme sports that you will find will offer you moments when the adrenaline is in full swing. Gorgeous mountain areas connect with each other off-road through all degrees of difficulty that take you to another Greece: isolated villages and dense forests, gorges and peaks under clouds, lakes and rivers have no share in ecological wealth.

Something like football. National Museum of Archeology in Athens

Something like volleyball, judging by the way the ball is kicked.

Roman fresco, 1st c. with volleyball players.

An athlete with a ball on a mosaic from Ostia, another "volleyball player". It is interesting that the antique ball is sewn from hexagons (leather?), like its modern counterparts.

Ball dance? The prototype of an element of rhythmic gymnastics?

Extreme sports, adrenaline and Greece? A unique combination of activity and beauty that offers an unforgettable experience. Your adventure in Greece has just begun! Greece's road network may have fallen significantly from the previous century, but it still retains the term "grand". The veins in the land that cross the green or cleared mountains lead to places in the country that have yet to be discovered. Discover traditional sites, secular stone bridges, architectural monuments, medieval fortresses and ruined buildings that will enliven the visitor and make the pleasure of endless off-road discovery.


A game like handball or, in other words, cricket. It's a game ephedrasmos, but its rules are unknown. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Something like baseball? Drawing on a phase sherd from Corinth. Although the analogy may be wrong.

The Greek rugby-type game is a prototype of the Roman Harpastum. But the Roman word is a copy of the Greek.
National Museum of Archeology in Athens

Off-road routes in Greece are more difficult than in South America or Asia, but the adventure experience is also intense. In these regions, you will also be able to taste real and prepared dishes with Greek products, pure and authentic, from the terroir. There are hundreds of off-road routes in Greece. Here are some of them, impressive and unknown to the general public.

Agrafa: An exceptional off-road course along the Agrafotis River in a municipality in Greece with no more than 10 km of paved roads. For the entire road network of Agraf, you will need a car with a high seat, adapted tires and a brave and talented driver. The high altitude parts of the ride, the view of the landscape and the Libyan Sea are excellent and give you the impression of flying.

Acrobatics.

The Greeks had well-developed acrobatics - walking on stilts, on a rope, exercises on a rope.
This is not quite a sport, rather, a type of performance, but acrobatics directly borders on sports, for women - on rhythmic gymnastics.


Acrobatic women.

Different types of acrobatics on a tightrope

Images of a tightrope walker.

Rally in Greece. Road routes in Greece, painful for cars and drivers, offer adventure and exceptional rally experiences. While Greece may not have a long tradition of motorsports, natural landscapes of incomparable beauty and spectacular gravel and road courses will reward you.

This combination is unique and the challenges faced by motorsport enthusiasts and especially those who enjoy rallying in cars means that participation in all events is wonderful. most famous and significant event, unique to the entire Greek territory, known throughout the world, is the Acropolis Rally.


Juggling.


Short review non-systemic sports allows, it seems to me, to find something in common. Namely, that they are on the border with the Olympic sports and the general tasks of physical training in Ancient Greece - readiness not only for war (where everything is useful), but also for peace, for the creation of a complete personality.
It can be assumed that new sports appeared in the training of athletes and spread into everyday life. That is, systemic and non-systemic sports make up physical culture as a whole. And it is impossible to neglect the evidence of non-systemic sports.

Let's compare this period of active institutionalization of sports in ancient Greece (6-5 centuries BC) with the spread of sports in the 19th century and early 20th century.
It was then that the rules of the competition were thought out, new sports were created, and women took part in sports.
Based on this systemic feature, it can be judged that single artifacts confirm the similarity of antiquity and recent history- in relation to society and its culture.

The spiritual life and evolution of the culture of any society is largely determined not only by the degree of rigidity of society's control over the behavior of the individual (see Chapter I, § 2), but also by the forms that this control takes in a given society. These forms are very diverse, and very importance whether the center of gravity lies on the daily control of the collective over the behavior of its member, when the approval or disapproval of each specific act is of decisive importance, or whether the mechanism for regulating behavior is based on the system of internalized norms introduced in the course of education, adherence to which should, first of all, ensure compliance of human behavior with established standards.1 In Anglo-American literature, the first type of regulation in society of an individual's behavior is often called shame-culture (the offender should feel shame), and the second - guilt-culture (the offender should feel guilty).2 Although clarifying the issue of what kind of social control prevails in a particular society is not always easy, even for modern societies available directly

1 See: Riesman D. [f. a.] The lonely crowd. New Haven, 1950.
2 Benedict R. The Chrysanthemum and the sword: Patterns of Japanese culture. New York, 1946. P. 222 ff.
107

3 our sources provide enough material to speak of the dominance of social control based on imitation and external sanctions, i.e., shame-culture. in early Greek society and, in particular, in the aristocratic environment for which the Homeric poems were written.4
The predominant orientation of the Greek towards approval and condemnation, and not towards the conformity or inconsistency of an act with the internal system of values, has long been noted. Αιδώς - shame and unwillingness to provoke νέμεσιν - disapproval from peers regulate the behavior of the Homeric hero. this provides the hero with the good name he most aspires to.

3 See, for example: Vos G. de. The Japanese adapt to change // The making of psychological anthropology / Ed. by G. D. Spindler. Berkeley, 1978. P. 219-257.
4 Dodds. Greeks. P. 18 f. The reflection of shame-culture is typical of the heroic epic in general (see: Jones G. F. The shame-culture: Ethos of the Song of Roland. Baltimore, 1963).
5 Burckhardt. Op. cit. bd. 2. S. 386; bd. 4. S. 123; Erffa C. E. von. Αιδώς. Leipzig, 1937; Steinkopf G. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Ruhmes bei den Griechen: Diss. Halle, 1937; Greindl M. Kleos, kydos, euchos, time, phatis, doxa: Eine bedeutungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung des epischen und lyrischen Sprachgebrauches. Munich, 1938; Jaeger. Paideia. bd. 1. S. 131-133; Zucker Fr. Syneidesis - Conscientia (1928) / / Zucker Fr. Semantica, Rhetorica, Ethica. Berlin, 1963. S. 96-117.
6 Calhoun G. M. Classes und masses in Homer// CPh. 1934 Vol. 29. P. 192-208; Strasburger H. Der soziologische Aspekt der homerischen Epen// Gymnasium. 1953. Bd. 60. S. 97-114; Jaeger. Paideia. bd. 1. S. 45. - The poet's own point of view, which is close to the mass of agricultural warriors, is noticeable in some places (see: Tolstoy, op. cit.) does not obscure the overall picture.
7 Murray G. The rise of the Greek epic. 3rd ed. Oxford, 1924. P. 83 ff.; Jaeger. Paideia. bd. 1. S. 29; starr. origins. P. 304 f.; Adkins A. W. H. 1) Merit and responsibility: Α study in Greek values.Ch. III. Oxford, 1962; 2) Homeric values ​​and Homeric society//JHS. 1971 Vol. 91. P. 1-14; Long A.A. Morals and values ​​in Homer//JHS. 1970 Vol. 90. P. 121-139.
8 Wed. adjectives αγαθός and έσθλός also adjacent in meaning to αρετή and playing a similar role (see: Jaeger. Paideia. Bd. LS. 28; Gerlach J. Ανήρ αγαθός: Diss. München, 1932; Treu M. Von Homer zur Lyrik. München, 1953. S. 175; Snell B. Poetry and society: The role of poetry in Ancient Greece Bloomington, 1961. P. 13 ff.
9 Jaegers. Paideia. bd. 1. S. 25; Mugler Ch. Valeur et mediocrite dans la perspective de l "Iliade // RPh. 1978. T. 52. P. 254-263.
10 V. Yeager pushes this moment to some extent into the background, emphasizing the primordially objective, existing in addition to external evaluations, nature of αρετή

108

Here are just a few examples. Nestor, realizing that Athena has just visited his house, turns to her with a single request - for good fame for himself, his children and his wife (Od. III, 380 sq.). When Zeus helps the Trojans take over the Achaeans, Agamemnon perceives this as a glorification of the Trojans (Il. XIV, 72-73). Hector dreams that the people of subsequent generations, looking at the tombstone of the enemy he killed, will glorify the winner, and his, Hector's, glory will never perish (Il. VII, 81-91). Nestor promises a successful scout, in addition to material rewards, also glory ascending to heaven among all people (Il. X, 211-217). The Homeric hero can instead of “either I die or kill the enemy” say: “either I will give him, or he will give me the opportunity to boast” (Il. XII, 328; XIII, 326-327).
Achilles prefers a short and glorious life to a long, but inglorious one and goes into battle to take revenge on Hector for the death of Patroclus, although he knows that he himself will soon die after his enemy (Il. XVIII, 95-96; XIX, 421-423) . The epithet "glorious" is a constant epithet of Agamemnon in the Iliad (I, 122, etc.). Even the giant Briareus (or Aigaion) is characterized here as "proud of glory" (I, 405). Alkina in the Odyssey even expresses the idea that the gods arranged the death of Ilion and the death of the heroes who fought in the Trojan War so that future generations would have a άοιδή - a song, that is, in order to have a plot for a heroic song glorifying their exploits .
The above-mentioned studies provide a wealth of material showing that despite all the changes in the historical destinies and mindsets of the ancient Greeks, this positive assessment of fame, the orientation towards gaining it, remains dominant until the end of the ancient era.11 This, in particular, was facilitated by the situation in the policy, where a citizen could know if not everyone, then in any case, any at least somewhat noticeable member of the civil community or a resident of the city who did not have the rights of citizenship.
The Spartan kings before the battle made sacrifices to the Muses so that the warriors performed glorious feats in the battle () Apoph. Lac.

(Jaeger. Paideia. Bd. 1. S. 26; see, however, the reservations at S. 31). Compare: Hoffmann M. Die ethische Terminologie bei Homer, Hesiod und den alten Elegikern und Jambographen. Tubingen. 1914. S. 92. In this regard, the question of the alleged etymological connection between αρετή and αρέσκω "I like" is essential.
11 Compare: Dio Chrys. XXXI, 20.
109

238 C). Solon wishes himself happiness from the gods, and among people - to have a good reputation (fr. 1, 3, 4 G.-P.). 12 We find a similar wish in similar expressions in the inscription of the 6th century. BC e. from Metapontum (IG XIV, 652).
Pindar asserts that the song that glorifies the winner gives full value to the victory in the competition (Ol. X, 1 sqq.; Nem. VII, 20). Thucydides, through the mouth of the Athenian ambassadors in Sparta, puts forward ambition in the first place before fear and the desire for benefit when listing the motives that guide human activity (I, 76, 2). In Lucian, relying on a tradition dating back to the classical era, Solon declares "the love of good fame" as the highest good (Anach. 36). The so-called "Anonymous Iamblichus" is an excerpt from a sophistic work of the 5th century. BC e. - not only considers the desire for fame or good reputation to be legitimate in general, but also believes that it is one of the incentives for the desire for wealth (90.4.2 DK), thus placing fame above wealth in the hierarchy of values.
Plato thought that it was the desire for immortal glory that could make people sacrifice themselves (Symp. 208 with sqq.). Aristotle approves of the desire for honor that a person seeks in this way to be convinced of his virtue (EN 1095 b 26 sqq.), although at the same time he notes that "the mass of people thirsts for profit, not honor" (Pol. 1318 a 26 ).
Isocrates says that high praise from worthy people is the best evidence of the high qualities of the person we are interested in (Hel. 22). Aristotle includes the technique of praising a person with references to the high opinion of authorities about him in his Rhetoric (1399 a 1 sqq.). He calls praise and blame the most important regulators of people's behavior in public life (EN 1109 b 30 sqq.). Aristotle gives the highest praise to a man whom he characterizes as μεγαλόψυχος (approximately "majestic in spirit", 13 EN 1123 b -1125 a; cf.: EE 1232 a 19 - 1233 b 31). 14 At the same time, elsewhere (An. Post. 97 b 15) as an example of this quality, Aristotle cites Achilles and Ajax - typical carriers of epic prowess. Later Horace

