Sport and Spectacle in the Hellenistic World

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Sport and Spectacle in the Hellenistic World

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Lecture Summary

• Hellenistic defined
• Hellenistic world A Brief historical overview
• Hellenistic World, Sport and Spectacle

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Hellenistic defined

• A Historical Period From the Death of Alexander
  the Great (d. 323 BCE) to the Death of Cleopatra
  VII (d. 30 BCE)
• An Artistic Style Characterized By 1.The
  refinement of Classical techniques, 2.The spread
  of Greek artistic styles and culture, 3.The
  fusion of Greek artistic styles and culture with
  local artistic traditions and culture
• A political system where local forms of
  government are under the suzerainty of
  territorial kings (god-kings) who rule over
  spear-won territory.
• Distinctive features a consequence of
  Greco-Macedonian expansion

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Historical OverviewPhilip II of Macedon and the
Unification of Greece

• Macedon and Classical Greece very different
  worlds Philip II brings these two worlds
  together
• Philip II educated in Thebes (Hellenophile)
• 359 BCE King of Macedon
• 358-356 BCE Subdues neighboring Barbarian
  tribes Reforms the army Reforms the nation
  (i.e. Urbanization Patronage of Greek artists,
  writers, philosophers etc.)

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• 351-342 BCE Increasing interference in Greek
  politics
• 342-1 BCE Subdues Thrace (Plans to invade
  Persia)
• 338 BCE Marched into Greece defeated a
  coalition Greek army at b. of Chaeronea
• Est. the Council of Corinth a Pan-Hellenic body
  composed of many poleis (except Sparta)
• 338-336 BCE Planned an invasion of Persia with
  Greek assistance assassinated in 336 BCE

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The Career of Alexander the Great

• 336 BCE - Became king of Macedon subdued a Greek
  revolt carried out the invasion of Persia (334
  BCE)
• 334 BCE b. of Granicus
• 333 BCE b. of Issus
• 332 BCE Conquest of Syria, Palestine, Egypt
  foundation of Alexandria
• 331 BCE Invasion of Mesopotamia b. of
  Gaugamela
• 331-327 BCE Conquest of Bactria/Sogdiana
  (Afghanistan/Pakistan)
• 327-325 BCE Conquest of Western India
• 323 BCE Death of Alexander in Babylon

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The Empire of Alexander
http//www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Alexander/MapAlexand
erEmpire.png
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After Alexander

• 322-275 BCE Funeral Games (Power struggle
  between Alexanders generals)
• From 275 BCE Final territorial settlement
• Antigonids in Macedon Part of Greece
• Seleucids in Asia Minor
• Ptolemies in Egypt
• Federated States in Greece (i.e. Aetolian League
  Achaean League Sparta)

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The Hellenistic World
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Implications of Hellenistic Developments

• Political the polis no longer the center of
  real political power
• Cultural 1.Spread of Greek culture and
  language, 2.Influence of non-Greek culture
• Sport 1.Spread of Greek Athletic Culture,
  2.Pressed into the service of Hellenistic
  God-Kings, 3.Modified by local traditions,
  4.Solidified Hellenic Identity

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Spread of Greek Athletic Culture

• Macedonian kings desirous of Hellenic pedigree
• Alexanders armies spread the Greek practice of
  athletic competition
• Successor kingdoms styled themselves as defenders
  of Greekness against barbarism

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The Greekness of the Macedonians Before Alexander

• A debate that existed in antiquity and exists
  today
• Demosthenes Macedonians are not Greeks but
  Barbarians
• Isocrates Macedonians are Greeks 1.The speak
  a Greek dialect, 2.Descendents of Herakles, 3.Kin
  to the ancient kings of Argos, 3.Participate in
  the Pan-Hellenic games

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Macedonians in Greek GamesAlexander I of Macedon
(498-454 BCE) Herodotus, 5.22

• Now that these descendants of Perdiccas are
  Greeks, as they themselves say, I myself chance
  to know and will prove it in the later part of my
  history. Furthermore, the Hellenodicae who manage
  the contest at Olympia determined that it is so,
  2 for when Alexander chose to contend and
  entered the lists for that purpose, the Greeks
  who were to run against him wanted to bar him
  from the race, saying that the contest should be
  for Greeks and not for foreigners

