Medicine Sport, vol. 14, pp. 16-23 (Karger, Basel 1981) Women and Sport in Ancient Greece A Plea for a Critical and Objective Approach M. Limmer Institute of Sport History, German University of Sport Sciences, Cologne, FRG Our great indebtedness to the ancient Greeks for the part they played in the development of systematic physical education and competitive sport and their lasting influence on the theory and practice of modern sport is undisputed, Nevertheless, in a number of cases educationalists and ideo- logists, in particular representatives of the Olympic movement, have unjus| fiably drawn on antiquity in order to support modern educational claims. Sport historians have often depicted the Greeks and their athletics as they would like them to have been and not as they really were. Essential elements of the so-called ‘Olympic idea’, such as the concept of amateurism, the maxim that ‘taking part is more important than winning’, and the aim of promoting peace and understanding amongst nations had no parallei in ancient Greece [Laémmer, 1977]. Despite the variety of national traditions and political systems that exists, in almost every country in the world women have today the acknowl- edged right to equality in sport and physical education, although the degree to which this has become a reality varies quite considerably. Women’s top class competitive sport is one of the most fascinating phenomena of our day. Advocates of women’s sport have put forward health, educational, philo- sophical, and politico-emancipatory arguments in support of their case. But they have also referred to ancient Greece, maintaining that women engaged in physical exercises in those days and also took part in contests. They regarded this approach as the best way of breaking the stubborn resistance of intellectually minded educationalists and conservative sports officials who, under the influence of neo-humanist concepts of education, looked upon the Greeks as a model and an authority in almost every respect. To this end, many sport historians have assiduously collected references‘Women and Sport in Ancient Greece 17 to physical exercises for women widely scattered throughout the classical world and combined these disiecta membra to form a positive picture that was required for educational aims. This procedure is reminiscent of the repeated attempts by supporters of the idea of ‘muscular Christianity’ or rather of the Jewish national sports movement to gain legitimacy through references to the Old and New Testaments [Lammer, 1973]. The methods used by many authors, however, are characterized by three major short- comings: (a) Since a lack of philological knowledge debarred them from having direct access to the source material, they relied primarily on often inadequate translations and secondary literature. (b) In order to provide any evidence at all in view of the shortage of genuine and substantial material, they liberally extended the terms ‘sport’ and ‘physical exercise’ to dancing, , bathing and personal grooming, social and children’s games, and to the entire recreational sector. (c} Since, on account of their ideological bias, they had to find what they wanted to find, in controversial cases they nearly always applied the principle of in dubio pro sport. It is only in the last 20 years that some scholars have been able to detach themselves from the old clichés in favour of an objective approach [Harris, 1964; Friedrichs, unpublished; Eisen, 1976; Piernavieja del Pozo, 1963]. The time at my disposa! is, of course, too short for me to embark on a detailed analysis of the topic. Permit me, therefore, merely to outline the present level of research and to give a brief critical appraisal of the results. I shail purposely omit the Cretan-Minoan epoch, the allegedly matriarchal features of which have given rise to a great deal of speculation in the field of sport history [Zisen, 1976, pp. 105-164]. The Position of Women in the Society of the Greek Polis Apart from one or two peculiarities in Dorian communities, the roles of the sexes in archaic and classical Greece were strictly laid down. Men were active in public life and were responsible for politics, economic affairs and war. Women on the other hand had the sole task of looking after the home and the family. They ran the household and brought up the children. They rarely left their chambers and only then to attend to urgent domestic matters or religious duties. Women were excluded from the people’s assembly and all political activities and were refused access to many public institutions. In many places they had either no legal competency at all or only to a limited degree. Young men of free origin enjoyed a comprehensive physical andLammer 18 intellectual education which enabled them to exercise their rights and obliga- tions as fully fledged citizens and to take an active part in public life. Girls on the other hand were at best given elementary instruction in reading and writing in a private school. As for the rest, they were prepared for the practical realities of marriage and running a household by their mothers. Even the few outstanding female personalities in elevated circles are unable