12 Compare: Alt K. Solons Gebet zu den Musen // Hermes. 1979. Bd. 107. S. 389-406.
13 H. V. Braginskaya successfully translates this word as “majestic” (Aristotle. Cit.: In 4 vols. T. 4. M, 1983. S. 130-134).
14 Jaeger W. 1) Der Großgesinnte // Antike. 1931. Bd. 7. S. 97ff; 2) Paidia. bd. L.S. 34 f.
110

connects the achievement of the Greeks in poetry with the fact that they "aspired to nothing but glory" (Ars p. 324: praeter laudem nullius avaris).15
In a number of cases, the desire to win honors and fame prompted actions that were dubious from the point of view of the prevailing ideas. So, there is a tradition that the Syracusan tyrant Hieron founded, forcibly resettling people, new town Etna in the place of Catana in order to be revered there as a founding hero (Diod. XI, 49). 16 It was said about Empedocles that he, wanting to assure others that he was taken by the gods to heaven, committed suicide by secretly jumping into the mouth of Etna (D. L. VIII, 67-75). 2nd century adventurer n. e. Peregrine; as Lucian tells, all his life he strove to make people talk about himself by any means and, finally, solemnly burned himself, wanting to become like Hercules who ascended the fire (De morte Peregrini).
Often they tried to gain fame by obviously reprehensible acts or by attributing them to themselves. So, Archilochus in fragments 34, 72 Diehl, in the Cologne papyrus17 (if it belongs to him) goes beyond the assertion of the rights of individuality and, piling up obscenities, gives his work a deliberately scandalous character. About Alcibiades, Plutarch reports that he mutilated an expensive and beautiful dog, cutting off its tail, so that the Athenians would talk about this particular act of his (Alc. 9). The act of Herostratus is well known, who, as he confessed, subjected to torture, set fire to the temple of Artemis in Ephesus (Val. Mach. VIII, 14 ext. 5).
Pausanias, who killed Philip of Macedon, was told that he decided on this act under the influence of the sophist Hermocrates: when he asked how he could gain the greatest fame, he received the answer - by killing the one who did the most (Diod. XVI, 94). With similar considerations, Aristotle's nephew Callisthenes allegedly encouraged the bodyguard of Alexander the Great, Hermolaius, to attempt on the king (Plut. Alex. 55). An anecdotal tradition claims that with a similar question, how to gain fame, he turned to the Delphic

15 See also: Wolf J. Η. Der Wille zum Ruhm // Μελήματα: Festschrift für Werner Leibbrand zum 70. Geburtstag. Mannheim, 1967, pp. 233-247.
16 Cp.: Kirsten E. Ein politisches Programm in Pindars erstem pythischen Gedicht //RhM 1941. Bd. 90. S. 58-71.
17 Merkelbach R., West M. Ein Archilochos-Papyrus//ZPE. 1974. Bd. 14. S. 197-212.
111

Oracle of Diogenes of Sinop. Having received a vague answer, he interpreted it as a recommendation to take up counterfeiting coins, and followed this advice (D. L. VI, 20-21). In Athenaeus (X, 6; XIII, 5 - from a comedy) and Elian (VH I, 27; II, 41) we find lists of people famous for their obesity or thinness, short stature, gluttony, drunkenness, stupidity, etc.
natural reverse side attention to one's own reputation and striving for glory is the tendency, characteristic of the Greeks of all eras, to publicly vilify enemies and rivals, which is clearly manifested already in Homer's poems (see verses 149 et seq. in the first book of the Iliad).
Very characteristic is the appearance already at a very early stage in the history of Greek literature of a special genre, the main content of which was ridicule and scolding - iambic poetry. The denigration of the enemy (διαβολή) was part of the set of techniques of Greek rhetoric.
The Greeks (like the Romans) did not consider it inadmissible to openly demonstrate their merits or any other advantages (up to beauty), speak about them publicly,18 and did not hesitate to ridicule the defeated or unsuccessful (see already: Il. XVI, 744 -754; XII, 373-382). We find self-glorification among a number of Greek poets, including those who wrote by order of Simonides and Pindar, which indicates that such statements did not meet with serious disapproval.
The painter Parrhasius dressed in purple and gold and glorified himself in verse as the first Greek artist who reached the limits of perfection in art, as the offspring of Apollo. He provided his self-portrait with the inscription "God Hermes" (Athen. XII, 62). Mandrocles, who built a bridge across the Bosporus for Darius's army, himself glorified his achievement by dedicating a painting depicting the crossing and with an inscription praising it to the temple of Hera on Samos (Hdt. IV. 88). Even a skilled carpet maker could, having dedicated a carpet to Delphi, claim that Athena herself helped him in his work (Athen. II, 30). A rather plausible story, probably dating back to Alcidamantes, is that Anaxagoras asked that holidays be arranged for the children every year in his month.

18 Already in Homer, Odysseus boasts of his skill in throwing a spear and says that of the people living today, he is the best archer, except for Philoctetes (Od. VIII, 214-229). He also declares that his glory reaches heaven (IX, 19-20).
112

death (D. L. II, 14).19 The desire to perpetuate the memory of oneself in this case obviously.
Sensitivity to censure, to ridicule, which is the reverse side of the desire for approval, is also very characteristic of the ancient Greeks. She is very well characterized by the madness of Ajax, offended by the decision to award the armor of Achilles to Odysseus, in the Iliad Minor (cf. already Od. IX, 543-565) and in subsequent literary tradition, including Sophocles.
Regardless of its historicity, the tradition that the taunts of Archilochus drove the daughters of Lycambus to suicide (Anth. Gr. VII, 351, 352; Schol. Hephaest, pp. 281, 8 Consbruch), and the iambs of Hipponactus forced the sculptors to commit suicide is extremely revealing. Bupala and Athenis (Suid. s. v. Ίππώναξ; Plin. ΗΝ XXXVI, 11, 12). Polyagros hanged himself, unable to withstand the ridicule in the comedy (Ael. VH V, 8). In Euripides, Medea repeatedly motivates his monstrous act by the desire not to allow himself to be laughed at with impunity (Med. 797, 1049, 1355, 1362). Pythagoras is reported to have ceased to suggest to his disciples except in private, after one of them, whom he had reprimanded in the presence of others, hanged himself (Plut. Quom. adul. 32 = Mor. 70 F).
Plato puts into the mouth of Socrates the statement that many sought to be surrounded by Socrates in order to enjoy watching how he confounds people who imagine themselves wise (Ar. 33 s), and Diogenes Laertes, referring to Demetrius of Byzantium, reports, that Socrates' interlocutors, defeated in disputes, not only insulted him, but even beat him and pulled his hair (D. L. II, 21).
In Plutarch we find two generalizing judgments which seem to characterize well the forms of societal control over the behavior of the individual that was manifested in this way. In the biography of Timoleon, he says that people in general endure insults harder than harm (Tim. 32). In The Feast of the Seven Wise Men, he attributes to Cleobulus the assertion

19 See: Rozhansky ID Anaxagoras: At the origins of ancient science. M., 1972. S. 230 et seq. - ID Rozhansky in vain categorically rejects the possibility that this practice was preserved in the era of the Empire. In Klazomeni, in any case, they minted coins with the image of Anaxagoras even in the time of the emperor Commodus (Guthrie. History. Vol. 2. R. 269. N. 1).
113

Prophecy: "The people behave most prudently where the citizens fear reproach more than the law" (Conv. sept. sap. II = Mor. 154 E).
The evidence cited could easily be multiplied, but even without this it is clear that in ancient Greece, including in the archaic and classical eras that interest us primarily, the assessment of the collective to which a person belonged (both narrower and wider) was the most important regulator of the individual's behavior in all its concrete manifestations, and by no means only in terms of developing general life principles.
On the other hand, ancient Greek society belonged, at least from the Homeric to the classical era, to the category of so-called competitive societies, in which the individual's attitude to surpass those around him in achieving his life goals was important.20
We have already said above that the behavior of the Homeric hero is determined by the idea of ​​valor (αρετή) that prevails in his social stratum. Now we must note an important additional detail: the striving for αρετή IS distinctly competitive in nature, and the position of a person in Homeric society was determined not simply by the correspondence of his behavior to ideas about αρετή, but was systematically evaluated in comparison with similar efforts and achievements of those who are comparable to him in social terms. regulation.21
Sending his sons to Troy, Peleus gives Achilles, and Hippoloch Glaucus an order: “always excel and surpass others” (Il. XI, 784; VI, 208), and first of all, here, of course, it means

20 Differences in the degree of competitiveness are especially pronounced in pre-literate cultures (see the collection: Cooperation and competition among primitive peoples / Ed. by M. Mead. New York, 1937). Of course, even societies with a pronounced competetive attitude can differ sharply in the field of activity in which competitiveness is manifested most clearly. So, among the peoples of the Ancient East, M. A. Dandamaev characterizes the Babylonians of the 7th-4th centuries. BC e. as expressed by a competent society with a predominant focus on enrichment (speech at a meeting in the sector of the Ancient East of the Leningrad Institute of Oriental Studies). On the competence of the ancient Greeks, see: Lämmli. Or. cit. S. 137.
21 See, for example: Adkins A. W. H. 1) Merit and responsibility; 2) "Honour" and "punishment" in the Homeric poems// BISC. 1960. No. 7. P. 23ff; 3) Homeric values; long. Op. cit.; Riedinger J.-C. Remarquessur laτιμή chezHomere //REG. 1976.T. 89. P. 244-264.

114

valor in battles.22 In the Homeric hymn to Aphrodite (IV, 103), Anchises asks the goddess first of all for glory, and not just loud glory, but preferably in comparison with other Trojans. The myths that have come down to us in later sources depict people of the heroic age in a similar way. So, it was said about Hercules that at the first capture of Troy, envying the prowess of Telamon, who was the first to enter the city through a gap in the wall, he rushed at him with a sword and stopped only when he heard from Telamon that he was building an altar in his honor, Hercules. (II, 6, 4). Odysseus speaks as something natural and of competition in agricultural work (Od. XVIII, 366 sqq.). The peasant poet Hesiod considers the two Eris - enmity and the spirit of competition - as the main driving forces of human life in society (Or. 11-26; 311 sqq.).23
The environment of competition in different areas life is characteristic of the archaic era.24 If the forms of economic competition that arose in modern times and are specific to capitalism, based on the systematic reduction of production costs and selling prices, are not typical of ancient Greece, economic rivalry in its various manifestations is well attested already for the archaic era.25 we have information about competitions in carding wool.26 Attic inscriptions testify to more or less ordered competitions of Athenian artisans in professional skills (IG II-III2, 6320; 7268 = Gr. Versinschr. 540).27 In the Attic

22 This verse from the Iliad will be cited in Greek literature as an expression of the highest principle of life down to the Byzantine era. The fact that it is repeated twice in the Iliad also emphasizes its importance, whether or not Il. XI, 784 and Il. VI, 208 to the same poet, or the author of Il. XI, 784 thought it appropriate to repeat the formula of the author Il. VI. 208, as suggested by W. Jaeger (Jaeger. Paideia. Bd. 1. S. 29 ff.). Cf.: Snell. Gesammelte Schriften. S. 40. Anm.
23 Compare: Starr. origins. P. 352 f.; Havelock E. A. Thoughtful Hesiod //YCS. 1966 Vol. 20. P. 61-72.
24 Jürss Fr. Von Thaies zu Democrit. Leipzig. 1977. S. 42-44.
23 See, for example: Mazzarino S. Fra Oriente e Occidente: Ricerche di storia greca arcaica. firenze. 1947. P. 213-214: Heichelheim F. M. An ancient economic history. Vol. 1. Leiden, 1958. P. 279.
26 See: Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 3; M i Ine M. .1. Α prize for wool-vvorking // AJA. 1945 Vol. 49. P. 528-533; Jeffery L. H. Local Scripts of Archaic Greece. Oxford, 1961. P. 283.
27 See: Zimmermann H.-D. Zur Beurteilung der freien Arbeit im klassischen Griechenland // Humanismus und Menschenbild im Orient und in der Antike. Halle, 1977. S. 39-51

115

inscriptions of the third quarter of the 5th c. BC e. the late Manes, who in the inscription itself is characterized as a Phrygian, declares himself that he has not seen a better woodcutter than he (IG P, 1084).
The competitive principle was already permeated in Ancient Greece in primary education, which was in the hands of teachers of literacy (grammatists), music and gymnastics. on the important institution of Lycurgus (Res. Lac. IV, 2-6).
At the heart of the internal political struggle in any state and at the heart of external conflicts between states there are always real interests of individuals, social groups and states. However, on this basis, naturally, there arises everywhere the desire not only to get more for oneself or for one's own social group, but also to get more than others who are considered as rivals receive or have. This moment of rivalry can acquire a relatively independent meaning in the psychology of those fighting, and this is precisely the picture we observe in ancient Greece.
Concerning the release of this competitive spirit from the real basis of conflicting interests, there are different opinions. H. Schaefer went further than others in search of a purely competitive, agonal element in Greek politics.29 V. Ehrenberg,30 and other researchers also objected to him. The decision here is incredibly difficult. No sane person would deny that Pindar was motivated to create his epinicia not only by the desire for a fee, but also by a thirst for fame and an inner desire for creativity. But even for the relatively better documented era of the Peloponnesian War after the death of Pericles, we are completely unable to decide

(see: S. 45). Competitions in "industriousness" - φιλοπονία (SIG3 1061, 5, 18) are also epigraphically attested. Wed also the funerary inscription IG2 I, 1084.
28 Ziebarth E. Aus dem griechischen Schulwesen. 2. Aufl. Leipzig; Berlin, 1914, pp. 18-19, 59, 138 ff.; Jones A. Η. M. The Greek city from Alexander to Justinian. Oxford, 1940. P. 352. N. 25; Nilsson M. P. Die hellenistische Schule. Munich, 1955. S. 48; Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 15.
29 Schaefer H. Staatsform und Politik: Untersuchungen zur griechischen Geschichte des 6. und 5. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, 1932.
30 Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 69-96 (see especially: S. 82). Cf.: Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 6ff.