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• . Alexander, however, proving himself to be an
  Argive, was judged to be a Greek. He accordingly
  competed in the furlong race and tied step for
  first place. This, then, is approximately what
  happened. (A.D. Godley, 1920)

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Philips Olympic Victoryand the Birth of
Alexander (356 BCE)

• Just after Philip had taken Potidea, he had
  received these three messages at the same time,
  that Parmenio had overthrown the Illyrians in a
  great battle, that his race-horse had won the
  course at the Olympic Games, and that his wife
  had given birth to Alexander with which, being
  naturally well pleased, as an addition to his
  satisfaction, he was assured by the diviners that
  a son, whose birth was accompanied by three such
  successes, could not fail of being invincible.
  (Plut. Alexander, Dryden)

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Commemorating the VictoryMacedonian Tetradrachm,
ca. 359-356 BCE
http//www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/macedonia/ki
ngs/philip_II/LeRider_002v.jpg
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Alexander and the Spread of Greek Games

• Alexander promoted Greek athletics to 1.Promote
  his own Hellenic credentials, 2.Secure the
  loyalty of Greek allies
• Macedonian nobility was thoroughly hellenized at
  the time of Alexanders campaigns
• Substantial part of Alexanders army composed of
  Greeks

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The Funeral Games of Achilles 334 BCE

• Alexander went up to Troy, sacrificed to Athena
  and poured a libation to the heroes. At the tomb
  of Achilles, after anointing himself with oil and
  taking part in a race naked with his Companions,
  as is the custom, he deposited crowns and
  remarked how fortunate Achilles was to have had a
  faithful friend while he was alive and a great
  herald of his fame after his death.

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• While he was going sightseeing about the town
  someone asked him whether he wanted to see the
  lyre of Alexander i. e. Paris he replied that
  he was not interested in that one, but was
  looking for the lyre of Achilles, to which he
  used to sing the glorious deeds of brave heroes.
  (Plutarch, Alexander, 15. M.M Austin)

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The Tomb of Achilles ?Kesik Tepe, Turkey
http//www.livius.org/a/turkey/troy/troy_demetrius
_tumulus3.JPG
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Alexander and the Spread of Athletics(Athenaeus,
Deipnosophists 12.539C)

• Perdikkas and Krateros were such lovers of
  gymnik exercise that they brought along with them
  on the march a stadion-worth of goatskins beneath
  the shade of which once they had grabbed a
  place in the encampment they exercised. They
  also brought along many wagonloads of the kind of
  dust used in the palaistra. (S.G. Miller, 1991)

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Characteristics of Athletic Festivals in the
Hellenistic World

• founding of Greco-Macedonian kingdoms altered the
  nature of athletic competition 1.Change in the
  nature of government, 2.Influence of non-Greek
  populations
• Growing multiplicity of Games
• Assertion of Greek identity (Pan-Hellenism)
• Statement of Munificence (Euergetism)

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Defending Greekness Against BarbarismSIG 2 402
Delphi (246 BCE)

• Inasmuch as the Aitolians have been kinsmen and
  friends of the demos since the days of our
  forefathers, and have shown their reverence to
  the gods and their friendship toward us by
  sending as theoroi Kleon and Herakon and Sotion
  to announce the Soteria games which they are
  establishing as a memorial to the salvation of
  Greece and of the victory over the barbarians who
  were attacking the Greeks themselves, and in as
  much as the Aitolian League and the general
  Charixenos have also written to the demos about
  these affairs,

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• to inquire whether we would accept the musical
  competition as isoPythian and the gymnic and
  equestrian competitions as isoNemean with regard
  to the age categories and prizes, as they have
  been decreed, and whether the demos would
  increase the honors of the gods, commemorating
  the kinship and friendship which the Aitolians
  have for it.