to brighten up this extremely gloomy overail picture. Socially, women in ancient Greece played a minor role which decisively restricted their development [Seltman, 1959; Burck, 1969; Zinserling, 1972]. Women and Physical Exercises On the basis of these premises it is possible to make the following categorical statements on the relationship of Greek women to sport: The athletic contests held periodically in many places were of military origin. They developed from funeral games in which warriors engaged in honour of their fallen leaders. Here we encounter women not as contestants but at best as prizes which the men tried to win [Homer, Iliad, XXII, 257ff; Weiler, 1974]. Whereas the aristocratic warriors constantly had to fight for rank and prestige amongst the nobility through their performance in battle and in contests, women had a fixed place in society — one that was ‘determined by nature’, The gymnasium, too, emerged in the 6th century BC as a military training ground for the able-bodied sons of the new middle class which had acquired wealth and political influence. As hoplites they were responsible for protecting the polis. Jt was only later, when intellectual subjects were introduced into the curriculum, that the gymnasium developed into a comprehensive educational institution [Delorme, 1960]. But since Greek women played no part in politics or in the defence of the polis, they did not participate in the exercises in the gymnasium or in public contests. Women and the Olympic Games. Only free-born male Greeks were permitted to compete at Olympia. A special law even prohibited married women ~ in apparent contrast to young girls — from entering the site of the festival under threat of execution [Kempe, 1936]. The only woman allowed to witness events inside the stadium was the priestess of Demeter Chamyne. Yet aristocratic women could still become Olympic champions by sending horses or chariots to the Games because it was not the paid jockeys and‘Women and Sport in Ancient Greece 19 drivers who were crowned which wreaths but the owners. Nevertheless, the success achieved by the King of Sparta’s daughter, Cynisca, in 396 and 392 BC and by several other women had hardly any sporting value. It served far more to satisfy a need for family propaganda — usually within the context of domestic politics [Moretti, 1953, 1957]. This also applies to the few cases in which women took over the patronage of an official contest (agonothesia) or of a gymnasium (gymnasiarchia) and of the costs involved [Oehier, 1912]. The Heraea and Similar Races. The Heraea at Olympia have been misun- derstood and wrongly interpreted time and again. According to Pausanias [V, 16, 2-4], every 4 years a council of 16 Elean women wove a new robe for the cultic statue of Hera and organized races for young girls in 3 age groups. But these were not genuine contests with foreign or even Panhellenic partici- pation, they were merely a traditional cultic ceremony for local girls [Pausanias If, 13,7]. it was only in Roman times that these races were to a certain extent adapted to the men’s contests in order to attract tourists [von Vacano, 1937; Harris, 1964, p.179]. It does not particularly inspire con- fidence that we should only hear of such an allegedly ancient institution for the first time through Pausanias who visited Olympia in 174 AD! Even the imaginatively constructed legend of its origins does nothing to alter this fact. The parallelism to the men’s contests (judges’ committee, age groups, olive branches, victory statues) is too superficial. The Olympic Games at Naples and at Antioch in Syria, and the Capetoliae founded in Rome in AD 86 by Domitian, also included races for women and girls based on the Elean modei. It is highly likely that they had acultic function. The majority of the female participants came from promi- nent families within the region. The victory inscription for Seia Spes from the year 154 AD [Buchner, 1952] refers to Naples. On the subject of the Olympics at Antioch see Malalas, Chronographia 287, 29-288, 17. On the Capetoliae: Sueton, Domitian 4,4; Cassius Dio 67,8. It is uncertain whether the inscription in honour of a certain Nicegora, which the humanist M. Souliardos purports to have seen in Patrae, refers to a similar race [Moretti, 1953, p. 168]. Three Sisters from Tralles. In this context one particular source has recently attracted a lot of attention. It is an inscription, found at Delphi in 1894, in honour of three sisters from Tralles in Asia Minor who, around the middle of the Ist century AD, won stade races, chariot races, and cithara- accompanied singing competitions at the Pythian, Isthmian and NemeanLammer 20 Games and at other festivals [I. Delphes 1, 534; Moretti, 1953, no.63]. The heterogeneity of the contests and several inconsistencies show that this was no doubt an exceptional occurrence which on no account can be seen as an indication that female athletics flourished in imperial Roman times. On the contrary, it appears that Hermesianax, the father of the three sisters who was apparently denied the privilege of having sons, managed to bring about and finance the (unique) staging of girls’ races or else to get