HIST 3125 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Palaestra, Politeia, Cynisca
Document Summary
Old view: athletes were originally all amateurs from the social elite. Over time athletes became professionals and more athletes emerged from the lower classes: c. young (1984): greek athletes were never amateur; competition was never limited to members of the social elite. Pleket (1974): greek athletes were never amateurs; competition as always limited to the social elite. Athletics not restricted to the rich (in theory) but dominated by then (in reality) Sport as an elite occupation (belonging to the leisure class) Wealthy people have the resources to participate. Some sources claim that certain named athletes came from humble origins: Coroebus, the first olympic victor, was said to have been a butcher [ athen. 382b] Glaucus of carystus, originally a farmer, then became a famous boxer [pausanias, 6. 10. 1-3] Epigram of olympic victor: in the past, having on my shoulder a tough yoke, i used to carry fish from argos to nemea [aristotle, rhet. i365a 20]
