Competition is strife through Classical Greece, and Pleket argues that this is an “essential ingredient in the educational system” of the poleis, which given its high concentration within the society appears to be a given. However, there is scholarly debate over whether this competition crafted an agonistic culture. Pleket claims that competition underwent a “gradual but persistent decay,” from being perceived as positive around 800 BC, to corrupt by the middle of the fifth century, where athletes were “merely interested in money and prizes.”
Both Homer and Hesiod set out the competitive culture of ancient Greece, where games “honoured funerals, celebrated military victories, marked the foundations of cities, [and] paid homage to gods and heroes” (Poliakoff). The Iliad ends with the funeral games which celebrate the hero Patroclus, and the Odyssey features games to culturally integrate Odysseus with the Phaeacians. Hesiod’s Works and Days further emphasises how competition is fundamental and beneficial to Greek society: ‘men pay harsh Strife [Eris] her honour due…This Strife is wholesome for men. And Potter is angry with Potter, and craftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel.’ Hesiod, therefore, justifies this bloodthirst through the lens of masculine violence, albeit he ultimately views this as an improvement of skill and, more widely, society. Almost 900 years later, Pausanias’ writings about his travels reveal that this competitive identity remains: he claims that, for a city to identify as a city, it must have a gymnasium so that men can train to fight in war, and can train for competition.
Types of Competition
Classical Greece held a variety of competitions, from theatrical to military. These competitions occur in every Greek community where historians have enough evidence from: competition is simply a vital part of the religious programme.
There was a range of musical and theatrical competition, such as the Gymnopaedia at Sparta, dithyrambic competitions at Dionysia, rhapsodic performances of Homer at Panathenaia, and dramatic festivals in Athens. Laurel wreaths were often rewarded to playwrights and actors, and in later competitions, monetary prizes were also awarded, possibly showing this switch from positivism to materialism.
Athletic competition was, naturally, incredibly common, with running, wrestling, lifting, and chariot racing being competed across the classical world. Running was competed in various distances and formats, including the hoplitodromos (a race in military armour) and the lampadedromia (a torch race). Similarly, wrestling and boxing was commonly reported, with Pausanias describing how Theagenes of Thasos ‘won three victories at Pytho…nine prizes at Nemea and ten at the Isthmus.’ Theagenes is then said to have ‘devoted himself to winning fame among the Greeks for his running…his ambition was to rival Achilles.’ Pausanias said that Theagenes won a combined total of one thousand and four hundred crowns, though this statistic is exaggerated, showing the significance of winning these competitions. Similarly, an Olympia inscription from an athlete during the middle of the sixth century details how ‘Bybon son of Phola, has lifted me over [his] head with one hand,’ showcasing the prowess displayed at these competitions.
Militaristic competition, whilst slightly less common, also flourished in the classical world. In terms of cavalry, the Anthippasia in Athens was a mock battle between cavalry units; the Bryaxis base celebrates a victory in one of these competitions from the middle of the fourth century. Likewise, the navy held competitions, where ‘the first [trireme commander] to bring his ship along, let the People crown him with a gold crown of 500 drachmas, the second with one of 300 drachmas, and the third with one of 200 drachmas.’
Lastly, civic competition awarded honours for the best political advice and/or service; this political competition was a bigger crowd-pleaser than long-term policies that benefited the state. The competitions were intended to ‘honour the man who seemed to have spoken and acted best and incorruptibly on behalf of the Athenian Council and People throughout the year,’ and this individual was awarded a ‘gold crown of 500 drachmas.’
Qualifications for Entry
It is easy to view the Classical Greeks as an exclusionary society, and their competitions showcase the requirements that they enforced on every aspect of their society. Least surprisingly is the requirement of Greek ethnicity for participation in Panhellenic festivals and contests, such as Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games. One has to be Greek, or at least be able to make a case for their Greekness, as Alexander did in Herodotus’ discussions on whether Macedonian kings were Greek. Not only is Greekness, therefore, a requirement, but participation in these competitions are a show of Greekness, crafting an inescapable loop.
Polis identity is another factor which shapes and grants access: political reasons and inter-poleis conflict can lead to individuals being excluded or outright banned from certain competitions. For example, the Spartans were temporarily banned from the Olympic Games around 420 BC, when they engaged in conflict with the city of Elis, where in which they were ‘excluded from the temple by the Eleans, and thus prevented from sacrificing or contending, for having refused to pay the fine specified in the Olympic law…during the Olympic truce’ (Thucydides).
