Amateurism vs. Professionalism
in Ancient Athletics
Toledo 1963.28, Attic bilingual eye cup
Side A: athletic victor
Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy
of the Toledo Museum of Art
Some Basic Questions
• What Kind of Prizes Did Ancient Athletes
Receive?
• How Much Training Did They Get?
• Were Ancient Athletes Honest?
• Did They Have Professional Coaches/Trainers?
• Where Did They Get the Money for Training?
• Were They Aristocrats by Birth?
• Did Athletes Earn High Status from the Victories
or from their Birth Status?
• How Much Money Could an Athlete Win?
Issues Regarding Professionalism
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Prizes
Professional Training
Corruption
Athletic Dynasties
Evidence of Wealth of Athletes
Social Status of Athletes
Nationalism and Internationalism
Prizes
Death of Hector (Iliad XX.159-166)
Thereby they ran, one fleeing, and one pursuing. In front a
good man fled, but one mightier far pursued him
swiftly; for it was not for beast of sacrifice or for
bull's hide [160] that they strove, such as are men's
prizes for swiftness of foot, but it was for the life of
horse-taming Hector that they ran. And as when
single-hooved horses that are winners of prizes
course swiftly about the turning-points, and some -great prize is set forth, a tripod haply or a woman, in
honour of a warrior that is dead; [165] even so these
twain circled thrice with swift feet about the city of
Priam; and all the gods gazed upon them.
Also Funeral Games for Patroclus (Iliad XXIII=Miller 1)
Prizes in Myth
• Chariot Race of
Pelops
Heracles and Alcestis
• Hercules Fighting Death to Save Alcestis, by Frederic
Lord Leighton.
Athletic Prizes in Hesiod
References to rich prizes
for athletes and poets
Hesiod Theogony 435-438
For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices
and prays for favor according to custom, he calls upon Hecate.
Great honor comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess
receives favorably, [420] and she bestows wealth upon him; for the
power surely is with her.
[430] And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men,
[433] then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory
readily to whom she will. [435] Good is she also when men
contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them
and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the
victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to
his parents.
Hesiod Works and Days 654-657
[655] Then I crossed over to Chalcis, to the
games of wise Amphidamas where the
sons of the great-hearted hero proclaimed
and appointed prizes. And there I boast
that I gained the victory with a song and
carried off a handled tripod which I
dedicated to the Muses of Helicon, in the
place where they first set me in the way of
clear song. [660]
Sybaris Inscription (Miller 160/220)
The problem: How can the athlete
“tithe” his prize?
Aristis Inscription (Miller 146/205)
The problem: Where did he get the
money for this statue?
Solonic Reforms in Athens (Miller 163/223)
The problem: Is this a “reduction” in
prize?
Prizes in the Classical Age
• Simonides Poem about Nicolades of
Corinth (Greek Anthology XIII.19)
• State Subsidy for Athletes in Athens (Miller
161/221)
• Victory Procession (Miller 162/222)
Panathenaic
Games
What were these prizes
worth?
Panathenaic Games
Inscriptional Record of Prizes (Miller 84/120)
– Extremely expensive prizes
– Exact worth (purchasing power) difficult to
measure
– 4th place singer makes more than a 2nd place
athlete
– Record datable to early 4th century B.C.
Professional Trainers
Pindar often praises victor’s coach by name; e.g., Ol 8.54-66
And if in my song
I have magnified
Melesias' glory
as a trainer of youths,
let no resentment strike me
with a foul stone, for I will also sing of his triumph over the youths at
Nemea, and mention next his victory against the men
in pankration.
To teach, then, is easier for one who knows.
The man of no foresight gives a fool's lesson, for the thoughts of
inexperience have no weight. Melesias will tell you
better than anyone how to train man bent on taking
glory from contests. And now Alkimedon
is his pride, and his thirtieth triumph:
A Trainer at Ptolemy’s Court
Miller 147/207
Zenon, “business manager” of Apollonios
Apollonios, “Minister of Finance of Ptolemy II (285246 B.C.)