116

which of the Athenian politicians was motivated by ambition and competitive spirit,31 who was most eager for profit, and who believed that he was fulfilling his duty, defending the interests of Athens as a whole or a social group close to him, not to mention the possible combination of heterogeneous motives. However, the question of the role of the competitive principle in political life is not directly related to the problem of cultural upheaval, and we will confine ourselves to citing just one fact illustrating our idea that in the political life of Greece the element of unmotivated rivalry was, perhaps, indeed more noticeable than in most societies that are well known to us. . According to Herodotus (VIII, 123-124), after the victory at Salamis, the Greek military leaders tried to decide by vote which of the Greeks was most worthy of the reward for valor, and each voted in favor of himself.
For us, however, it is more important not that the struggle among the Greeks in vital areas - in war, politics or economics - could also include elements of rivalry as an end in itself, but that the competitive spirit of the Greeks also permeates forms of activity devoid of a utilitarian purpose. or those where this purpose clearly fades into the background.
We have in mind the very features of the life of the Greeks that prompted J. Burckhardt, absolutizing these features, to characterize the Greek of the archaic era as “agonal man.”32 Since we believe that this agonal spirit was of exceptional importance for the cultural upheaval in Greece, we stop briefly on the attitude of subsequent generations of scientists to Burckhardt's idea. Burckhardt himself, although he talked about the spread of the agonal principle to all spheres of life,33 focused on the role of athletic and, to a lesser extent, musical

31 Biographical tradition claims that Pericles himself repeatedly competed in the fight against his main political opponent Thucydides, the son of Melesius, and the Spartan king Archidas showed interest in their competition (Plut. Per. 8).
32 Burckhardt. Op.cit. bd. 4.S. 61ff. - Burckhardt, of course, had predecessors: the formulations that lead us to his system of views are already found in Ernst Curtius: “the whole life of the Greeks, as it appears before us in history, was one big competition” (Curtius E. Altertum und Gegenwart (1856)// Gesammelte Reden und Vorträge. 2. Aufl. Berlin, 1877. S 132 ff.) and Jahn O. Darstellungendes Handwerks und Handelsverkehrs auf Vasenbildern//BSGW. 1867. Bd. 21. H. 5. S. 112 f.).
33 Burckhardt. Op. cit. bd. 4. S. 221ff.

117

agons. About the competitive, agonal beginning, penetrating the whole life of the Greeks, he wrote in a sketch of 1871-1872. Friedrich Nietzsche, making no distinction between rivalry over vital interests and the game-like spirit of pure competition.34
K. Yoel in his history of philosophy repeatedly emphasized the importance of the impulses that agon gave to Greek philosophy and other areas of culture. in the VI-V centuries. BC e.36 In the same aspect, the agonal character of the Greeks was noted by Alfred Weber.37
The role of the agonal principle in various spheres of Greek life was highly rated by Viktor Ehrenberg, who dwelled specifically on this range of issues in 1935.38 Ehrenberg, following Burckhardt,39 emphasized the differences in the degree of manifestation of the agonal spirit between the Homeric and archaic epochs,40 while V Yeager, speaking of the agonal spirit, rather focused on what was common for the Homeric hero and for the Greek of subsequent epochs.41 It seems to us that Yeager is closer to the truth here. In any case, it is puzzling why Ehrenberg attaches importance in this context to the fact that the Homeric heroes did not compete naked.42 In addition, speaking of Homer's attention

34 Nietzsche Fr. Homer als Wettkämpfer //Nietzsche Fr. Werke. bd. 9. Leipzig, 1896, pp. 193-215; cf. Salin E. Jakob Burckhardt und Nietzsche. Basel, 1938. 33 Joel. Op. cit. bd. I. S. 105 ff.
36 Schaefer. Staatsform. S. 175ff. - Schaefer's exaggerations are noted in their reviews of his book by F. Shahermayr (Schachermeyr Fr. Zwei neue Veröffentlichungen zur Geschichte des griechischen Staates// Klio; 1934. Bd. 27. S. 179-186) and Hasebrek (Hase-broek J. / /Gnomon. 1933. Bd. 9. S. 572-578) and also by Gaetano de Sanctis: Sandis G. de. Ehrenberg V. Der griechische und der hellenistische Staat. Leipzig. 1932//RF1C. 1934 Vol. 12. P. 95-98.
37 Weber. 1) Kulturgeschichte. S. 168; 2) Das Tragische und die Geschichte. S. 205.
38 Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 63-96. Wed See also: idem. Das Agonale//Forschungen und Fortschritte. 1936. Bd. 2. S. 256ff. - Ehrenberg returned to this issue more than once: Ehrenberg V. 1) Staat, passim; 2) From Solon to Socrates. 2nd ed. London, 1973. P. 20, 388.
39 Burckhardt. Op. cit. bd. 4. S. 90. - Burckhardt compared the agons of the Homeric era with the competitions of other peoples for the sake of some reward or benefit.
40 Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 65-70.
41 Jaegers. Paideia. bd. 1. S. 29ff.
42 Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 68. Anm. one.

118

and his heroes to the value of the prizes,43 Ehrenberg should not have lost sight of their insignificant value in comparison with the property status of the competing heroes (see below).
The idea of ​​the agonal character of the Greeks was also developed by Helmut Berwe,44 who in 1937, reviewing Ehrenberg's book, reproached him in the spirit of the National Socialist ideology for not seeing in the agonal beginning of the Greeks "die blutgegebenen Kräfte", i.e. L. Englert explained their agonal spirit by the fact that the Greeks belonged to the Nordic race,46 G. Stir wrote about the agonal beginning of the Greeks.47 A. Pope considered the Homeric era already agonal.48
In 1939, J. Huizinga's book "The Playing Man" was published, which showed the fundamental role of the game in human culture, its originality and irreducibility to other forms of human activity. 49 In this work, Huizinga gives a place to the agonal spirit of Greek culture, which he considers as one of the manifestations of the need for the game.
M. Polenz, developing the ideas of Burckhardt, recognizes the most important significance in Greek life for the agonal beginning. Considering it as an organic belonging of the Greek people, he is looking for its manifestations even in the features Greek, as, for example, in the use of the comparative degree of an adjective where we would expect a positive one (see, for example: Od. VII, 159; XIX, 322); in constant comparisons with the help of particles μέν, δέ, etc. In a similar way, he explains the desire of the Greeks to certainly testify to the victory won in the battle by erecting a trophy, and the decision of the enemy

43 Ibid. S. 68.
44 Berve. Griechische Geschichte. S. 145 f., 162, 178, 194.
45 Berve H. // Ph.W. 1937 Jg. 57. No. 23-24. sp. 650-655.
46 Englert L. Die Gymnastik und Agonistik der Griechen als politische Leibeserziehung// Das neue Bild der Antike. bd. 1. Leipzig, 1942, pp. 218-236.
47 Stier H. E. Grundlagen und Sinn der griechischen Geschichte. Stuttgart, 1945. S. 435.
48 Pope A. Die Gymnastik bei Homer und ihregrundlegende Bedeutung für die Gestaltung der späteren Gymnastik: Diss. (Rostock). Rochlitz, 1936.
49 Huizinga J. Homo ludens: Versuche einer Bestimmung des Spielements der Kultur. Amsterdam, 1939. (Russian translation: Huizinga J. Homo ludens. M., 1992). Biologists discover a propensity for play in very many species of vertebrates (see, for example: Dobzhansky Th. Mankind evolving: The evolution of the human species. New Häven; London, 1962. P. 213). Of Huizinga's predecessors, I will name K. Groos (Groos K. 1) Die Spiele der Thiere. Jena, 1896; 2) Die Spiele der Menschen. Jena, 1899).

119

blowing parties in the war between Eretria and Chalkis did not use throwing weapons. The tendency of Greek literature and rhetoric to compare (σύγκρισις) also appears in Polenets, who did not specifically single out the agonal era in the history of Greece, ascending to the agonal beginning.50 .Harder.51
In 1965, G. Berve wrote an essay “On the agonal spirit of the Greeks.”52 Here he went further than his predecessors and, it seems to us, approached the idea substantiated in this work of the fundamental significance of the agonal principle for all aspects of the cultural revolution in Greece. Thus, Berve points to the importance of the competitive principle not only for the sophists, but also for Socrates, for whom the knowledge of truth was a reward in the competition (Kampfpreis: S. 18), and argues that agon gave philosophy and science a dialogue as a “methodological way of knowing » (S. 19). In a recently published work, B. Bilinsky also draws attention to the most important role of the agon in the spiritual culture of ancient Greece.53
However, it must be said that the concept of the agonal spirit of the Greeks also met with very energetic opponents. One of them - Ingomar Weiler - tries to show that the desire for competition is not something specific to the Greeks in comparison with other peoples, and therefore the characterization of the Greeks as an agonal people is inadequate,54 and that statements regarding the Greek agon's setting for victory as such, and not on the benefits and advantages arising from it, does not correspond to the real state of affairs.55 M. Finley, G. Pleket and D. Young insisted

50 Pohlenz. Hellenischer Mensch. S. 423-432.
51 Härder R. Eigenart der Griechen: Einführung in die griechische Kultur. Freiburg im Br., 1962, pp. 142-146.
u Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 1-20.
53 Вilinski B. Agoni ginnici: Componenti artistiche ed intellettuali nell "antica agonistica greca. Wrozlaw, 1979. Compare earlier work: Bilinski B. L" agonistica sportivanella Grecia antica: Aspetti sociali e ispirazioni letterarie. Roma, 1959; See also: C i tt i V. Le matrice classista della dimensione agonale dellacultura greca//Klio. 1981. Bd. 63. S. 289-303.
54 Weiler I. Der Agon im Mythos: Zur Einstellung der Griechen zum Wettkampf. Darmstadt, 1974, pp. 1-15, 245-246, 272-313.
55 Ibid. S. 264-271.

120

they argue that the reliance on quite tangible gains was the motive in Greek sports throughout the ancient era.56 Robert Muth, seeking to free our ideas about the Greeks from romantic illusions, emphasizes negative sides Greek athletics. He disputes the importance traditionally attributed by scholars to the interruption of hostilities established during the Olympic Games, insists on the tolerant attitude of the Greeks towards the cunning and cruelty of the competitors, and on the significance of those material advantages that accrued to the winner.57
As for Wyler's objections to the specific agonal tendencies in the life of the ancient Greeks, they miss the mark. Even Burckhardt, in whose time very little was known about the culture of the pre-literate peoples and states of the Ancient East, noted the presence of various kinds of competitions there.58 V. Ehrenberg, in essence, already anticipated Weiler's objections. We find in him the following formulation: “The agonal principle is in a certain sense a universal quality, but as such, from the point of view of history, it is uninteresting and devoid of significance.”59 But Ehrenberg also notes cases when some peoples develop forms of social life in which “agonistic spirit" begins to play a greater role than is the case in most societies.60 Thus, Ehrenberg refers to Gezemann's work on Montenegrins, which notes relevant features in the life of Montenegro in very recent times,61 and he himself sees similar features in the picture of society that Icelandic people give us saga,62 and in the coming in the XX century. widespread passion for sports.63

56 Finley M. I., Pleket W. The Olympic games: The first thousand years. London, 1976; Young R. The Olympic myth of Greek amateur athletics. Chicago, 1984.
57 Muth R. Olympia-Idee und Wirklichkeit//Sertaphil. Aenip. Vol. 3. Innsbruck, 1979, pp. 161-202. A book written in the same vein: Harris H.A. Greek athletes and athletics. London, 1964.
58 Burckhardt. Op. cit. bd. 4. S. 61 ff.
59 Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 65.
60 This is also recognized by Berve (Berve. Gestaltende Kräfte. S. 1 f., 20), and in relation to athletic agons, Bilinsky also notes (Bilinski V. Antyczni krytyci antycznego sportu // Meander. 1956. T. 11. S. 286 s .)
61 Gesemann G. Der montenegrinische Mensch. Prag, 1934. 62 Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 68 f.
63 Ibid. S. 72.