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Kingship and MunificenceEumenes II of Pergamum
and the Nikephoria GamesSIG 630 182 BCE

• Resolved by the Amphiktyones that king Eumenes
  son of king Attalos be commended and crowned with
  a crown of the laurel sacred to Pythian Apollo
  with which it is traditional to crown those who
  do good voluntarily, on account of his arete and
  good will toward the Greeks to erect a bronze
  equestrian statue of him in Delphi to agree that
  the shrine of Athena Nikephoros in Pergamon be
  inviolate for all the time that king Eumenes
  might determine, and not to trespass on the
  defined area either in war and peace and also to
  accept the Nikephoria Games as stephanitic just
  as the king might think fit,

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• and that they shall be with regard to the age
  categories and the prizes for the victors, the
  musical isoPythian on the one hand, and the
  gymnic and equestrian isOlympic on the other.
  Also that this decree be inscribed in Delphi on
  the base of the statue of the king in front of
  the temple, and in Pergamon in the shrine of
  Athena Nikephoros and that the crown of the king
  and the inviolability of the shrine be proclaimed
  at the Pythian and the Soterian Games. (S.G.
  Miller, 1991)

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Kingship and EuergetismThe Philippeion (Olympia)
338 BCE
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The Philippeion
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The Coming of Rome

• Romans had extensive contact with the Greek world
  since the early 8th century BCE
• Increasing Roman military and political
  involvement in Greek world from ca. 228 BCE
• Direct imperial control of Macedon and Greece
  from 146 BCE
• Direct imperial control of Syria, Palestine,
  Judaea by 63 BCE Egypt by 30 BCE
• Special cultural and political relationship with
  the Greek world (i.e. Highly hellenized, Greek
  pedigree?, love-hate relationship)
• Romans come to 1.Participate in Greek Games,
  2.Modify Greek Games, 3.Support Greek Games

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Roman Involvement in Greek Games(228
BCE)Polybius, 2.12.8

• Having begun diplomatic contacts with Greece in
  228 B.C. the Romans straight away sent other
  ambassadors to the Corinthians and the Athenians,
  and it was then that the Corinthians first
  allowed the Romans to compete in the Isthmian
  Games. (S.G. Miller, 1991)

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Roman Adoption and Adaptation of Greek GamesThe
Games of Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (186 BCE)Livy
39.22.1-2

• Thenfor ten days and with a great show of
  wealth Marcus Fulvius Nobilior put on the ludi
  which he had vowed during the Aetolian War. Many
  actors came from Greece to pay honor to him. The
  also for the first time an athletic competition
  was put on as a spectacle for the Romans, and a
  venatio of lions and panthers was also given, and
  the festival was celebrated almost as it is now
  with regard to the number and variety of events.
  (S.G. Miller)

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The Italic Games NaplesIvO 56.11-28 (2 BCE)

• .no one younger than seventeen years is allowed
  to participate in the Italic isOlympic
  games.Athletes who wish to be registered as
  competitors in the Italic Games are to appear in
  Naples not less than thirty days before the
  festival and should register with the agonothetai
  their fathers name, their fatherland, and the
  competitive event to be entered.. (S.G. Miller,
  1991)

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Impact of Roman Imperialism on Greek Games

• Romans and other non-Greek Italians participate
  in some Greek games
• Roman imperialism promotes both Romanization and
  Hellenization of the Roman Empire
• Greek games become more cosmopolitan

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King Herods Munificence at Olympia(12
BCE)Josephus, BJ. 1.426-428

• King Herods beneficence to Elis was a gift not
  only to Greece but to the whole world, wherever
  the fame of the Olympic Games has reached. Seeing
  as these games were falling apart for lack of
  revenues and that this solitary relic of ancient
  Greece was sinking, he not only became
  agonothetes for that Olympiad when he was sailing
  to Rome but also produced permanent revenues so
  that the memory of his time as agonothetes would
  never fade. (S.G. Miller, 1991)

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Greco-Roman Games in Judaea (10 BCE)Josephus,
AJ. 16.136-141

• Kaisareia Sebaste, which Herod had been
  building, was finished in the 28th year of his
  rule, which occurred in the 192nd Olympiad.
  Immediately there was a great festival for its
  dedication with the most lavish preparations. He
  had announced games with music and gymnastic
  competitions, and had prepared a large number of
  gladiators and wild animals, and horse races and
  the most lavish sorts of things which had been
  manufactured for Rome and some other places. He
  dedicated these games to Augustus and prepared to
  celebrate them every four years. And Augustus,
  out of his own pocket, sent all the supplies
  needed for these celebrations, thus glamorizing
  his own philotima.

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• And Augustus wife Julia added from her own
  resources no less than 6,600,000. Those who came
  to the city in throngs as parts of delegations or
  of embassies which their native cities were
  sending because of the benefits with which those
  had been visited were welcomed by Herod with
  lodging and meals and continuous entertainment.
  (S.G. Miller, 1991)