Sport was perceived very differently by the Ancient Greek world and the Romans. The first Olympics, hosted by the Greeks in 776 BCE were an organized event where Greek men only could compete in a sprinting competition, to see who was the fastest. These men spend months training and sculpting their bodies to emulate the statues of the Gods. The Olympics, as they created them, were just as much about winning as they were paying respect to the Gods; it was an honor to be crowned victor. Later of course, the Greeks added many track and field events to the olympics, including a precursor to the shot put and weight lifting.
In Ancient Rome, of course, Gladiators were viewed as athletes of the region. Gladiators and the sport behind their name were very different in character than the Olympics. Gladiators were not idolised similar to the olympic athletes, yet they were used solely as entertainment. Instead of bathing them in specific oils and dust as ritual, they were housed in dirty, smelly chambers, only brought out to fight to their death. The whole scene of gladiators was built behind entertainment. Their fighting was entertainment for the king, and entertainment for the people. Winning did not reward some gold medal or sense of pride, yet it only allowed the gladiator to keep his life. While olympic athletes would train in specific facilities and in an organized fashion, the gladiators were trained as soldiers. They were given swords, armour, and told to fight.
I think that is a good post, do you now when we go back and look at Greek and Roman games that even though gladiators weren't seen as olympic athletes we could consider them now as olympic athletes. Considering what we know about their training and what they went through?
ReplyDeleteTyler Albo