Summary Of Sport And Spectacle In The Ancient World

Dr. Donald Kyle, in his book Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient world, makes the argument that ancient Greek athletic participation was technically open to all male Greek citizens, but not all male Greeks could or did participate. Dr. Kyle asserts that because all male Greeks had access to athletics from youth that sport in ancient Greece was democratic. But, when it comes to spectacle or what would more modernly be seen as professional sport, it was often aristocratic athletes performing in front of a crowd of lower-class people. The way lower-class people would have perceived sport is much different than how an aristocratic athlete would have viewed sport. Sport in ancient Greece was not democratic; every male Greek citizen had the opportunity

to train in gymnasiums, but to become an athlete was an endeavor only the aristocrats had the time to pursue.

Being a spectator to an ancient Greek sporting event was limited to Greek male citizens. Since we know that participation in sports was open to all male Greek citizens, we can assume that most, if not all, those who came to see a spectacle were former athletes in some regard. In Kyle’s book (pg. 166) under the subtitle of “The “anomaly” of mass support for athletics”, Kyle discusses another authors work (D.M. Pritchard) that converses popular culture and popular attitudes about athletics were reflected in Old Comedy and speeches. Pritchard asserts that even though athletics preserved the wealthy and the privileged, the lower-class people still enthusiastically supported the athletes and athletics. He says that despite the non-elite Athenians seeing the rewards and privileges given to them, the lower-class people still identified with the athletes. Why? Spectators, assuming they themselves were former athletes, still carried a passion for athletics that did not die out when they became of age to stop playing games and start going to work for their families or going to war for their city-state. So, since they can not continue their athletic careers, they look to those

who were able to make a living out of playing sport and live vicariously through the athletes they watched. When they watch their favorite athletes they project what they perceive as redeemable qualities of man that they wish to express in their lives, but are not so easily able to since no one gathers to watch them perform their menial labor job or non-major victory in battle. Watching athletes gives the masses a distraction from their not so glamorous lives and lets them see the manly excellence they all wanted, but had to abandon because they were not wealthy enough to not work and just train full-time. Sport may have been democratic in Greece i.e. everyone had access to gymnasiums, but it was not democratic in the since that only the wealthy and the few had the time and resources necessary to reach a level of athleticism needed to become a professional.
Being an athlete in ancient Greece, more specifically an athlete performing at the highest levels at time, meant being born into an aristocratic family.

These athletes would not have trained in a public gymnasium, rather a private one with a trainer, probably a former professional athlete. The athlete does not work nor fight in war. More than likely became estranged with most of his fellow Greeks while growing up, except maybe other aristocrats and athletes. To the athlete, performance is vital to his self-worth. He knows his critics are right when they call him worthless to society. But, since he is the fastest runner or the best boxer, the masses love him. Until the day he loses the race or the match. He is humiliated. How could he go on when everyone in his city-state knows he is no longer the fastest or the strongest? Just like the story of the retired athlete Timanthes and his bow. Once he has lost his ability to draw the string back; he has lost his will to live. so he lit a fire and threw himself alive onto it. This sentiment was likelt shared with many athletes whose only purpose was to perform in front of crowds. Once they were out performed by the better man, they lost the only purpose they had in their community. Once the athlete is no longer a great runner or fighter, he has lost his place in front of the eyes of his fellow Greek men, thus has no longer any purpose within his society. To the athlete, sport is not democratic, it is

meritocratic.
To neither the spectator nor the athlete is athletics in ancient Greece democratic. Yet, they both still enthusiastically support it, despite its lack intrinsic value to society. For the spectators, athletics was just something that they used to do, but now enjoy watching those privileged enough to have time to become one of the greatest at. Knowing this the masses still support the athletes because the athletes bring pleasure and inspiration into their lives. Pleasure, by giving them an escape from their lives and entertainment for the day. Inspiration, by showing what manly excellence the Greeks posses in their people. To the athlete, performing sport in front of an audience is their only way to receive validation for themselves. They know that they are not producing anything or helping in the war effort, so they must put on a spectacle for their city-state. When they no longer can they are no longer useful and thrown to the wayside. That is why ancient sport in Greece was not democratic.