Pyrrhos, young ward of Zenon
Hierokles of Alexandria, trainer and teacher of
Pyrrhos
And Professional Sports Physicians?
Demokedes of Croton (Miller 146/216)
Corruption
Inscription of Markos Aurelios Asklepiades (Miller
#153/213, c. AD 200): threats against athletes
Philostratos (Miller #154/214, c. AD 230):
describes scandal in boy’s pale at Isthmia—
bribery possible everywhere except Olympia?
Galen's attack on professionalization of athletes
(Miller #155/215, c. AD 180):
unbalanced lives
exaggeration of negative stereotypes?
Athletic Dynasties
athletic dynasty at Croton (S. Italy):
12 Olympic stade winners between 588 & 484 BC
(c. 50% of total)
588, 584, 576, 564, 560, 548 [note gap], 508, 504,
496, 492, 488, 484; first 7 places in one Olympiad
Milo's career in wrestling: 536-512
Astylos wins stade & diaulos for Croton in 488 & 484,
competes for Syracuse in 480 & 476 (corresponds with
economic & political decline of Croton)
See Miller 224
Conclusion: high degree of athletic professionalization
already in 6th century BC
Wealth of Athletes
Alcibiades (Miller #159/219, 48/67, /116)
Evidence for cost of sponsoring chariot
team.
Question: Is this cost unique to the event?
Phayllos of Kroton (Miller #38e/60a, from
Herodotus 8.47)
Was Phayllos from a wealthy family or did
he use his athletic winnings for this?
The Modern Myth
Victorian view of Greek Athletes:
Earliest Greek athletes are aristocrats.
(e.g., Pindar)
Non-aristocratic athletes first compete
extensively in early classical period
.
The evidence for non-aristocratic
participation in Archaic period
Hesiod (Works & Days, Theogony: last half
of 8th BC): wins tripod at Games of
Amphidamas
Koroibos of Elis: first Olympic victor (cook)
Glaukos of Karystos: boxing, early 6th BC
(farmboy)
Social Status of Athletes
Demokedes the Physician (Miller 146/216,
from Herodotus 3.129)
at court of tyrant Polykrates of Samos
prisoner of war of Darius of Persia
marries daughter of Milo of Croton
Ambiguity of Social Status
in the Classical Age
Astylos (Miller #164/224 from Pausanias)
Scholars have called him an aristocrat but
why, then did he transfer his allegiance, if
not for money?
Athletes in the Roman World
Mark Antony and Markos Antonios Artemidoros
(Miller 149/209): special honors for athletic
guilds (synodos)
A Clubhouse for the Capitoline Games (Miller
152/212)
From Athlete to Sports Administrator: Marcos
Aurelios Asklepiades (Miller 153/213)
Attack on Professional Athletes by the Physician
Galen (Miller 155/215)
Athletic Loyalty to City-State (Polis)
Miller 164-166/224-228
Why does Astylos of Kroton decide to play
for Syracuse? (Miller 164/224)
How does the tyrant Dionysios of Syracuse
try to persuade Antipater of Miletus to play
for him? (Miller 165/225)
The Value of Athletes to the City-State
Miller 167-169/229-231
What does the philosopher Xenophanes think is more
important than the strength of men or horses? (Miller
167/229)
What does the tragedian Euripides think is the greatest evil
which exists in Greece? (Miller 168/230). Why?
In what way does Socrates argue in Plato’s Apology (Miller
169/231) that he is more helpful to Athens than an
Olympic victor? What reward does he think he
deserves?
Nationalism vs. Internationalism
CONT.
Relations Between Panhellenic Sanctuaries
Miller 170-174/232-236
What is the “curse of Moline”? (Miller
170/232)
Why does Plutarch (Miller 173/235) say that
the Corinthians chose celery for victor
crowns at the Isthmian games?
Relations Between City-States at
the Panhellenic Sanctuaries
Miller 181-185/243-247
Find the document in Miller which
describes the building Phillip of Macedon
built at Olympia to celebrate his
accomplishments (See Perrottet, pg. 153).