ANCH1240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Ibycus, Krater, Thersites
31 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
ANCH1240 The Rise of Ancient Greece
Week 5 Lecture
Lecture 5: The Culture of Archaic Greece
The Separate Greek Institutions:
• Athletic Games
• The Symposium
• Pre-Socratic philosophy
The World of the Agon ("contest")
Competition: A theme in the Iliad
• Agamemnon vs Achilles
• Odysseus vs Ajax
• Achilles vs Hector
• Glaucus and Sarpedon discuss it
Limits to Homeric Competition:
• Limited by social class (the case of Thersites)
• Limited in the range of activity (eg. Fighting, athletics, song)
• Limited in the types and quantities of rewards available
The Trend towards the Expansion of Competition
-Increasingly Competitive Environment
• Athletic Games
• Dramatic festivals (tragedy and comedy)
• Choral singing and dancing
• Dancing, potting, wool-spinning, surgery
• Beauty Competitions (Boys-Elis, Girls-Arcadia and Lesbos)
• Best kisser (Boys only- Dioclea in Megara)
-Increasing Social Class
• Elite = Athletic games, politics?
• Sub-elites = Some athletic contests (e.g. Running in heavy armour)
ANCH1240 The Rise of Ancient Greece
Week 5 Lecture
• 'Middling types' = participation in dramatic choruses and choral dances
• Mercantile classes = competitions in trade skills
Examining this Range of Contests:
-The Athletic Games (a place where religion and competition meet)
• The divine origins of the games- Zeus and Cronos, Heracles, and Pelops.
• Important role of sacrifices, oaths etc.
• The 'sacred truce'
• The athlete as 'dedication' or 'sacrifice' (e.g. music, wool fillet, sacrificial prizes)
-The 'crown' games
• Olympia, held every four years, in honour of Zeus Olympios, founded in 776 BC.
• Pythian, held every four years at Delphi, in honour of Apollo, founded in 586 BC.
• Isthmian, held in alternate years at Corinth, in honour of Poseidon, founded in 583 BC.
• Nemean, held in alternate years, in honour principally of Zeus at Nemea and then Argos,
founded in 573 BC.
-Events at Olympia (Archaic- classical)
• Running
• Combat
• Equine
• Pentathlon (discus, javelin, jumping, running and wrestling)
Official Prizes
• Crowns
-Wild olive (Olympia)
-Laurel (Delphi)
-Fresh celery (Nemea)
-Pine and dry celery (Isthmian)
• Cash prizes (minor games)
Fringe Benefits
• Athens- life-long dining rights at the Prytaneum + cash
• Sparta- right to fight alongside king
• Other states- cash, seats of honour, tax exemption, statues
Victory Songs (epinician ode)
• Earliest composer- Simonides of Ceos (556 BC - 467 BC)
Document Summary
The separate greek institutions: athletic games, the symposium, pre-socratic philosophy. Competition: a theme in the iliad: agamemnon vs achilles, odysseus vs ajax, achilles vs hector, glaucus and sarpedon discuss it. Limited by social class (the case of thersites) Limited in the range of activity (eg. fighting, athletics, song) Limited in the types and quantities of rewards available. Increasingly competitive environment: athletic games, dramatic festivals (tragedy and comedy, choral singing and dancing, dancing, potting, wool-spinning, surgery, beauty competitions (boys-elis, girls-arcadia and lesbos, best kisser (boys only- dioclea in megara) Sub-elites = some athletic contests (e. g. running in heavy armour) "middling types" = participation in dramatic choruses and choral dances: mercantile classes = competitions in trade skills. The athletic games (a place where religion and competition meet: the divine origins of the games- zeus and cronos, heracles, and pelops. Important role of sacrifices, oaths etc: the "sacred truce, the athlete as "dedication" or "sacrifice" (e. g. music, wool fillet, sacrificial prizes)