121

It is significant, however, that no society known to us was so agon-oriented in general and, in particular, did not attach such importance to athletic competition as ancient Greek.64 This general position it is true, first of all, for all pre-literate societies known to us.65 Among the peoples of the Ancient East, judging by our sources, the ancient Egyptians attached more importance to physical exercises than others. However, from a special work on sports in ancient Egypt, conceived precisely in order to emphasize the role of Egypt in the development physical education, one can clearly see the absence in Egypt of competitions as a permanent social institution, so characteristic of Greece. This fact is acknowledged by the authors of the book themselves.66 S.N. Kramer and Margarita Rimschneider, to whom Weiler refers,67 when speaking about sports in the countries of the Ancient East, do not provide material even remotely comparable to Greek athletics.68 The negative attitude of the Romans towards classes athletics is well known.69
Unique compared to all pre-literate societies and all states ancient world the development of agonistic athletics in Ancient Greece is an obvious fact. Recognition of this fact has nothing to do with the traditional idealization of Greek culture, unwilling to reckon with the facts. Recognizing some phenomenon as the exclusive property of the Greeks does not at all mean unconditionally approving it. In particular, Mut,70 paints a gloomy picture of tolerance towards cases of cruelty and deceit of athletes.

64 Gardiner E. N. Athletics of the ancient world. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1955. P. 1, 42 ff.; Shanin ΙΟ. C. The Olympic Games and the Poetry of the Hellenes: Homer and Classical Lyrics of the 8th-5th Centuries. BC e. Kyiv, 1980.
63 See, for example: Damm Η. Vom Wesen sog. Leibesübungen bei Naturvölkern: Ein Beitrag zur Genese des Sportes //StG. 1960. Jg. 13. H. LS. 1-10; Schlenter B. Sport and Spiel in Altamerica//Altertum. 1976. Bd. 22. H. 1. S. 36-41.
66 Tony A.D., Wenig St. Sport in Ancient Egypt. Leipzig, 1969, pp. 12-13, 87; cf.: Jüthner J. Die athletischen Leibesübungen der Griechen / Hrsg. von Fr. Brien. bd. 1. Wien, 1965. S. 52 ff.
67 Weiler. Op. cit. S. 279-280.
68 Kramer S.N. Enkiandhisinferioritycomplex//Orientalia. 1970 Vol. 39. R. 110; Rimschneider M. From Olympia to Nineveh in the Time of Homer. M., 1977. S. 93-95. Wed also: Carter Ch. Athletic contests in Hittite religious festivals // .INES. 1988 Vol. 47. P. 185ff.
69 Gardiner. Op. cit. P. 117ff.
70 Muth. Op. cit. S. 181-188.

122

not only does it seem to us corresponding to reality, but we believe that these shadow sides of Greek agonistics were an organic manifestation of the agonal attitude and were themselves one of the factors that contributed to the spread of the agonal principle to all spheres of culture. Apparently, criticisms are justified against the exaggeration of the significance of the truce established in Greece during the Olympic Games.71 There are no fundamental objections and how persistently Mut emphasizes the importance for many Greek athletes of all eras of material benefits that victory could bring,72 although the characterization branches of the Olympic olive tree as "in principle a symbol of hypocrisy"73 is an obvious exaggeration. Muth himself acknowledges the obvious fact that many athletes in the heyday of Greek agonistics did not seek material gain, and we have no reason to think that the organizers of the Olympic Games did not share in their hearts this flattering and, in fact, convenient attitude towards sports.
Undoubtedly, both Weiler and Muth are right when they emphasize the importance of ambition and striving for fame as an incentive motive in agonistics:74 only as a result of combining ambition with the need for a game, about which I. Huizinga wrote, agonistics can appear as a social institution. However, in no case can we accept Wyler's formulation, according to which honor and glory as a result of victory cannot be fundamentally separated from material benefits.75 The absence of a fundamental difference between the pursuit of ideal and material goods (one does not exclude the other, and they can combined in various proportions) can be postulated for the psychology of a person who has real opportunity satisfy both desires. As soon as we begin to consider society as a whole, we see this "most fundamental difference: only when there is a real hope for the material

71 Ibid. S. 168-177.
72 Ibid. S. 188-196; see also Harris. Op. cit. R. 37 f., 153 f.
73 Muth. Op. cit. S. 194. In his review, M. Polyakov could have objected even more vigorously to Young's attacks on Greek athletics and the modern Olympic movement: Poliakoff Μ. B. //AJP. 1989 Vol. 110. R. 166-171.
74 Weiler. Op. cit. S. 265; Muth. Op. cit. S. 194. - Mut also takes on the agonal character of the entire Greek culture as a whole.
75 Weiler. Op. cit. S. 265.

123

agonistics draws into its sphere representatives of those strata of the population who, by virtue of the very conditions of their existence, could not spend time and effort on anything beyond the material support of their lives. At the same time, it is precisely as a result of this shift that interest in sports among the privileged is waning.76
This difference is of particular importance in the light of the problems we are considering: only in conditions where the main motive of the competitors was the desire for glory, could the supposed transfer of the aspirations of a certain number of people from athletics to various spheres of culture, including those that do not promise any material benefits, but bringing only one only fame.
Let us now consider Greek agonistics in somewhat more detail, not from the point of view of sports technology and the organization of competitions, but in order to clarify its role in Greek life and the impact that it had on the life ideals of the Hellenes. We have already said that Ancient Greece in the Mycenaean era had not yet embarked on the path of development that was characteristic of it in subsequent periods, unique in the history of antiquity.77 arts, practiced various games and physical exercises, and probably knew more or less ordered competitions, they did not stand out among neighboring peoples with increased attention to this area of ​​\u200b\u200blife.78
The development of specifically Greek agonistics begins for us from the era conventionally called Homeric.79 In the Greek society of the Homeric era, we find a clearly distinguished ruling class - the military aristocracy.

76 We observe these phenomena in Greece from the second half of the 5th century. BC e. (see Ch. II, §2).
77 See above, Introduction .
78 See: Jüthner. Leibesubungen.
79 General characteristics era with an extensive bibliography, see the works: Andreev. Early Greek polis; starr. origins.
80 On the role of the aristocracy in the formation of Greek culture, see: Hasebroek J. Griechische Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsgeschichte bis zur Perserzeit. Tubingen, 1931; Marrou H. J. History of education in antiquity. New York, 1956. P. 5-13, 43-44; Ger-

124

is a typical “leisure class” (leisure class, in the terminology of Thorstein Veblen81), which, having a lot of free time at its disposal, tends to consolidate its dominant position in the mind of society as a whole by special forms of life, in particular, the so-called “conspicuous consumption” (conspicious consumption).82 The feasts described by Homer, during which the main dish was very expensive meat in real Greek life and never fish, a much more common food product, are only one, but very feature this lifestyle.
The tendency of the Greek aristocracy towards conspicuous consumption is confirmed by striking objective evidence, which does not depend on the epic with its reality-deforming poetics, the development of the art of the mature geometric period, which served the needs of the aristocracy and is represented for us primarily by Dipylon vases.83 This area of ​​conspicuous consumption also includes the competitions, which are repeatedly mentioned by Homer and described in detail in the XXIII book of the Iliad and in the VIII book of the Odyssey,84 which are an obvious demonstration of the wealth, leisure and energy of the ruling elite. Wealth is shown in the form of prizes played out in competitions, and leisure - not only as the time necessary for the competitions themselves, but also as free time necessary for systematic exercises, which alone can ensure a successful performance.85

net L. Anthropologie de la Grece ancienne. Paris, 1968. P. 344 sv.; starr. origins. P. 302ff. - A one-sided view of things demonstrates in a conscious antithesis to the widespread idealization of Greek democracy Arnheim (ArnheimM. T. W. Aristocracy in Greek society. London, 1977). In his new book, C. Starr insists that the Greek aristocracy of the Homeric era appears to us not yet fully formed (Starr. Economic and social growth. R. 121 ff.), but his considerations do not affect the interpretation of those aspects of her life that we are interested here.
81 Veblen T. The Theory of the Leisure Class / Per. from English. M., 1984.
82 See: Welskopf. Op. cit., passim; Vernant J.-P. Les origines de la pensee grecque. Paris, 1969. P. 69 (Russian translation: Vernand J.-P. Origin of Ancient Greek Thought. M., 1988); starr. Economic and social growth. R. 134-135.
83 Starr. origins. P. 154 f.; ZervosChr. La civilization hellenique. T. 1. Paris, 1969. P. 88; Snodgrass. Dark age. P. 432 ff.; Andreev. Homeric Society. pp. 114-116.
84 See for details: Pope. Op. cit.
85 Jaegers. Paideia. bd. 1. S. 29.

125

In the eighth book of the Odyssey, the competitions of the feacs are described, and it seems quite natural for the pheacs to invite Odysseus to take part in them. When he at first began to refuse, Euryalus, filled with contempt, expressed to his face the assumption that he was apparently a greedy merchant, a stranger to athletics (VIII, 158-164), while the son of Alcinous Laodamantus had just directly declared: nothing brings a person greater glory than what he does with his feet or hands, i.e., athletic achievements (VIII, 147-148). (XVIII, 40 sq.).
The general picture of the omnipresence of the agon also includes the folklore motif of testing Penelope's suitors with the bow of Odysseus (Od. XXI). in full accordance with the picture that Homer paints for us, monuments of art already in the VIII century. BC e. give a lot of space to agonistic plots.89 The poem of the Hesiodian circle "Shield of Hercules" describes a chariot race with a tripod made by Hephaestus as a prize (Sc. 305-313).
The agon, athletic or musical, is a constant element in Greek myths.90 As an illustration of how important the agon was attributed to the people of the heroic age, I will give only two examples. There was a strong mythical tradition about the sons of Aeacus that Telamon and Peleus killed their brother Phocus. So, one of the branches of this tradition explains this murder by Fock's successes in all agons (III, 12, 6). Hercules was credited not only with the establishment of the Olympic Games, but also with the first victory in competitions (Pind. Ol. IX, 1 sqq.; Paus. V, 8).

86 Wed. reminiscences in Simonides (fr. 4 Diehl) and Pindar (Pyth. X, 22-24).
87 See: Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 71.
88 Compare: Griffin. Op. cit. P. 14.
89 See: Fittschen Kl. Untersuchungen zum Beginn der Sagendarstellungen bei den Griechen. Berlin, 1969. S. 26-31.
90 Shanin Yu. V. Agonistic plots in ancient Greek mythology // III All-Union Conference on Classical Philology: Abstracts: Section of the History of Ancient Literature. Kyiv, 1966. S. 82-83; Fontenrose J. The hero as athlete // CSCA. 1968 Vol. 1. P. 73 ff.; Weiler. Op. cit.

