CLASSGEN 34: ANCIENT ATHLETICS Winter 2012 When: T Th 10:00-10:50 + section TBA

Instructor: Susan Stephens Office: Building 110-201 Office hours: T TH 11-2 pm

Where: 530-127
Section Leaders: Artemis Brod Anja Krieger

REQUIRED TEXTS *AR = Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources, S.G. Miller (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2004) *SSAW = Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World, D. Kyle (Blackwell 2007) *TRG = The Roman Games: Historical Sources in Translation, A. Futrell (Blackwell 2006) * = Copies are on reserve in Green Library. A full list of books and videos on reserve is posted on Coursework. The is also a list of websites worth consulting.

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS Athletic competitions, whether individual or group, are fundamental in our experience of modern life. So much so that statements like that of the late sportscaster Howard Cosell have become a clich: I learned early on that sports is a part of life, that it is human life in microcosm, and that the virtues and flaws of the society exist in sports even as they exist everywhere else. Yet competitive sports do not have this same intrinsic value in all cultures nor would many cultures feel comfortable with the notion that sports are human life in microcosm. Where do these attitudes come from? These and many other of our modern western ideas about sports are inherited from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the central goal of this course is to study the growth and development of ancient sports in these societies in order to better understand our own attitudes about the value of the athlete and competitive sport in our society: debates about amateur vs. professional, athletic training, issues of class in sports, and the role of money in the cost of events, payments for athletes, betting and bribery. You will be encouraged throughout the course to identify patterns and make

connections between what you are learning about ancient sports and sports in the contemporary context. The course begins with the earliest examples of competition as part of Greek funeral games; it then considers the development of the Olympic Games and how they were organized. Next it turns to alternative Greek festivals that featured sport and dance competitions, including some for women, and the importance of the citizen athlete as a civic ideal. The second part of the course will focus on Roman athletics, which in contrast to Greek practice saw the growth of large-scale spectator sports and professional athletes. Some toured like media stars; others regularly risked death in gladiatorial contests and chariot-racing. We will also explore how large-scale games were funded and how they fostered the development of sports medicine.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The course may be taken for 3 or 4 units. For 3 units: Students are expected to attend lectures and section. It is important to complete all assigned readings before arriving in class, and to be prepared to raise questions whenever they arise. Please do come to office hours to discuss your questions or to raise them on email. There will be four short written assignments and a final. There is no midterm. Sections: Some part of section time will be spent viewing and discussing (1) educational films that attempt to explain or capture what ancient athletic competitions might have been like and also (2) selections from modern films, like Gladiator, that attempt to recreate the ancient experience, or like Leni Riefenstahls Olympia, that use the ideal of the ancient Olympic games to promote modern (in her case Nazi) values. Other sections will focus on the written assignments in order to make sure the assignments are correctly understood and also in follow up to discuss what you have learned from them. Assignments: You will have four written assignments in the course of the term. These are to be turned in on the day noted on the Course Schedule. There is a strict 3-page limit to each project. We will discuss each project in greater detail at the appropriate time, but for the moment they are previewed below: 1. There are numerous websites on Greek and/or Roman athletics. Choose one (not a website hosted by authors of the course books) and analyze it for accuracy. What criteria can you use for your evaluation? What kinds of claims does the site make? What kind of images does it use? Note that this is deliberately scheduled early in the coursethe goal of the exercise is to help you to construct criteria for evaluation of unfamiliar material.

2. Attend a competitive sporting event. Then write up your experience. Make clear in your response whether or not you have engaged in athletic competitions yourself. How easily did you understand the rules? How did you react emotionally? What role did the crowd play? 3. You will be given a choice of several articles on aspects of ancient athletics: choose one to read, summarize the main points, and discuss in terms of questions or problems it raised for you. Alternatively you may choose a series of images of athletic activities (e.g., boxing) and compare with the modern equivalent. 4. You have been asked to serve as a technical advisor on a BBC series about ancient (a) Greek or (b) Roman society. The script writers wish to incorporate several scenes of ancient athletic competition. Choosing (a) or (b), what would you advise them to include and why? Final examination: the final examination be in two parts: (1) images and film clips for recognition and discussion (based on what you have seen in class, section, and textbooks) and (2) a choice of two short essays to be written in class, but distributed in advance. For 4 units: In addition to the above, students will be responsible for a project or paper, the nature and scope of which they should determine in discussion with their instructors.

