Sports History Archive
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On War and Games in the Ancient World
Posted on March 10, 2013 | No CommentsNot surprisingly, at the Olympic Games and other such festivals, boxing matches sometimes ended with the death of the defeated opponent. Other Olympic sports were almost as brutal; they included the pankration, a form of unarmed combat in whichanything was allowed other than biting and gouging (a rule that was not always strictly observed). -
Why did ancient athletes compete in sports?
Posted on February 13, 2013 | No CommentsStanford scholar Susan Stephens says that modern sports may be misguided in attempting to emulate ancient Greek and Roman athletic ideals. -
A Literary Criticism of the Classical Themes and Allusions Found in The Hunger Games
Posted on December 29, 2012 | No CommentsThe Hunger Games is a richly interwoven tapestry of numerous intriguing parallels to historical events and literary staples. Although set in a futuristic society, the chief inspirations for its narrative structure and themes are drawn from the ancient Mediterranean world. Classical themes and allusions permeate the first novel, and the connections to the classical are mythological, historical, linguistic, and stylistic in nature. -
Bulls and Bull-leaping in the Minoan World
Posted on November 21, 2012 | No CommentsA religious function is also suggested by the portrait-like quality of some rhyta. In contrast to the stylized depictions of priestesses, princes, and even deities, the Bull -
The end of the Olympic Games in the Ancient World: Abolishment or Vanishing? Observations
Posted on September 28, 2012 | No CommentsThe importance of sport in the Greek world, as an expression of panhellenic unity over the city particularism and as model of a perfect and complex organi- zation, is stated by the institution of the four big games and by other less impor- tant feasts, but significant ones like the Panatheneans. -
History and Importance of Bath in Ancient Times
Posted on September 28, 2012 | No CommentsIn Ancient Greece, swimming was never considered as one of the traditional games (although, it is possible that the Isthmian Games were swimming competi- tions in the Sea of Corinth, in the true competitive Greek spirit). Among the Greeks, the Athenians and, above all, the Delians from Delos were the best swim- mers. Their ability is well-known. -
Maya Ritual and Myth: Human Sacrifice in the Context of the Ballgame and the Relationship to the Popol Vuh
Posted on September 24, 2012 | No CommentsWhat this paper intends to establish is the exploration of the role of ritual human sacrifice among the Maya with particular reference that this ritual possessed in the context of the ballgame. -
Violence in Sports: A Comparison of Gladiatorial Games in Ancient Rome to the Sports of America
Posted on September 24, 2012 | No CommentsAristocrats' funerals celebrated their victories and enhanced their reputations. Emperors presented the games to show the public how much power they had. Among the gladiators were thousands of prisoners of war. -
Magic in Ancient Greek Sport
Posted on September 16, 2012 | No CommentsAccording to the myth, Eubatos from Kyrene trusted so much the answer from an oracle, which promised him his victory as a sprinter, that in 408 B.C. he carried at once all alone his statue to Olympia, which was unique in history of ancient sport. -
Posted on September 12, 2012 | No CommentsThis in itself is not surprising, but Grossschmidt