126

The obvious function of the agon as a manifestation and demonstration of the “better”, specifically aristocratic way of life in the Homeric (as well as in the archaic) era91 in no way contradicts the religious roots of the agon supposed by a number of researchers:92 already in Homer, competitions appear before us without an internal connection with religion and cult.93 The role of physical labor (Philostr. Gymn. 43; cf. Gal. Hyg. 133; Thrasyb. 41) and competition in it (Gal. Thrasyb. 9) is also of no importance for the social function of the Greek agon. as one of the origins of athletics.94
Much greater value in this regard, athletics, and at the same time competitions, have an undeniable role in the education of warriors.95 However, Hasebröck clearly exaggerates, arguing that the needs of preparation for war were the main source of Greek agonistics.96 He does not take into account the predominance throughout the history of Greek sports of such its varieties, which did not fit in any way or fit very little for preparation for war. Chariot racing, already dominant among all types of competitions in the XXIII book of the Iliad, did not in any way contribute to the preparation for war, but was associated with especially high costs for horses; άεθλοφόρος - “bringing (to the owner) a reward

91 Pope. Op. cit. S. 7-9.
92 A number of researchers suggest that originally there was an organic connection between the agon and the cult of the dead: Rohde. Op. cit. S. 19 f., 151 f.; Meuli K. 1) Der Ursprung der olympischen Spiele//Antike. 1941. Bd. 17. S. 189-208; 2) Der griechische Agon. Koln, 1968; Englert. Op. cit. S. 220 f.; Drees L. Olympia - Götter, Künstler und Athleten. Stuttgart, 1967. Objection: Rose Η. J. Greek agones //Aberystvvyth Studies. 1922. No. 3; Malten L. Leichenspiel und Totenkult // MDAI(R). 1923-1924. bd. 38-39. S. 300ff.; Hasebroek. Op. cit. S. 84; Jüthner J. l)Herkunft und Grundlagen der griechischen Nationalspiele // Antike. 1939. Bd. 15. S. 74-77; 2) Leibesübungen. S. 74-77; Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 2. - For the solution of the problems of interest to us, this question does not matter, but the arguments of the supporters of the cult origin of the agons do not seem convincing to me.
93 Gardiner. Or. cit. R. 20-21.
94 See: Bilinski. Antyczni krytyci. S. 297-298.
95 General judgments about the benefits of physical education and for victories in agony, and for war, and for life, see: Xen. Mem. III, 12; cf.: Jüthner. Leibesubungen. S. 66, 85 f.; Schröter K. Die Aristie als Grundform homerischer Dichtung und der Freiermord in der Odyssee: Diss. Marburg, 1950. S. 116; Borthwick E. K. Two scenes of combat in Euripides // JHS. 1970 Vol. 90. P. 18.
96 Hasebroek. Op. cit. S. 84, 233-235. Ridley, in our opinion, falls into a similar error (Ridley, op. cit. R. 538-540, 543-545).

127

dy in competitions ”is one of Homer’s usual decorating epithets of horses (see Il. IX, 124, 266; XI, 699, etc.), and this perfectly characterizes the role of the horse as a symbol of the social status of the owner already in the Homeric era. There is no need to cite the abundant evidence, up to the "Clouds" of Aristophanes, of a similar function of the horse in subsequent centuries. There was very limited value for military training also horse racing. Armed running was less important in the system of Greek agonistics than unarmed running,97 and archery98 incomparably less than discus throwing (cf. Luc. Anach. 32). Of the agons known to us, perhaps the competition of triremes organized by the Athenians near Cape Sunia (Lys. XXI, 5) could have the greatest “military applied” significance.99
From a later period we also have direct evidence of significant differences in the physical training of a warrior and an athlete (Pl. Res. 404 a; Plut. Phil. 3; Nep. Ep. 2; cf.: Arist. Pol. 1338 b 40 sqq .). It is no coincidence that Plato, dissatisfied with the attitude to athletics as an occupation that carries immediate value, dreamed of the undivided dominance of the military educational function of sports and planned various running competitions in the ideal state of the "Laws", but all without fail with weapons (Leg. 832 d - 834 s). Similar views seem to be reflected by the bewilderment attributed to Alexander the Great about where were all the Olympic and Pythian victorious athletes, many of whose images were exhibited in Miletus - where they were when the Persians took the city (Plut. Reg. et imp. apopht 8 = Mor 180 A).
The obvious parallelism in the development of athleticism also speaks against the decisive role of the military-utilitarian purpose in Greek

97 See: Garlinger E. Notes on the Greek foot race// JHS. 1903 Vol. 23. P. 261-291; Harris. Op. cit. P. 74 f.; Muth. Op. cit. S. 175.
98 Yu. V. Shanin's assumption that in ancient times archery competitions played a more important role than in the heyday of Greek agonistics (Shanin Yu.V. Archers at Homer, in Olympia and in the Northern Black Sea region / / Historicity and relevance of ancient culture. Tbilisi, 1980. P. 36-37) .
99 Similar contests appear to have also taken place in Corcyra and 1 Hermine (Ringwood J. S. Agonistic features of local Greek festivals, chiefly from inscriptional evidence: Diss. Poughkeepsee, 1927, p. 24, 43).

128

of the calic and music agons in archaic Hellas. It is no coincidence that the Romans were finally able to create the most a strong army antiquity, which conquered the entire Mediterranean, not only not being carried away by athletic agonism, like the Greeks, but also directly considering it as an occupation not worthy of a Roman and a warrior.100
The most important difference between the contests of the Homeric era and the later pan-Greek games is the fact that the prizes at these contests were of material value,101 in contrast to the twigs or wreaths of the pan-Hellenic agons of subsequent eras (Luc. Anach. 9 sqq.).102 However, already in Homer, that no matter how Agamemnon spoke about the multitude of gold that his fast horses brought him as prizes (Il. IX, 125-127), the focus of the competitors is not profit, but success and glory. 103 This is evident from the whole story about the agons after the death of Patroclus and among the Theacians, and, in particular, from the words of Antilochus, who, in a dispute for a prize, offers Achilles, if he wishes, to give his rival an even more valuable reward, but categorically refuses to give up his own (Il. XXII, 551). 104 This is natural : for Homeric heroes participating in competitions (almost all of them are basileus kings),

100 Liv. XXIX, 19; Varro. Rust. Il, 2; Sen. Ep. 89, 18-19; Luc. Phars. VII, 279; plin. Er. IV, 22; Plut. Quaest. Rom. 40 = Mor. 274A-E.
101 Homer seems to give us a picture common to his era: Burckhardt. Or. cit. bd. 4. S. 105. - Note, however, that, speaking in the Odyssey about the competitions of the feacs (VIII, 100 sqq.). he says nothing about prizes (Gardiner, op. cit. p. 19). See also: Willis W. H. Athletic contests in the Epic //TARA. 1941 Vol. 72. R. 392-417.
102 Pausanias reports that at Delphi valuable prizes were replaced by a laurel wreath starting from the second Pythian games (X, 7, 3). Games 591/590 BC e., organized by the Amphictyons after the destruction of Kirra. on which the booty was turned into rich prizes, are specially marked by tradition as a special case. N. Robertson's attempt to consider messages about this, like the entire tradition of the first holy war, as a construction of the middle of the 4th century. (Robertson N. The myth of the First sacred war / / CQ. 1978. Vol. 28. P. 38-73), does not seem convincing. He, in particular, ascribes to the publicists of the 4th c. BC e. an incredibly straightforward way of constructing the events of the archaic era (άγων χρηματίτης from the cult of the hero Χρυσός, etc.); cf. Miller St. The date of the first Pythiad //CSCA. 1979 Vol. 11.P. 127-158 and especially: Lehmann G. A. Der "Erste heilige Krieg" -eine Fiktion?//Historia. 1980. Bd. 29. S. 242-246.
103 Benkendorff K.-A. Untersuchungen zu den platonischen Gleichnissen, Vergleichen und Metaphern aus dem Bereich der Gymnastik und Agonistik: Diss. Tubingen. 1966. S. 15; Shanin. Olympic Games. S. 113.
104 Pope. Op. cit. S. 10.

129

even the most valuable prizes offered by Achilles could not be attractive only as a means of enrichment (or primarily as such).105
In the post-Homer era, the Olympic and other pan-Greek games arose, numerous agons of local significance were ordered, but even where valuable tripods or cauldrons serve as prizes, the winners, as a rule, dedicate them to some sanctuary.106 Herodotus has the Persians, in whose mouth he , as usual, invests Greek ideas, considers the readiness of the Hellenes to compete for the sake of a single wreath as a sign of their valor, making them a dangerous adversary (VIII, 26). 107 Later authors, for example, Dio Chrysostom (XXXI, 21- 22).108 Xenophon considers absurd the behavior of a person who, having achieved art in athletics or in military affairs, does not use the opportunity to show his success in competitions or in war (Cyr. I, 5, 10).
The Greeks did not cancel the Olympic Games even in the most difficult moments in the history of Hellas, including in 480 BC. e. during the invasion of Xerxes,109 which, according to Herodotus, made a strong impression on the Persians (VIII, 26).110 At the first opportunity, the Greek mercenaries organized a competition, having made the most difficult transition - a retreat from Mesopotamia to the Black Sea coast (Xen. An. IV, 8.25-26; V, 5, 5). The soldiers of Alexander the Great also arranged agons during their campaign.111 About agons as the most important entertainment,

105 For a list of prizes, see: ibid. R. 34.
106 Jeffery. Archaic Greece. R. 79-80.
107 Herodotus could follow the sophist Hippias here: A1 in W. Volksmärchen. Sage und Novelle bei Herodot und seinen Zeitgenossen. Göttingen, 1921. S. 291 f.; Nestle. Mythos. S. 363.
108 Compare: Luc. Anach. 1 sqq.
109 Hönle A. Olympia in der Politik der griechischen Staatenwelt: Von 776 bis zum Ende des 5. Jahrhunderts: Diss. Tubingen. 1968. S. 171-176.
110 Based on a priori provisions, I. Ebert claims that in 480 BC. e. athletes and spectators were brought to Olympia primarily by religion - “das religiöse, die Zeusfeier fordernde Gebot” (Ebert J. Olympia - Olympische Spiele: Zu einigen Aspekten des Sports und des Athletenbildes der Antike // Altertum. 1976. Bd. 22. S. eleven). Ebert should have asked himself if he thought that every Greek who didn't go to the Olympics felt like he was violating Zeus's commandment.
111 diode. XVII, 100, 2; Ael. VH X, 22; Arr. II, 5, 8; Curt. Ruf. IX. 7:16-22. Berve n.
1) Das Alexanderreich auf prosopographischer Grundlage. bd. 2. Munich. 1926. No. 284;
2) Gestaltende Kräfte. S. 6; Schachermeyr. Alexander. S. 309, 442, 453.

130

living the life of the Athenians, says Thucydides in his version of the funerary speech of Pericles (II, 38). In Aristophanes, Trigaeus arranges an athletic agon on the occasion of the return of the World (Pax 895 sq.).
Agons were organized wherever Greek city-states existed,112 including on such an outskirts of the Greek world as our Northern Black Sea region.113 In Sparta, the highest magistrates, ephors, supervised the course of athletic competitions (Xen. Res. Lac. VII, 8, 4 ).
As we see from the Homeric poems, Greek agonistics was formed among the military nobility. It was in the aristocratic strata that traditions of hard training, tension associated with self-restraint,114 for the sake of success and glory, developed.115 Agonism has long remained the area of ​​life where the offspring of ancient families could show their superiority even when the aristocracy almost everywhere lost both political dominance and the position of the only secure social grouping.116 There were families whose representatives from generation to generation earned themselves the glory of winners in the pan-Greek games.117 Thus, Pindar tells of such a kind of Oligetids in Corinth (Ol. XIII, 45 sqq.); inscriptions confirm the existence

112 Harris. Or. cit. R. 41; Gardiner. Or. cit. R. 39.
113 Kublanov M. M. The legend of the stadium of Achilles and the Olbian agonistic festivities / / Yearbook of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism. Issue. 1M.; L., 1957. S. 222-231; Kublanow M.M. Agone und agonistische Festveranstaltungen in den antiken Städten der nördlichen Schwarzmeerküste // Altertum. 1960. Bd. 6. H. 3. S. 131-148; Kolesnikova L. G. Sports in ancient Chersonese. M.; L., 1964.
1.4 Harris. Or. cit. R. 173 ff.
115 Shanin. Olympic Games. S. 152 et seq. - The epinicia of Pindar and Bacchilid are literally permeated with this mood, as well as the fragments of the epinicia of Simonides that have come down to us (cf.: Jaeger. Paideia. Bd. 1. S. 271 ff.). In particular, Yu. V. Shanin correctly characterizes the spirit of Pindar’s epinicians, arguing that for Pindar “only a difficult victory is honorable and desirable” (Shanin Yu. 1968, p. 14). To a certain extent, similar trends are found in other historical epochs, for example, among the late medieval Western European chivalry with its tournaments.
116 Burckhardt. Or. cit. bd. LS. 172ff.; Beloch. Or. cit. bd. 1. S. 402 ff.; Schachermeyer Fr. Griechische Geschichte. Stuttgart, 1960. S. 83ff. - While the aristocracy retains wealth in their hands, these representatives are engaged in breeding and preparing horses for competitions with a zeal, perhaps no less, if not more, than athletics proper. Very characteristic, for example, is the picture painted by Aristophanes' mockery of the passion of the Athenian aristocrats for horses (Nub. 14 sqq., 63 sqq.. 84, 108 sqq., 119 sqq.).
117 Shanin. Olympic Games. pp. 148-150.