his daughters admitted to male disciplines through personal connections with the organizers of the above-mentioned games in order to satisfy his paternal ambition {Langenfeld, 1975]. It is, of course, not possible for me here to enter into a detailed interpretation or to furnish specific arguments. A few other accounts of physical exercise allegedly engaged in by women have been handed down to us from the later period. There, however, are of a curious or anecdotal nature. At times erotic fantasy also appears to have played a role [Athenaeus XIII, 566e. Tacitus, Annals XV,32. Schol. Juvenal IV, 53. Suetonius, Domitian 22}, There few events were retained by historians for the very reason that they were unusual [in the case of girls’ races at the Capetoliae this is decisively emphasized by Cassius Dio 67,8). The Special Position of Sparta. Women occupied a somewhat higher position among the Dorians than they did in the other areas of Greece [Redfield, 1977/78]. This is made particularly apparent by the example of Sparta. The numerically inferior upper-class was only able to safeguard its control over the suppressed helots inside the country and over its dependent neighbours through constant defence readiness. Consequently, all areas of life were subordinate to the prime need to preserve the existing order. In this women played a specific, although limited role. Unfortunately, in Ionia and especially in Athens the conditions inside Sparta were vastly exaggerated and in some cases distorted out of all resemblance for the purpose of political propaganda or satire. The over- yigorous and totally unrestrained Spartan woman who in Attic comedy determines the politics of the men, and is intended to make the audience laugh, is just as much an unrealistic cliché as the Spartan woman who, in an idealizing and romanticizing retrospective view, is presented by later writers to their allegedly morally decadent contemporaries as the paragon of truce naturalness and moral purity [Aristophanes, Lysistrata 79-83; Propertius, Carmina Ili, 14]. Since hardly any of these writers had ever seen Sparta, in classical times an unbridgeable gap always existed between the real condi- tions in Sparta and the image created by outsiders. But even the Spartans’‘Women and Sport in Ancient Greece 2 conception of themselves did not correspond to reality. Consequently, the few accounts of Spartan education - especially that of girls’ education which is attributed to the legislator Lycurgus — should be viewed with extreme caution [Xenophon, Respublica I,4. Critias Fragm. 32. Plutarch, Lycurgus 14-15; Moralia 227d. Philostratus, Gymn. 27]. All that seems certain is that Spartan girls between the ages of 6 and 13 (like the boys but not with them!) received physical training that was designed to foster toughness, discipline, renunciation, subordination and a willingness to make sacrifices. But whether, as Plutarch maintains, they engaged in running, throwing the discus and the javelin, and in wrestling along the banks of the Eurotas is doubtful [P/utarch, Lycurgus 14-15; Propertius, Carmina III, 14 even mentions the boxing and the pancratium (!)]. In Sparta, too, the educational aims were totally different. Each youth was to become an outstanding warrior who was ready and able to stake everything in the defence of his state. The role of the women was to bear strong and healthy children and ensure the biological existence of the nation. Their physical exercises, therefore, were in the cause of eugenics. Nowhere in Greece was there such a close correlation between physical education and military objectives as in Sparta. If the physical exercises for both sexes really had been identical and had pursued the same aims, would we not also have been bound to come across female warriors in the final stages before the downfall of the Spartan state? Sparta, then, seems to have been the only place in ancient Greece where an ascertainable and notable attempt was made to introduce physical exercises for women. An impartial and careful analysis of the pertinent sources would be a rewarding assignment for a sport historian. The philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) is generally regarded as the main proof of an allegedly positive attitude by the Greeks towards physical education for women. In his model of an ideal state Plato, who disclaims that women are restricted by nature to specific social functions, also calls for physical education for women belonging to the ‘guards’ class which had to secure the external existence of the state [Plato, Respublica V, 451d-452b, 456b; Englert, 1940; Kurz, 1973]. But in laying down the concrete require- ments for the various age groups, in his ‘laws’ Plato does add certain restrictions. Girls are to receive basic military training (weapons training and riding) and also compete in races over four different distances. Girls are to exercise separately from the boys — naked up to the age of 13 and then in suitable clothing until they marry between the ages of 18 and 20. Major emphasis is placed on eugenic aims. According to Plato, onlyLammer 22 strong and physicaily hardened women can give birth to healthy and robust