Arete

1
Arete

• The Vocabulary of Sport

2
Diagoras of Rhodes
Diagoras of Rhodes (??a???a?) a boxer. Victor in
the 79th Olympiad, 464 BC. His sons' and
grandsons' also became boxing and pancration
winners and in the 83rd Olympiad his sons
Damagetos and Acusilaus lifted their father
Diagoras on their shoulders in the stadium.
Diagoras was also a winner in the Isthmian Games
(4 times) and 2 times winner in Nemea. His other
son Dorieus and the two sons of his daughter were
also winners in various Games.
3
Arete 170 (Pausanias) Arete 248 (Pindar.
Olympian 7 also quoted by Miller in chapter 16)
4
MC Athletic Philosophy2008-2009
Monmouth College considers the intercollegiate
athletic program to be an integral part of the
total educational experience.  Subscribing to a
"sound mind in a sound body concept," the college
recognizes the significant contribution of
recreation, intramural and intercollegiate
athletics to the development of male and female
students. From a relaxed recreational program to
the very rigorous intercollegiate program,
Monmouth students can experience a wide range of
athletic opportunities. The College is committed
to providing equal opportunities for all its
students. It is the goal of the college to
provide experiences that will allow men and women
to achieve their maximum potential in both
academic and athletic endeavors. The health and
welfare of our students is paramount. Athletic
opportunities are provided in a context that
fosters character development, safe
participation, value enhancement and academic
achievement. The education and development of the
whole person is our fundamental commitment. The
college firmly adheres to the spirit and intent
of the rules and regulations of the National
Collegiate Athletic Association and the Midwest
Collegiate Athletic Conference. The College,
while integrating the mandates established by
both organizations, retains institutional
control. All policies, rules, and regulations are
reviewed regularly by responsible faculty and
administrative personnel.
5
The Vocabulary of Sport 
game lt ME game(n) lt OHG gaman glee  sport lt
disport lt L dis portare to carry away to
divert or amuse oneself  disport Chaucer. The
Parlement of Foules. And in a privee corner, in
disporte, Fond I Venus and hir porter
Richesse.   Chaucer. Wife of Baths Prologue He
hadde a book that gladly nyght and dayfor his
disport he wolde rede alway   Milton. Paradise
Lost. IX. 1041-1043 There they their fill of
love and love's disport Took largely, of their
mutual guilt the seal The solace of their
sin. Proverbs 10.23 (King James Version) It is
as sport to a fool to do mischief. Judges 16.25
(King James Version) And it came to pass, when
their hearts were merry, that they said, that
they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us
sport. And they called for Samson out of the
prison house and he made them sport and they
set him between the pillars.
6
Evolution of the word Sport(from the Oxford
English Dictionary)
sport lt disport lt L dis portare to carry
away 1. a) A pleasant pastime entertainment or
amusement recreation diversion (1440) b)     
Amorous dalliance or intercourse (1550) c)      
Pastime afforded by the endeavour to take or kill
wild animals, game or fish. (1653) e)       In
the proverbial expression the sport of kings,
originally applied to war-making, but later
extended to hunting and horse-racing
(1668) d.)     Participation in games or
exercise, especially those of an athletic
character or pursued in the open air such games
or amusements collectively (1863) 2. a)  in
sport, in jest or joke, by way of fun or
diversion not seriously or in earnest (1440) b)
     Jest, jesting mirth or merriment (1671)
7
Sport Around the World
Most other modern languages derived their word
from the English word Ukranian               
spórt Modern Greek       Spor Italian
                   sport German Sport Dutch
                   sport Gaelic
                  spors Turkish                
spor Rumanian              Spórt Japanese
               supotsu
8
Other Important Sports Terms
recreation to remake, recreate diversion to
turn aside, divert contest/contestant struggle
for victory or superiority from Latin for
testifying or witnessing together compete/compet
ition/competitor struggle or rivalry contest
for prize from Latin for seeking
together gynmasium from Greek for
naked arete Greek word for excellence,
virtue ludus Latin word for game or school
9
Greek Athletic Vocabulary
sense of competition (agon) for a prize
(athlos) agonagony athlosathlete athletes
"someone who competes for a prize (athlos)
arete Greek word for excellence,
virtue  kaloskagathos "good and noble"   The
terms sport and game imply leisure and
amusement which do not apply to Greek athletics.
  Greeks did not know the ideal of being a good
sport. Greek culture was highly
competitive. Rather they believed that  A nice
guys finish last. A winning isnt the main
thing, its the only thing. Show me a good loser
and Ill show you a loser. Greeks did not limit
such competition to athletics. There were also
poetic and musical competitions as well.  
10
Philosophy of SportMens sana in corpore sano (a
sound mind in a sound body)

• a medium of self- or life-fulfillment
• excess strength and the root of creative living
• play
• an aesthetic phenomenon
• ethical training
• a model of an achieving society
• a reaction compensating for and adjusting to the
  conditions of living in a world of industrial
  labor
• a sign-world
• a safety-value for aggression, instinctive
  reaction for the preservation of the race, and
  discharge through appetency
• a means in the class struggle of increasing
  production and overcoming alienation
• symbolized father-son conflict and substitute
  narcissistic satisfaction

For further development of these ideas, see
Philosophies of Sport.
11
Riefenstahl's Olympiad
Leni Riefenstahl 1901-2003) Olympiad (1936)