131

such families in Thessaly.118 Pausanias mentions the race of athletes, descended from the Lepraean Alkenet, and the family of Diagoras from Rhodes, who was descended from Aristomenes of Messenia (VI, 7, 1-3).119
Participation in the pan-Greek games required, above all, a lot of free time. The point was not even so much that, for example, in Olympia, athletes gathered a month before the start of the games, and adult athletes were charged with a preliminary year-long training in their homeland (Paus. V, 24 sq.). 120 In fact, the chances only those for whom physical exercise was the main thing in his life had a victory (see, for example: Philostr. Gymn. 43; cf. Hor. Ars p. 412 sq.). 121
Although victory could also entail material gains, even in the time of Pindar, the career of an athlete was characterized by δαπάνα - expense and πόνος - labor (Ol. V, 15; Isthm. VI, 10). 124 for a dedication, preferably with a statue, 125 finally for the costly epinicium (see Schol. Pind. Nem. V, 1).
Plato talks about the abstinence of athletes of the past, ready for any self-restraint in the name of victory. BC e., avoided, as they say, even seductive

118 Ringwood. Or. cit. R. 20.
119 Burckhardt believed that all Pindar's epinicia (except two - Pyth. XII and Nem. XI) are dedicated to victories in horse races and in athletic competitions, and not in musical agons, because the Greek aristocrats, to whom Pindar was closer, won victories, as a rule, in these kinds of competitions (Burckhardt. Op. cit. Bd. 3. S. 198). It can also be assumed that the winners in the musical agons might not have been so interested in having someone else compose epinicia for them.
120 See: Jüthner J. Philostratos über Gymnastik. Berlin, 1909. S. 209; Ziehen L. Olympia // RE. 1939. Bd. 18 Sp. 7; M u t h. Op. cit. S. 177.
121 Compare: Jüthner. Leibesubungen. S. 84ff.
122 Gardiner. Op. cit. P. 69 f.; Bilinsky. Antyczni krytyci. S. 298 s.; Jüthner. Leibesubungen. S. 87 f.; cf. also: Plut. Delib. educ. 11 = Mor. 8D-E.
123 In Herodotus these expenses appear as a matter of course (VI. 122).
124 Compare: Plut. Alcib. 12.
125 Lippold G. Siegerstatuen// RE. 1923. Bd. 2 a. sp. 2266; Ebert J. Griechische Epigramme auf Sieger an gymnischen und hippischen Agonen. Berlin, 1972. S. 9 ff. - Of course, in some cases these expenses were covered by the winner's hometown or friends.
126 leg. 839 a - 840 a; cf.: Clem. Alex. Strom. III, 6, 50; Ael. VH XI, 3. Cf. See also: Mezo F. Geschichte der olympischen Spiele. Munich, 1930. S. 200; Honle. Op. cit. S. 94.

132

conversations and spectacles.127 At Olympia, the athletes had to clean the stadium with their own hands before the competition (Ath. 518 d; Theocr. IV,
ΙΟ).128
The tension with which the agon was associated and the preparation for it (cf. Philostr. Gymn. 11; Arr. Epict. Diss. III 15, 3-4) was also reflected in common Greek word usage.129 As G. Berve rightly notes, this is precisely why the word αγωνία has received from the time of Demosthenes (see, e.g.: Dem. 18, 33) the meaning of “tension”, “fear”, and the word άθλιος, found already in Antiphon (I, 30) and Euripides (e.g.: Alc. 1043 ), has not only the etymologically justified meaning "burdened with struggle", but more often - a broader "burdened with labors, suffering", "unhappy", and then "bad",130 so that the play on words used by the Cynics and Stoics who criticized Greek agonistics.131
Participation in many types of competitions was fraught with serious dangers.132 If the drivers or riders died and were injured in horse riding, and not the competing owners of horses, then wrestling, fisticuffs, pancratics,133 competitions in discus or spear throwing were fraught with risk for the contestants themselves (Dio Chrys. XXXI, 22),134 up to the possibility of death.135 Tradition has preserved for us, in particular, the facts of the death of Arrhachion (or

127 Plus. Quaest, conv. VIII, 7 = Mor. 710 D-E; Ael. VH III, 30; NA VI, 1. See also: Philostr. Gymn. 43, 44; Hor. Ars p. 412; Quint. V, 10, 121.
128 Harris. Op. cit. P. 156.
129 Gardiner. Op. cit. P. 1-2.
130 Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 3.
131 Bilinski. Antyczni krytyci. S. 286-308 (see especially: S. 304 ff.).
132 Rudolph W. Sportverletzungen und Sportschäden in der Antike // Altertum. 1976. Bd. 22. S. 21-26 (cf. Schol. Pind. Ol. V, 34).
133 Statues of pankratiasts depict them always with mutilated ears (cf.: PI. Prot. 342 b). Loss of teeth in pancracies or fisticuffs seems to have also been a frequent occurrence (Luc. Anach. 3; cf. Schol. Pind. Nem. III, 27 a).
134 Much material is collected in Forbes' article (Forbes CA. Accidents and fatalities in Greek athletics//Classical studies in honor of W. A. ​​Oldfather. Urbana, 1943. P. 50-59). Dion speaks directly about the willingness of athletes to risk their lives.
135 Antiphon. Tetral. II, 2, 3 sq.; P.I. leg. 865 a-b; Dem. 25, 53; Arist. Ah. Paul 57, 3; Plut. per. XXXVI, 5 sq. See: Robert L. Les epigrammes satiriques de Lucillius sur les athletes: Parodie et roalites / / Entretiens sur l "antiquite classique. T. 14: L" epigramme grecque. Vandoeuvres; Geneve, 1968. P. 181-291 (see: R. 199 f., 288); Ebert. Epigramme. S. 142-144.

133

the time of the competition in pancratia at the Olympic Games of 564 BC. e. (Paus. VIII, 40, 1-2; Philostr. Imag. II, 6; Gymn. 21) and Kreuga in a fistfight at the Nemean Games of 401 BC. e. (Paus. VIII, 40, 3-5), both being declared winners.136 Aristotle notes that victory at Olympia as a youth required such strenuous training that very few of the youth winners then became Olympionists in the adult category (Pol .1338 b 40 sqq.).137
AT public consciousness In Greece of the archaic era, a scale of value orientations is being formed, according to which agonistic successes, and especially victories in the all-Greek games, are among the most preferred life goals. Thus, in the dedication inscription of the Samians in Olympia, athletic achievements were put on a par with sea ​​power(Paus. VI, 2, 4). Tarentine aristocrats of the 5th century. BC e. sought to perpetuate, first of all, their athletic successes.138 Hippolytus in Euripides speaks of his desire to be first only in competitions, and in the state to remain in second place (Hipp. 1016-1018).139 Children in Greece were often given names associated with athletics and agonistics (such as Εϋαθλος, Όλυμπιονίκης, Καλλίνικης, Ίππόνικος, etc.140 and even Δισ-ολυμπιονίκης141).
"Dream Interpretation" of Artemidorus, a significant part of the content of which is traditional,142 pays great attention agonic dreams,143 which must somehow reflect the nature of the real dreams of the Greeks. Athletics and agons of the mythical past and present were one of the most important themes of Greek art.144 On athletics and agons

136 See: Brophy R. Η. Deaths in the pan-Hellenic games: Arrachion and Greugas // AJP 1978. Vol. 99. P. 363-390. - Philostratus claims that Arrachion, ready to give up, prompted by the shout of his coach, deliberately went to his death (Gymn. 21).
137 See: Rudolph. Or. cit. S. 21-26. For a number of exceptions to this rule, see: Mezö. Or. cit. S. 176 f.
138 Lo Porto F. G. Tombe di atleti tarentini // Atti e memorie della Societä Magna Grecia. 1967. P. 31-98.
139 See also the inscription made by the athlete Faill from Croton in Athens (Moretti L. Inscrizioni agonistiche greche. Roma, 1953. P. 26-29).
1411 Schröder Br. Der Sport im Altertum. Berlin, 1927. S. 62 f.
141 Harris. Op. cit. P. 119.
142 CM.:Riess E. Volkstümliches bei Artemidoros // RhM. 1894. Bd. 49. S. 177-193.
143 Onirocr. 64, 10-68, 14 Pack; see also: Index rerum. P. 325-354.
144 Schroder. Op. cit. S. 72-81.

134

numerous books were written.145 When Greek historiography came up after 300 B.C. e. to the task of creating a unified chronological scheme, the list of winners at the Olympic Games turned out to be both the most reliable and artificial basis for a common Greek chronology that did not seem inappropriate to anyone. The fable (Aesop. N 254 ​​Hausrath = Ν 226 Perry) and the vase painting even depict animals racing.
The author of an insertion dedicated to Hecate in Hesiod's Theogony, attempting to turn her into a universal deity,146 reporting that Hekate gives victory in war to whomever she wishes (v. 431-433), then dedicates four verses (435-438) to that how Hekate helps win athletic competitions.
Agon was revered as a deity. The image of Agon, among other deities, was exhibited at Olympia in the 5th century. BC e. (Paus. V, 26, 3). A relief in Olympia by Kolotos depicting Agon next to Ares, among other deities, is also mentioned by Pausanias (Paus. V, 20, 1). The small island of Peparef in the 5th century. BC e. minted tetradrachms with the image of the winged Agon. BC e. Boeth of Chalcedon, was found in a ship that sank in antiquity off the coast of present-day Tunisia.148
At the time of the Olympic Games, the Greek states had to stop hostilities that could disrupt the normal course of the games. Although this rule has been repeatedly violated,149 no one has ever challenged it.
It is impossible to give here all the data on what glory the victors in the pan-Greek agons gained for themselves.150 In a number of testimonies, it is emphasized that this glory will not fade even after the death of the athlete.

145 Ibid. S. 63ff.
146 Compare: Nilsson. Geschichte. bd. 1. S. 722.
147 Gardiner. Op. cit. P.I. 35 Fig. a.
148 Sarton G. A history of science: Hellenistic science and culture in the last three centuries B. C. Cambridge (Mass.), 1959. P. 504.
149 See: Harris. Op. cit. P. 155 f.; Muth. Op. cit. S. 172-177.
150 Much material is collected in the book: Drees. Or. cit. S. 116ff. Compare: Mezo. Or. cit. S. 151ff.
151 Ebert. Epigramme. S. 21.

135

privileges.152 The winners were greeted at home with extraordinary solemnity (Vitr. IX, Praef.; Ael. VH XII, 58). In Akragant, according to Diodorus, at the meeting of the Olympionist Exinetus, 300 wagons pulled by white horses participated in the procession (XIII, 34). A number of cities, meeting Olympionics, tore off part of the city wall in order to solemnly let the procession of the winner into the city through a gap. 121).154 However, even in the very place of the competition, the crowd could carry the winner out of the stadium in their arms (Dio Chrys. IX, 14,15). According to Cicero, the Greeks valued the victory at the Olympic Games more than the Romans valued the triumph (Flac. 13, 31).
The victory at the pan-Greek games was regarded as the success of the whole city - the homeland of the winner. e. at the Pythian Games, according to the poet Timothy, he “crowned his homeland” (Schol. Pind. II, p. 175 Drachmann). In the IV century. BC e. Sicyon minted coins with the image of Sostratus, the Pankratiast, who won the Olympic Games three times.156 Pausanias believed that the city of Naxos, which had long lost its significance, is alive in memory only thanks to the repeated winner in a fist fight, Tisandra (VI, 3, 8). Greek cities, seeking to raise their prestige, sometimes bribed the winners of the Olympic Games to declare themselves citizens not of their true homeland, but of the community that bribed them.157

152 See already old works by Krause: Krause J. Η. 1) Gymnastik und Agonistik der Hellenen. bd. 2. Leipzig, 1841. S. 639 ff.; 2) Olympia. Wien, 1838. S. 199 ff. and Drees' book (Drees. Op. cit. S. 123 ff.).
153 Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 4. Compare: Suet. Nero. 24-25.
154 Compare: PI. Res. 465 d - 466 a.
155 Simon, fr. 111 Diehl2; Epigr. ap. pause. VII, 17, 6; xen. Mem. III, 7, 1; P.I. leg. 950 e; Lys. XIX, 63; isocr. XVI, 32; LVIII, 66; Polyb. XXVII, 9, 7-13; Adv. Alc. 31. This attitude towards athletic achievement will continue into the era of Roman domination (Dio Cass. LXIII, 14; Plin. ΗΝ VII, 26); cf.: Robert L. Sur les inscriptionsd "Ephese (fetes, athletes, empereurs, epigrammes) // RPh. 1967. T. 41. P. 20 sv.
156 La Croix L. Quelques aspects de la numismatique sicyonienne // RBN. 1964. T. 110. P. 19-29.
157 Gardiner. Op. cit. P. 76; Mezo. Op. cit. S. 240; Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 83; Forbes ca. Crime and punishment in Greek athletics//CJ. 1951-1952. Vol. 47. P. 169 ff., 202 ff.; Robert. Inscriptions d "Ephese. P. 18. - The case of Deacon, son of Callimbrotus (Paus. VI, 3, 11), is disputed by Ebert (Ebert. Epigramme. S. 115-116).

