The Ancient Olympics: A History

The Ancient Olympics: A History

The word "athletics" is derived from the Greek verb "to struggle or to suffer for a prize." As Nigel Spivey reveals in this engaging account of the Olympics in ancient Greece, "suffer" is putting it mildly. Indeed, the Olympics were not so much a graceful display of Greek beauty as a war fought by other means.
Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were--fierce contexts between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, the author notes, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted to cheating and bribery. Contested always bitterly and often bloodily, the ancient Olympics were no an idealistic celebration of unity, but a clash of military powers in an arena not far removed from the battlefield. The author explores what the events were, the rules for competitors, training and diet, the pervasiveness of cheating and bribery, the prizes on offer, the exclusion of "barbarians," and protocols on pederasty. He also peels back the mythology surrounding the games today and investigates where our current conception of the Olympics has come from and how the Greek notions of beauty and competitiveness have influenced our modern culture.
As a Cambridge classicist and athletics coach, Nigel Spivey is uniquely qualified to write this eye-opening account of the Greek Olympics. Anyone interested in the ancient world or in the Olympic games will be fascinated by this revealing history.

Country	USA
Author	Nigel Spivey
Binding	Hardcover
EAN	9780192804334
ISBN	0192804332
Label	Oxford University Press
Manufacturer	Oxford University Press
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	304
PublicationDate	2004-08-13
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Studio	Oxford University Press
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00