We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of professional
athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily have
influenced the more widespread practices whereby the young developed
their bodies, just as today the system of professional athletics is
a model for college training and exerts an influence upon the sports
of even young children. But professional athletics, even in ancient
Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct from that important phase of
Hellenic education called γυμναστική.
In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no means
be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of education.
But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were held in least
favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves; being thoroughly
in earnest to produce a race that was hardy and valiant to the last
degree, and regarding physical culture as a serious and all-engrossing
business rather than an exciting amusement, they quickly discerned that
the specialism of professional athletics was detrimental to this end.
The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby all
Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever uppermost
in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither deluded themselves in
their estimate of these needs, nor did they even dream of a compassion
that would deter them from establishing and executing regulations
whereby these needs would be met. In Sparta the unfortunate individual
who did not conform in promise or attainment to the criterion of a
Spartan citizen found no pity.
And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the man,
without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle outward
show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely fearless,
who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing pain; it was the
man whose powers of endurance were very great, who could march long
distances over a rough country without fatigue, who could then halt
and await the onset of an enemy with a glad and confident heart, and
who could engage his enemy and be victorious; it was the man who loved
combat.
The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens
through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority
was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens should
marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage. If at the
present day we exercised the same care to bring sound children into the
world there would be little need of being “born again.” Spartan infants
were subjected to the judgment of a body of selected citizens, and if
approved by the latter became thenceforth the objects of the care and
direction of the state, but if condemned as not promising health and
vigor they were killed. According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were
exposed in the apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (Ταΰγετος) and
left to die.
Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care of their
parents, but even during this early period they received a foretaste
of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very plain and
limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the little fears of
childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the dark or when left
alone.
Many interesting little sports were in vogue among Hellenic children,
and it may well be believed that in Sparta they were practised with a
peculiar earnestness. Most of the amusements of modern children were
also the delight of Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the
latter are no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (πλαταγή) was
a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas.
Then there were hoops (τροχοί or κρίκοι). The childish game of rolling
the hoop was called κρικηλασία. The κρίκος corresponded to the Roman
trochus described by Horace (_Ode_ 3; 24, 57) and Ovid, as well as by
Propertius, Martialis, and other writers. The κρίκος was a large hoop
probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its diameter was
less than the height of a man, reaching probably to his chest. The
implement used in rolling it is said to have been a crooked-necked iron
with a wooden handle, called ἐλατήρ (Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as
with us, the hoop was set round with small metal rings or bells which
when in motion caused a jingling sound very pleasing to a child’s ears.
Some regarded these rings as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them
on the ground that the sound they produced added much to the child’s
happiness and engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also
considered this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and
advised that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating.
The familiar top (βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος), old as the
days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own
times--“στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη” (_Il._ xiv,
413).
The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and made to revolve
by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil in the following
lines:
“Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,
Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum
Intenti ludo exercent.”
_Æneid_ vii, 378-380.
Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children. Stilts
(καλόβαθρα) were much used by children and also by adults in certain
mimic dances. The girls had dolls (κόραι) of wax or clay, and the usual
paraphernalia connected with this ever popular plaything. Many of
these, which still survive, show that they were painted and that the
arms and legs were so fastened with strings as to be easily movable.
The word κόρη literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek
girls dedicated their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus.
If they died unwedded, their dolls were buried with them. The terms
δάγυνον, δαγύς and πλαγγών were often applied by the Greeks to the wax
doll.
The swing αἰώρα occupied the same position in Greece as in our
nurseries. Then there were clappers (πλῆκτρα), toy-carts (ἁμαξίδες),
hobby-horses (ἱππίδια ξύλινα), toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.
In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned. From
the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy of
consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in sport,
then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s
character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should
be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless
and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental powers
and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise. The
Spartan children were superior to the other Greek children in the
power of expression, although they were not so highly educated. This
is no doubt due to the fact that at a very early age the Spartan
children were forced into a free life in the open air and to systematic
gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also though they did not consider
gymnastics of so much importance as did the Hellenes, did not neglect
them. Being a warlike people, they began to develop and strengthen
the body of the child at an early age. The sports of childhood are as
important to the boy as work is to the man, and demand as much of his
strength and intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as
a real victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games
are imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause
the child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch.
Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He claimed
that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work, should
be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first training
should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction should
be followed by that based on theory and science. Experience has often
corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic life itself furnishes
the best illustration of it. According to the legend, Achilles, attired
in the garb of a girl among the daughters of the king, betrayed himself
to the keen eye of Odysseus, by handling the weapons, placed by the
latter among the ornaments which he offered for sale. Strepsiades,
hard pressed by his creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness
for horses and chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates
with pride how as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts,
moulded houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind.
(Aristophanes, _Nub._ 877.) Cato the Younger also, says Plutarch,
gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The
youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse
chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the
circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered
heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is
represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades
was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with
young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks,
often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also
Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.
The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment was
detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea was most
beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of body and soul.
Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system of the Hellenes,
were developed many gymnastic games which did not require any special
apparatus and which were not intended for tests of superior strength,
but merely to furnish pleasant and suitable physical exercise.