136

The winner received the right to erect a monument in honor of his victory both in the place where it was won and in his homeland.158 While the winner himself erected a statue at the place of victory, as a rule, the account of the policy (see, for example: Paus. VI, 13, 2), especially in a later era, when insufficiently wealthy people began to turn out to be winners more often (cf. ch. II, § 2).159 There is an ancient tradition, according to which the first Greek statues with features of portrait resemblance were images of the winners, exhibited in Olympia as early as 558 BC. e.160 After the 80th Olympiad, the Delphic oracle ordered the inhabitants of Achaia to erect a statue of their compatriot, an Olympic winner (Paus. VI, 3, 4). Sometimes statues of coaches were also erected - mentors of the winners (Paus. VI, 3,3), or the name of the coach was mentioned on the statue of the winner (Paus. VI, 2, 4).161
The Boeotian city of Thespia honored with a tombstone the soldiers who fell in battle (apparently, at Delia in 424 BC). In the inscription, according to the Boeotian custom, only the names of the dead are given, and only the name Πολύνικος is added Όλυμπιο [ν "ικα] "Olympic winner" (IG VII, 1888). Aegion, his native city, built a special portico for exercises (Paus. VII, 23, 5) In the Spartan army, the Olympic victors were honored to fight alongside the king and protect him from the enemy (Plut. Lyc. XXII, 4 sqq.; Quaest, conv. II , 5) The privilege of the winners of pan-Greek games in a number of cities was proedria - the right to sit in the front row during various spectacles (Xenoph. fr. 2, 7 G.-P).
The Athenians - the winners of the pan-Greek games, received the right to eat in Prytaneum along with the descendants of the tyrannicides of Aristogeiton

158 Stenersen I. B. De historia variisque generibus statuarum iconicarumapud Athenienses. Christiania, 1877. P. 117 sqq.; Hyde W. W. Olympic victor monuments and Greek athletic art. Washington, 1921. P. 30; Lippold. Op. cit. sp. 2269; Mezo. Op. cit. S. 160-163; Zinserling V. Zum Problem der Siegerstatue im klassischen Athen// Das Problem der Klassik im Alten Orient und in der Antike. Berlin, 1967. S. 73-91.
159 See: Ebert. Epigramme. S. 14; Honle. Op. cit. S. 43, 141-142.
160 Burckhardt. Op. cit. bd. 3. S. 29; bd. 4. S. 115ff. See: Plin. ΗΝ XXXIV, 9, 4.
161 Monuments were expensive. We have at our disposal a figure of 3,000 drachmas for the 4th century. BC e. (D. L. VI, 35); cf.: Wilhelm A. Neue Beiträge zur griechischen Inschriftenkunde. Vienna, 1921. Lfg. 6. S. 27 ff.

137

and Harmodius and other honored persons (IG I2, 77, 11-17; PI. Ar. 36 b; Adv. Alc. 31).162 Among the legislative measures of Solon were the establishment of monetary rewards for the winners of pan-Greek competitions. The ancient tradition here is contradictory: according to one version, Solon reduced the state awards to the winners, bringing them to 500 drachmas for the olympionist and 100 drachmas for the isthmionist and the corresponding amounts for winners in other games (D. L. I, 55-56); according to another version, he gave awards of 500 drachmas and 100 drachmas to isthmionists to the Olympic winners (Plut. Sol. 23, 3).163
Diogenes Laertes' variant seems to be a construction in the spirit of the general notion that in ancient times, as in Homer, victory brought material benefits, so that the version transmitted by Plutarch has a better chance of being historically reliable. It is important, however, to emphasize that even the amount of 500 drachmas could not be compared with the costs and losses associated with a successful performance at the games, and therefore had, above all, a symbolic value.164
A recently found inscription of the 6th century has a completely different meaning165, indicating that Sybaris paid the Olympic winners a significant amount, a tenth of which was enough to pay for the statue of the winner in human height.166 Not limited to such measures, the citizens of Sybaris staged an agon with valuable prizes with the Olympic Games, thus entering into competition with them, which caused general indignation in the Greek world (Her. Pont, fr. 49 Wehrli). These facts are in good agreement with what the sources report about the moral decline of this community and, representing a special case, only emphasize the orientation of Greek agonistics as a whole to prestige, and not to immediate benefits.

162 Compare: Xenoph. fr. 2, 8-9 G.-P. Preuner E. Zum attischen Gesetz über die Speisung im Prytaneion // Hermes. 1926. Bd. 61. S. 470-474.
163 Compare: Hönle. Op. cit. S. 56-59; Bilinsky. Agonistica. P. 34.
164 Rachel Robinson, exaggerating the significance of the Solon payments, goes so far as to assert that the 500 drachma award moved the Olympic winner to the class of pentacosiomedimnes (Robinson R. S. Sources for the history of Greek athletics. Cincinnati, 1955. P. 59-60).
165 Wed. See also: Xenoph. fr. 2, 9 G.-P.
166 Guarducci M. Sulla tabella bronzea iscritta di Francavilla Marittima// RAL. 1965 Vol. 20. P. 392-395; Ebert. Epigramme. S. 251-255 (Addendum).

138

The glory associated with winning the games, especially the Olympic ones, was regarded as the highest happiness available to man (Pind. Pyth. X, 41 sq.; Ael. HA 16; X, 41 sq.) and even bringing him closer to the gods (Luc. Anach. 10; Hor. Carm. I, 1, 5-6). To the Olympic winner Diagoras, who was among the spectators in Olympia, when his sons and grandsons won, one Spartan said: “Die, for you will not ascend Olympus!” (i.e., “you have reached the limit of what is possible”).167 An implausible, but characteristic of the Greek attitude to agonistics, tradition claims that the famous Spartan ephor Chilo, one of the seven wise men, died of joy when his son won the Olympic Games (D. L. I, 73).168 The fame of the most famous of the Greek athletes, Milo of Croton, about whose strength there are numerous legends,169 even reached the Persian king Darius I (Hdt. III, 137). Athlete Polydamantus from Scotussa (Thessaly) was kept by the Persian king at court (Schol. PI. Res. 338 s).
The Olympic winners were repeatedly chosen as Oikists - the founders of the colonies,170 and in general the glory of the winner at the pan-Greek games sharply increased - for those who aspired to this - the opportunity to take a leading position in the management of their native policy.171 Thus, at the head of the Megarians in their war with Corinth stood the Olympic winner of 720 BC. e. Orsippus.172 The seven-time Olympic winner, the Spartan Chionides was among the first colonists of Cyrene

167 Plut. Pelop. 34; Ep. four; pause. VI, 7, 3; cic. Tusc. I, 46, 111; Gel. III, 15, 3; see: Moretti L. Olympionikai, i vincitori negli antichi agoni olimpici. Roma, 1957. P. 94-95; Solon in Lucian says that the winners were considered equal to God - ίσόθεοι (Anach. 10).
168 See: Moretti. Olympionikai. R. 183.
169 Olivieri A. Civiltägrecanell" Italiameridionale. Napoli, 1931. P. 83-98; Modrze A. Milon (2)// RE. 1932. Bd. 15. Sp. 1673 ff.; Hönle. Op. cit. S. 83 ff.; Bilinski. Agonistica, P. 39 s.
170 Hönle. Op. cit. S.47ff
171 Ehrenberg V. Aspects of the ancient world. New York, 1946. P. 117; Berve. Tyrannis. bd. 1. S. 208. - Very interesting material about the use of the glory of the Olympic winner for political purposes is given by K.K. Fraser and Cornford (Zelin K. K. Olympionics and tyrants // VDI. 1962. No. 4. P. 21-29).
172 Hammond N. G. L. The Heraeum at Perachora and Corinthian encroachment//ABSA. 1954 Vol. 49. P. 93-102 (see: R. 97).

139

(Paus. III, 14, 3). The Athenians in the war against Mytilene in the VI century. BC e. they appointed the Olympionist Frinon as commander (D. L. I, 74). The famous fist fighter Nikodorus of Mantinea, in his old age, became a legislator in his homeland (Ael. VHII, 23). The victory of the Athenian aristocrat Cylon in running at the Olympic Games helped him, according to historical tradition,173 decide to attempt to seize power in Athens (Hdt. V, 71; Thuc. I, 126).174
Cimon Sr., expelled from Athens by Peisistratos, lost to Peisistratus the victory of his horses at the Olympic Games, for which he was returned to their homeland according to the agreement. However, when his horses won the third victory at Olympia, the sons of Peisistratus sent an assassin to him (Hdt. VI, 103). The tyrants Cleisthenes of Sicyon and, possibly, Periander of Corinth sent horses to competitions in Olympia and won victories, thus maintaining their prestige.175 Even at the end of the 5th century. BC e. Alcibiades, having sent an unprecedented number to Olympia - seven teams of horses and having won three prizes, was able to turn this demonstrative action into which many Greek cities were drawn, supporting him with some fodder, some with wine for a treat, into a considerable help in their political career(Thuc. VI, 16; Adv. Alc. 25-30; Isocr. XVI, 34; Plut. Alc. 11-12).176
The Athenian politician Callius, an opponent of Pericles, apparently tried to use his fame as a pankratiast in the struggle for power - the winner at the Olympic and all other Greek games, as well as at the Great Panathenaia.177 The Macedonian king Alexander I (first half of the 5th century BC e.) took part in the running competitions in Olympia, for which he had to prove his Greek origin to the Hellanodics (Hdt. V, 22). As for Philip

173 Here, however, one cannot remain silent about the fact that some researchers have expressed doubts about the correctness of the underlying identification of the Olympionist Cylon with the conspirator (see: Aristotle "s Constitution of Athens / Transl. by K. von Fritz, E. Kapp. New York, 1950. P. 23).
174 To the surprise of Pausanias (I, 28, 1), in Athens, despite the crime he had committed, his statue stood.
175 Gardiner. Or. cit. R. 35.
176 Hatzfeld J. Alcibiade: Etüde sur l "histoire d" Athenes ä la fin du Ve siecle. Paris, 1940. P. 130 s., 139 s., 317; Frolov E.D. Greek tyrants (IV century BC). L., 1972. S. 22.
177 Moretti. Incrizioni. N 15. R. 33-35; Vanderpool E. Ostracismat Athens. Cincinnati, 1970, pp. 25-26.

140

II, then he gave so great importance victory of his horses in Olympia, which even marked this with special issue coins (Plut. Alex.
4).178
The son of the famous athlete Diagoras, the winner in many agons, the Rhodian Doria, having equipped his own ship, participated in the Peloponnesian War on the side of the Spartans. Nevertheless, when the Athenians took him prisoner and he was taken to the Athenian people's assembly, it ordered the glorious athlete to be released (Xen. Hell. I, 5, 19; cf. I, 1,2; Paus. VI, 7,4 sq.).179 Alexander the Great set free the Theban Dionysodorus, who had arrived as an ambassador to Darius III, out of respect for his victory at the Olympic Games (Arr. Anab. II, 15, 4).180
Admiration for the achievements of athletes went so far that they were sometimes credited with supernatural abilities. So, about Olympionics - the wrestler Taurosthenes from Aegina was told that his ghost announced his victory on the same day on Aegina (Paus. VI, 9, 3; Ael. VH IX, 2). The statue of the athlete Polydamant at Olympia healed the sick (Luc. Dial. D. 12).
In a number of cases, outstanding athletes were revered as heroes.181 Thus, Pausanias says that the Achaeans did not pay due honors to their Olympionist (756 BC), Oibot. When he cursed his fellow citizens in anger, so that none of them could win the Olympic Games anymore, the Achaeans turned to Delphi and began to revere Oibot as a hero in order to only remove his curse from themselves (Paus. VI, 3, 8; VII, 17, b).

