Sport: Antiquity and Its Legacy

Description

Modern sport cannot be understood without ancient sport. Sport saturates contemporary society and the global reach of sport and its intense popularity characterizes the modern world. But, at the same time, sport is one of the most ancient human pursuits. In the globalized sport of today, the type of athletic performance and the ideology of sport and its apparent origins are mostly derived from the model of one pre-modern civilization: Graeco-Roman antiquity. Juxtaposing ancient writers with recent ones, including the modern Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin and physical fitness impresario Bernarr Macfadden, and by examining the representation of sport in Olympic films, Miller demonstrates the ancient heritage of contemporary sport, and the creative ways in which ancient sport has been adapted, appropriated, mishandled and reimagined. Sport today contains a surprising contradiction: its explicit modernity (from its technological sophistication and integration into capitalist markets to its institutionalization and celebrity culture) and its supposed antiquity (from the mythology of the Olympics to the ancient roots of sporting civic and national pride, and the emotional and near religious fervour of sports fans). This book intervenes in one of the most important of the receptions of classical antiquity by examining how sports personalities, agencies, institutions and movements have consciously connected themselves to the Graeco-Roman past, even as they continue to insist on their own centrality in the modern world. Cover Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Figures Acknowledgements Conventions and Translations Introduction: Which Ancient Sports? What are sports? Other ancient sports Women and sport in the ancient Greek and Roman world Between antiquity and modernity Organization and aim 1 Sport in Greek Antiquity Prizes and competition Athletics and festivals Celebrating victory Gymnasium culture 2 Sport in Roman Antiquity Spectacle Chariot racing Gladiators Gladiators in the Greek East 3 The Ancient and Modern Olympics Athletics and nostalgia in the ancient and modern Olympic Games Making antiquity modern Other Olympics 4 Beauty, Strength and Physical Culture Ancient Greek masculinity, nudity and beauty The physical culture revival Eugen Sandow and Bernarr Macfadden 5 Arenas, Stadiums and Gyms Makeshift spaces Ancient Greek stadiums and hippodromes Roman circuses and arenas Making stadiums modern Ancient and modern gyms 6 Olympic Art and Cinema Olympic posters Olympic films Further Reading Notes Index