GRADE FORMULA 15% 15% 20% 20% 30% Website analysis Attending an athletic event Analysis of an article or series of images Technical advice on film Final Exam

SCHEDULE OF LECTURE TOPICS AND READINGS

January 8: Introduction. Why talk about athletics? And especially why talk about ancient athletics? Reading: SSAW Introduction, pp. 1-22. January 10: Historical background for understanding the types of competitions and their social value. Debates about the origins of athletic competitionWar? Funeral games? Spectacle? Readings: SSAW Chapters 3-4, pp. 54-93; Arete pp. 1-15. For a helpful timeline of important events in the ancient world: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=04&region=eusb

January 15: The organization of competitive games and types of competition. The values of an honor vs. shame culture. The principle of zero sum competitionyou cant be a winner without a loser. Readings: SSAW Chapter 6, pp. 110-135; Arete, pp. 23-80 January 17: Training the athlete; the athletic body, sports injuries. Reading: Arete, pp. 120-152 January 22: The physical site of the Olympic Games. Anja Krieger, lecturer Reading: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/site.html Take the tour. January 24: Winning isnt everything; its the only thingcelebrating the victors. Readings: SSAW pp. 203-5; Arete pp. 76-80, 192-200; selections from Pindar and Posidippus. First Paper due in lecture January 29: The IsOlympic (= to Olympic) crown gamesNemea, Pythia, Isthmia. Readings: SSAW, Chapter 7, pp. 136-149. Hellenic ministry of cultures site on the Panhellenic sites: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh220.jsp?era=2&group=11 January 31: Other types of gamesthe celebration of Athens at the Panathenaia. Readings: SSAW, Chapter 8, pp. 150-179; Arete, pp. 81-85. Perseus Project on the Parthenon Frieze: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Parthenon+Frieze&object=Sc ulpture&redirect=true February 5: Spartan sport and physical education. Readings: SSAW, Chapter 9, pp. 180-97. Arete, sections 37, 39, 127, 151a-151c, 189, 238a-b (please note these are numbers of the selections, NOT page numbers). February 7: Women in competitive games. Readings: SSAW Chapter 11, pp. 217-228. Arete, pp. 105-110 TRG pp. 153-55

Second paper due in lecture February 12: Athletic stars, social status, and mobility. Readings: SSAW Chapter 10, pp. 198-216; Arete, pp. 165-91 February 14: Differences between Greek and Roman society and how this affects attitudes towards Roman spectacle: funerary games, gladiators, and charioteers. Reading: TBA February 19: The continuing role of Greek athletics in the Roman world. Readings: Arete, pp. 152-180. February 21: The development of spectacular games at Rome. Conspicuous consumption and the exhibition of the power and extent of the Roman empire. The political value of bread and circuses. Reading: SSAW Chapters 13-14, pp. 257-299. Third paper due in lecture February 26: Paying for the games. Walter Scheidel, lecturer. Reading: TRG pp. 14-21, 48-51 February 28: Gladiatorial combat: types, outcomes, audiences. Reading: TRG Chapters 3-4, pp. 84-159. Kathleen Colemans BBC site on gladiators: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/gladiators_01.shtml

March 5: What archaeology can tell us about gladiators. Jonathan Weiland, lecturer. Reading: TBA March 7: Christians and the Arena Reading: TRG Chapter 5, pp. 160-188. Fourth paper due in lecture March 12: The growth and importance of chariot racing in the later empire.

Readings: SSAW, Chapter 15, pp. 304-310; TRG Chapter 6, pp. 189-217. March 14: The end of ancient athletic competitions and the modern revival. Readings: SSAW Chapter 5, pp. 94-109; Jason Knig, Ancient and Modern Olympics http://ancientandmodernolympics.wordpress.com/ March 21: 3.30-6.30: Final examinationthis will include visual recognition as well as short essay questions.

Several websites worth visiting: For a helpful timeline of important events in the ancient world: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=04&region=eusb The Perseus site on ancient sports, especially for the Olympics http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/ David Romano at Arizona State University has posted excellent images for his Ancient Athletics lectures: http://davidgilmanromano.org/courses/ancient-athletics/lecture-images He also has a detailed site of the Mt. Lykaion excavation: http://lykaionexcavation.org/ Judith Swaddlings BBC site on the Olympics: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greek_olympics_gallery_01.shtml Kathleen Colemans BBC site on gladiators: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/gladiators_01.shtml Hellenic ministry of cultures site on the Panhellenic sites: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh220.jsp?era=2&group=11