There are often mixed scholarly opinions on whether each class of individual was represented in competitions; unfortunately, sources are scarcely interested in slave participation in social situations. This speculated participation could be implied by Demosthenes: ‘you, therefore, being well aware that slaves and aliens share in the other sports but that dismounting [apobates] is open only to citizens and that the best men aspire to it, have eagerly applied yourself to this sport.’ This could, however, be a rhetorical exaggeration, a frequent occurrence in ancient sources.
As to be expected, there are harsh requirements when it comes to age groups and gender. Most sources refer to ‘boys’ or ‘young men,’ fulfilling the assumption that competitions were singularly dominated by youthful males.
However, there is scholarly debate over whether there was a Spartan exception, as there is reasonable evidence of female choral competition, as well as female athletic competitions. In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, the Spartan women were described as competing in bibasis (‘buttock-jumping’), where they ‘take exercise and jump-kick [their] butt.’ As this is a non-Spartan source and features in a comedic play, it is highly likely that this evidence is merely a humorous condescension towards Spartan women from Athenian men. However, the red-figure Pelike from Athens in the late sixth-century depicts male bibasis. This could reveal some historic truth behind Aristophanes’ comedic interpretation, and could be a way of mocking improper Spartan women in comparison to the idealised Athenian women.
Another exception could be wool-working contests, seen in the Attic black-figure cup from the late sixth century (found in Taras) that depicts the carding of wool. It is possible, alternatively, that this field of competition was a sexual slur and euphemism as part of male gossip, as the inscription of the kylix cup reads ‘I am Melosa’s victory-prize; she defeated the girls in carding.’
Prizes and the Evolution of Prizes
Honour is one of the most significant prizes gained from these competitions in the classical world. Herodotus puts it simply: ‘the prize was not the money, but a crown [of olive].’ This creates a juxtaposition in presentation between the Greeks and the Persians, who were depicted as materialistic under the Athenocentric picture.
Honour is gained for both individuals and gods, and could also be exchanged for other things, such as Greek identity and familial honour. For individual honour, one could receive victory odes commissioned by elite victors, such was the case with Pindar (Pythian 1 celebrating his victory in the Chariot Race of 470) and Bacchylides’ (celebrating Chariot Race at 468 Olympic Games) odes to Hiero I of Syracuse. Similarly, prizes were regularly dedicated to the gods as thank-offerings and as commemorations.
Competition and Community
Glory is transferable, as seen in Thucydides when Alcibiades believes he has a ‘better right to command’ than the others as he ‘represented it at the Olympic Games…and won the first prize.’ This is envied by fellow students, as when a man benefits himself, he clearly benefits the polis. Though, this is not a widely accepting view, and is arguably more of a fabrication than a historical account. Thucydides continues to say that ‘custom regards such displays as honourable, and they cannot be made without leaving behind an impression of power…naturally envied by my fellow citizens…when a man at his own private cost benefits not himself only, but his city.’
This collective benefit is also seen in Damonon the Competitive Lakedaimonian father in the early 4th century, whose ‘racehorse won on the same occasion, in a single day, and his son [Enymakratidas] won…on the same occasion.’ While his father dominates this race, this familial competition establishes firm familial glory.
There is evidence against the mirage of Spartan austerity, as the introduction of the horse-racing contest to the programme of six different religious festivals in Lakedaimon addressed the problem of the lack of Spartan cavalry expertise. Wealthy families who raised cavalry horses could, therefore, elevate their social status, which provided an incentive to wealthy families to invest resources in raising and training these horses for the Lakedaimonian cavalry. This elite ambition is easily transferred into the State receiving a pool of cavalry resources, creating a communal benefit.
As Poliakoff claims, ‘athletics were clearly part of the heartbeat of the Greek world,’ and this can be seen from Homer to Pausanias. Competition was one of the most important features of being Greek, and succeeding in any form of competition gave them what they most craved: honour and glory, for themselves, their families, and their polis.
Bib.
Herodotus, ‘Histories’
Hesiod, ‘Works and Days’
Homer, ‘The Iliad’ – translated by E. V. Rieu
Homer, ‘The Odyssey’ – translated by E. V. Rieu
Pausanias, ‘Descriptions of Greece’
Thucydides, ‘History of the Peloponnesian War’
Pleket, H. W, ‘Games, Prizes, Athletes, and Ideology: some aspects of the history of sport in the Greco-Roman World,’ in J. Koenig’s Greek Athletics (Edinburgh, 2010), pp. 145-174
Poliakoff, Michael, ‘Introduction: The Significance of Sport: Ancient Athletics and Ancient Society,’ Journal of Sport History, vol. 11, no. 2, The Significance of Sport: Ancient Athletics and Ancient Society (Summer, 1984), p. 5
IG II^3 1 306 (Athens, 343/2)
RO 100 (Athenian decree sending a colony to the Adriatic, 325/4)
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