children. Furthermore, at the end of their child-bearing lives (between the ages of 35 and 50) women should be able to join a sort of ‘land army’ for defending the state in emergencies [P/ato, Leges VIII, 833c-834d]. On the other hand, Plato would have regarded athletic training and participation by girls in public contests for the purpose of personal projection and self- realization as unseemly and harmful to the state. Most sport historians have overlooked the fact that Plato did not describe actual conditions. His state is far more an Utopian model of something that ought to be created. He admits to laying himself open to ridicule through his call for physical exercises for women since it was in complete contradiction to the prevailing view of woman's role in society (Plato, Respublica V, 452a]. Plato’s remarks prove, therefore, that in his day there was no such thing in Greece as physical education for women. Conclusion The equality with men that women enjoy in sport today developed largely from the ideas of the Enlightenment and those propagated by physi- cians and educationalists in the 19th century. It must be seen against the background of the political, social and economic emancipation achieved by women during the course of the last 100 years. Classical models have hardly contributed to this development at all. On the contrary, Pierre de Coubertin fought against female participation in the modern Olympic Games throughout his entire life. As this example shows, this laudable development has even been slowed down through explicit reference to classical times. Summary Advocates of women’s sport have tried to lend emphasis to their demands by referring to Greek antiquity. A critical analysis of the relevant original sources leads, however, to a totally different assessment: Since physical exercises as practised by the ancient Greeks were of military origin, women were excluded from systematic physical education and from participation in contests from the very beginning. Furthermore, since women played no part in public or potitical life, or in the defence of the polis they were debarred from enter- jing the gymnasium, the comprehensive educational institution of the time. The equality of status in sport which women enjoy today originated from the ideas of the enlightenment and of the physicians and educationalists in the 19th century. Classical models have hardly contributed to this devefopment at all.‘Women and Sport in Ancient Greece 23 References Buchner, G.: Parola del Passato, p.408, vol.7 (Naples 1952). Burck, E.: Die Frau in der griechisch-rémischen Antike (Munich 1969). Delorme, J.: Gymnasion, pp. 9-30 (Paris 1960). Eisen, G.: Sports and women in antiquity; MS thesis (Amhurst 1976). Englert, L.: Die Leibeserzichung der Frau bei Platon, in: Leibesdbungen und kérperliche Erziehung, vol..59, pp.138-142 (1940), Friedrichs, D.: Die Frau in der griechischen und rémischen Antike: Eine kultursoziologi- sche Untersuchung aus dem Bereich der Leibestibungen und Leibeserzichung; un- published thesis, Gottingen (1977). Harris, H.A.: Greek athletes and athletics, pp. 179-186 (London 1964). Homer: Iliad XXIII 257. Kempe, H.: Hatten Jungfrauen Zutritt zu den Olympischen Spielen? Eine Notiz zu Dr. Franz Mezé «Geschichte der Olympischen Spiele», S, 177ff; in: Leibesiibungen und kérperliche Erziehung, vol.55, pp.281-282 (1936). Kurz, D.: Gymnastische Erziehung bei Platon und Aristoteles; in Lenk, Moser, Beyer, Philosophie des Sports, pp. 163-184 (Schorndorf 1973). Lammer, M. : Ideological Tendencies in the Historiography of Sport in the Jewish Culture. Physical education and sports in the Jewish history and culture. Proc.Int. Seminar at the Wingate Institute, Netanya 1973, pp. 54-77. ‘Lammer, M.: The nature and function of the Olympic truce in Greek antiquity; in History of physical education and sport. Research and Studies, vol.3, pp.37-52 (1977). Langenfeld, H.: Griechische Athletinnen in der rimischen Kaiserzeit; in Renson, de Nayer, Ostyn, The history, the evolution and the diffusion of sports and games in different cultures, Proc. 4th Int, HISPA Seminar, Department Lichamelijke Opvoeding, K.U, Leuven 1975, pp. 116-125 (Brussels 1976). Moretti, L.: Iscrizioni agonistiche greche, p.42 (Rome 1953). Moretti, L.: Olympionikai, i vincitori negli antichi agoni olimpici, No-373, 381, 418, 549, 552, 673, 675, 866 (Rome 1957). Ochler, J.: Gymnasiarchos, in: RE VII, col, 1969-2004 (1912). Pausanias: Descriptio Graeciae, V, 16, 2-4. Piernavieja del Pozo, M.: Antiguas Vencedoras Olimpicas; in Citius Altius Fortius, vol. 5, pp. 401-428 (1963). Plato: Respublica V, 451d-452b; 456b. Redfield, J.: The women of Sparta. Classical J, vol. 73: pp. 146-161 (1977/78). Seltman, C.: Women in antiquity (London 1959). Vacano, O.-W. v.: Uber Madchensport in Griechenland, Beilage zu: Das Problem des alten Zeustempels in Olympia; Diss., Kdln, p.$8 (1937). Weiler, I.: Der Agon im Mythos. Zur Einstellung der Griechen zum Wettkampf, pp. 256-258 (Darmstadt 1974). Zinserling, V.: Die Frau in Hellas und Rom (Stuttgart 1972). Prof. Dr, M. Lammer, Institut fiir Sportgeschichte der Deutschen Sporthochschule Kéln, Carl-Diem-Weg/Postfach 450327, D-5000 Kéln 41 (FRG)