178 Collart R. Philippes. ville de Macedoine. Paris, 1937. P. 165.
179 Compare: Swoboda Η. Dorieus//RE. 1905. Bd. 5 Sp. 1560 f. 180 See: Berve. Alexanderreich. bd. 2. No. 297. S. 369.
181 Rohde. Op. cit. S. 192ff.; Honle. Op. cit. S. 98ff. - Fr. Bohringer is looking in vain for a special explanation for the fact that the objects of the cult were athletes with ethically dubious biography (Bohringer Fr. Cultes d "athletes en Grece classique: propos politiques, discours mythiques / / REA. 1979. T. 81. P. 5-18; ep (Nilsson. Geschichte. Bd. I. S. 189-191; Kirk G. S. Myth: Itsmeaningand ftinctions in ancient and othercultures). Cambridge, 1970.P. 186 ff.) As early as the 2nd century AD, by order of the archaizer Hadrian, a bull would be sacrificed annually at the tomb of Alcibiades (Athen. 574 e-f).
182 See: Moretti. Incrizioni. N 6. R. 60-61; Honle. Op. cit. S. 105 f.; Ebert. Epigramme. No. 22. S. 84-86.

141

life and made monthly sacrifices. Once they sent him to the embassy, ​​but, suspecting him of bribery, they threw him in prison and began to insult the statue. The epidemic forced them to read Euthicles again (Callim. fr. 84-85 Pfeiffer; Euseb. Praep. evang. V, 34).183 The famous fist fighter Cleomedes from Astypalea killed about 60 boys in a rage, and when they wanted to stone him, he hid. His body disappeared, and the Delphic oracle ordered him to be honored as the last hero (Plut. Rom. 28; Paus. VI, 9, 3 sqq.). Hipposthenes, the victor in the struggle, may have had a temple in Sparta, where he was revered along with Poseidon (Paus. III, 15, 7). The fist-fighter Diognetus of Crete is reported to have killed his adversary in a contest at Olympia, who bore the name of Hercules, and was disqualified by the judges, but was revered as a hero by his fellow citizens (Ptol. Hephaest. ar. Phot. Bibl., p. 151 B ).184
The supernatural abilities of glorious athletes and the heroic honors paid to them were sometimes associated with the idea of ​​their supernatural origin from some deity. So, about the Olympionist Diagoras, already mentioned by us, the ancestor of a whole dynasty of victorious athletes, they said that he was the son of Hermes and the second Hercules (Schol. Pind. Ol. VII, 1, p. 195, 199 Drachmann). Athlete Attalus was considered the son of the river Meander by his own father (Epist. X, 7, 8). Glaucus from Karist was considered a descendant of Glaucus, a sea deity (Paus. VI, 10, 1 sqq.).
Two statues of the athlete Evtimus - one in Olympia and the other in his homeland in Locri - were struck by lightning on the same day, and the Delphic oracle ordered him to make sacrifices during his life and after death (Plin. ΗΝ VII, 152). Evtim defeated the pernicious hero, or demon, who tormented his fellow citizens, and was considered the son of the river god Kaikin.185 The existence of a legend about the origin of Evtim from the divine

183 Moretti. Incrizioni. N 180. R. 83-84.
184 Ibid. N 181. R. 84.
185 Plin. NH VII, 152 = Callim. fr. 98-99 Pfeiffer; pause. VI, 6, 3 sqq.; Ael. VH VIII, 18. See: De Sandis G. L "eroe di Temesa / / AATorino. 1909-1910. Vol. 45. P. 164 s .; Oldfather W. A. ​​Euthymos // RE Suppl. 1918. Bd. 3. Sp 457 f., Gianelli G. Culti e miti della Magna Grecia, Firenze, 1924, pp. 223-224, 261-277, Ciaceri, E. Storia della Magna Grecia, Vol. ; Berard J. La colonization grecque de l "Italie meridionale dans l" antiquite. Paris. 1957. P. 24; Gallavotti C. Iscrizioni di Olimpia nel sesto libro di Pausania// BPEC. 1979. Fasc. 27. P. 3- 29 (see: R. 10-12).

142

wa Kaikin, who eventually took him to himself (Ael. VH VIII, 18), is now confirmed by the discovery of a terracotta with an image of a river deity in the form of a bull with a human face on one side and with an image of a young man with the name Εϋτυμ[ο]ς - on the other .186
One of the most famous athletes of Hellas Theagen from the island of Thasos after the end of his sports career(mid-5th century BC) studied in his homeland state affairs. When, after his death, one of his enemies beat his statue with a whip at night, the statue fell and crushed the offender. The statue was condemned and thrown into the sea. After some time, crop failure began, and the statue, at the direction of the Delphic oracle, was put back in its original place, chained for safety (Dio Chrys. XXXI, 95-99; Paus. VI, 11, 6 sqq.; Euseb. Praep. evang. V, 34 , 9). This statue, as well as the statues of Theagenes erected elsewhere, healed the sick, and Theagenes was given cult honors as a god (Paus. VI, 11, 8-9; Luc. Dial. D. 12). It was believed that Theagenes was the son of Hercules (Paus. VI, 11, 2). The sanctuary of Theagenes and the foot of the statue were found during excavations in Thasos.187
In general, the statement of Dionysius of Halicarnassus is characteristic: “Many athletes were even recognized as equal to gods, and some are revered as gods” (Rhet. VII, 7).
For the glory that victory could bring, Greek athletes were willing to take the risk of shame, public reproach that followed defeat, and defeat was considered any place in the competition, except for the first. Pindar speaks vividly of the shame of the defeated, of how they try to return home unnoticed (Ol. VIII, 69 sqq.; Pyth. VIII, 85 sqq.). At Olympia, those who, having suffered a defeat, tried to escape shame by hiding unnoticed (Arr. Epict. III, 22, 52), were scourged. 188 The defeat of a famous athlete could be used to ridicule his city. 189 According to Pausanias (Paus. VI, 8, 3), he committed suicide, seeing that he was weakening with age and no longer had a chance of victory.190

186 Notizie degli scavi di antichita. 1946. 146 s.
187 Pouilloux. Op.cit.P. 62-105; Launey M. Le sanctuaire et leculte d "Heracles ä Thasos. Paris, 1944. P. 134; Hönle. Op. cit. S. 100 f.. 171 ff.: Ebert. Epigramme. N 37. S. 118-126.
188 Muth. Op. cit. S. 167. Anm. 13.
189 This is how Huxley (Η u xl ey. Simonides, pp. 239-240) interprets Simonides' mockery of Crios of Aegina (Simon, fr. 2 Page).
190 Moretti. Incrizioni. N273. R. 98.

143

Along with the athletic and horse agons that played a huge role in the life of the ancient Greeks, various other competitions were held in Greece in the types of activity or simply natural qualities, devoid of a directly obvious function in the life of society. We will talk about musical agons in Chap. IV.
Now let's note the dance competitions witnessed from ancient times and somewhat similar to the athletic agons. Thus, dancing competitions, possibly with a ball, obviously, are meant by one of the oldest Greek inscriptions - the inscription on the Dipylon vase. Competitions in dancing with weapons were arranged by Greek warriors - participants in the campaign of Cyrus the Younger during the retreat to the sea (Xen. Anab. VI, 1).
Competitions between representatives of the phyla in strength and beauty among men took place in Athens during the Great Panathenaia and festivities in honor of Theseus. 192 Competitions in beauty among men were held in Elis (Athen. XIII, 565 A, 609 F). Contests in ευεξία (SIG3 1060, 3; 1061, 3, \fy 1062, 5 and an inscription from Gorgippia193) and in ευταξία (SIG3 1061, 4, 17) are epigraphically attested. Herodotus, clearly conveying the opinion of contemporaries of events, says that the Spartan Callicrates was the most beautiful warrior among the Greeks who fought at Plataea (IX, 72). Olympionic Philip, the son of Butakid of Croton, a contemporary of the Spartan Doriaus, was considered the most beautiful of the Greeks of his time, so the inhabitants of Egesta in Sicily erected a temple on his grave (Hdt. V, 47). A parody competition in beauty is described by Xenophon (Symp. 5).
On a number of occasions beauty contests were held among women (Theophr. fr. 564 FHSG),194 and the "Judgment of Paris" in the myth of the Trojan War,

191 Jüthner. Leibesubungen. S. 48. - B. W. Warnecke even believed that the vase was given to the winner as a reward by the state authorities, as later Panathenaic amphoras (Warnecke W. W. Tanzkunst // RE. 1932. Bd. 4 A. Sp. 2243).
192 See: Jüthner J. Εύανδρίας άγων // RE. 1932. Bd. 6 Sp. 839. To the testimonies cited by Yutner, one can add: Arist. Ah. Paul 60, 3; cf. See also: SIG3 1055, 75.
193 See: Kublanow. Or. cit. S. 140.
194 See: Usener Η. Über vergleichende Sitten- und Rechtsgeschichte: Vorträge und Aufsätze. Leipzig, 1907. S. 145 ff.; Nilsson M. P. Kallisteia//RE. 1919. Hlbbd. 20 Sp. 1674; Ringwood. Op. cit. P. 7, 93.

144

perhaps it is a reflection of them.195 More than about other competitions of this kind, we know about the competitions held since ancient times in Lesbos.196 In Megara on Dioklia, they competed in kisses (Theocr. XII, 30 pp. schol.).197
In Athens, at the festival of Choi (Χόες), they competed in drinking wine,198 and in Corinth such a competition was allegedly organized by the tyrant Periander (Athen. 437 F - 438 A).199 Cockfights were also held in Greece (Pind. Ol. XII, 14) and quails, which the Athenians in particular were fond of (PI. Leg. 789 b^; Ael. VH II, 28; Luc. Anach. 37).200
Returning, however, to our idea that the spirit of Greek agonistics could spread to various spheres of life, we must emphasize that the possibility of such a transfer was noted already in antiquity. So, in Lucian, who apparently relied on more ancient sources, in his Anacharsis, Solon, along with other valuable aspects of athletic agonism, notes the stimulation of competition between citizens in various spheres of life that is useful for the state (Luc. Anach. 14 sqq.). 201

195 Wilamowitz-Moellendorff. Sappho and Simonides. S. 42. Anm. one; Ehrenberg. East & West. S. 76.
196Alc. fr. 24 with Diehl = 130 L.-R; Anth. Pal. IX, 189; Ah. 610a; Hesych, s. v. Πυλαιίδες; Schol. II. IX, 129. Cf. Alfonsi L. Lesbia//AJP. 1950 Vol. 71. P. 63. Perhaps Snell is right in thinking that these competitions are already in mind in II. IX, 129-130
197 Ringwood. Op. cit. P. 10.
198 Nilsson. Geschichte. bd. I. S. 587.
199 See also: Plut. Alex. 70. Apparently, eating competitions were also practiced in Greece (see: Ath. 412 a sqq.). L. Radermacher suggested that Epicharm depicted such competitions in his comedies (Radermacher L. Aristophanes "Frösche: Einleitung, Text und Kommentar. 3. Aufl. Graz, 1967. S. 31).
200 Berve. Gestaltende Krafte. S. 3.
201 Compare: Heinze R. Anacharsis//Philologus. 1891. Bd. 50. S. 458-468.

Prepared by edition:

Zaitsev A.I.
Cultural upheaval in ancient Greece VIII-V centuries. BC e. / Ed. L. Ya. Zhmudya. 2nd ed., rev. and reworked. - St. Petersburg: Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University, 2000. - 320 p.
ISBN 5-8465-0015-3
© A. I. Zaitsev and heirs, 2000.
© L. Ya. Zhmud. Introductory article, compilation, translation, 2000
© Faculty of Philology, St. Petersburg State University, 2000.

We recommend reading

Top