A game called ὀστράκου περιστροφή was often played. The boys arranged
themselves in two divisions on either side of a line. One of them
then held up a piece of broken crockery, or an oyster shell, one side
of which was blackened with tar. One division chose the black side,
the other the white. A boy then threw the fragment, with the words,
νύξ, ἡμέρα. The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared
uppermost after the throw; this division then pursued the other; those
who were captured were called donkeys and were debarred from further
participation in the game.
The ἐποστρακισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 119), a more informal game, was played
by boys on the beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted
in “skipping” smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the
water. The boy who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance,
or, perhaps, made it cut the water the greatest number of times, was
victor. This pastime, known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor
with boys.
There were two games for testing bodily strength, the διελκυστίνδα and
the σκαπέρδα. In the διελκυστίνδα a party of children separated into
two divisions, each of which faced the other in a row, so as to give
every member an opponent. Probably a line of some kind lay between the
two divisions, and the game consisted in each boy’s striving to pull
his opponent across it by means of a rope. The victory was decided when
all members of one side had been forced to the other.
The σκαπέρδα was a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made
in a tree-trunk or rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two
contestants then took their places on opposite sides of the pillar,
with their backs to each other and each holding an end of the rope.
If one of them could succeed in lifting the other from the ground he
was declared victor, but so difficult was the feat that the phrase
σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable
to very difficult tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the
Attic Dionysia.
“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the name
χαλκῆ μυῖα, or “brazen fly,” very prettily described by _Pollux_ ix,
122. ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ
μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι,
θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν αὐτόν, ἕως τινὸς
αὐτῶν λήψεται. One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture
one of the rest. With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating
the words χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω, “I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others
responded θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, “you will hunt, but you will not
catch,” and at the same time struck him more or less lightly with whips
or threads of papyrus. When one of them was caught, he was blindfolded
in place of the other, and the game repeated.
A game called χυτρίνδα (_Pollux_ ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity
on the part of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called
χύτρα. The others ran round him, pinching or striking him until by a
quick movement he managed to catch one of them, who was obliged to take
his place and be the χύτρα in turn. Sometimes the child ran about in a
circle, carrying on his head a jar which he held with his left hand.
His companions would strike him while asking him the question, τίς
τὴν χύτραν; (who has the jar?), to which he answered, ἐγὼ, Μίδας (I,
Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that child had
to take his place.
The term χυνδαλισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play,
which somewhat resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging
short, pointed poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first
child holds his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to
leave it standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to
throw his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his
own standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and
so on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is
still played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground
is soft.
A game especially suited to develop attention was the following. The
players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a cord which he
tried to place beside another child without being detected in the act.
If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside whom the cord was found
had to run round the ring amid the blows of his playfellows; if, on the
other hand, he had noticed the other when putting the cord there, that
one would have been obliged to run round the ring himself.
A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles were
flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm in falling,
was played under the name of πεντάλιθος. This game was much in favor
with Hellenic women, as well as with children, and was said to be the
favorite amusement of the famous beauty, Phryne of Athens.
The game of king (βασιλίνδα) consisted of feats, done by one child at
the bidding of another, as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be
king and who soldier was decided by lot.
A favorite pastime with children was the game called ἀρτιασμός or “Odd
and Even” (_Pollux_ ix, 101), in which they guessed whether the number
of objects one held concealed in his hand was odd or even. Dice, nuts,
coins, etc., were used for this purpose. The amount won or lost was
either the articles themselves or a sum of money staked upon the guess.
Horace also in the Satires alludes to this game under the name _ludere
par impar_ (_Satires_ 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was
κολλαβισμός, in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given
him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking him.
Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper”
(σχοινοφιλίνδα), a piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The
modern “hide and seek” was the Greek ἀποδιδρασκίνδα. “Kiss in the ring”
(κυνητίνδα) is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no
correct details. “Ride a cock horse” (κάλαμου περιβῆναι) was also an
amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in Greece and
in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this sport in the
following words: _equitare in arundine longa_.
The Greek and Roman children played several games of skill with nuts,
which resembled very closely our modern game of marbles. Nuts played
so important a part in childish sports that _nuces relinquere_ became
a proverbial expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts
were pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called ὤμιλλα (_Pollux_
ix, 102-3) or into a hole βόθρος dug in the ground. Those that fell
outside the circle were forfeited. The name delta was given to a
certain game with nuts in which a triangle was chalked on the ground,
and marked across with lines or bars running parallel to the base. The
player then flipped nuts into the triangle, winning as many nuts as
he crossed bars, provided, of course, that they did not roll outside
the triangle, in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most
skilful play consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the
triangle.
The ball (σφαῖρα) was not only a favorite toy among children, but it
also played an important part in the physical exercises of youths and
adults. No other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks
and Romans of different periods as the ball games, though regarded
less as a game than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and
cultivating grace and symmetry of body.
They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes as well
as in later times when Greece was at the height of its glory. The
Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of the emperors,
also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued favor which
ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its benefit to the body.
The earliest mention of ball-playing is found in two passages of the
Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare _Athen._ i, 15, c. Plutarch,
_Alex._ c. 73). In the second passage, Homer represents ball-tossing as
an adjunct to the dance. The game was accompanied by music and Odysseus
was surprised at the marvelous dexterity of the players.
“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance alone, for
with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a goodly purple
ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one, bending backward,
flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other, leaping upward from the
earth, easily caught the ball before his feet touched ground again.
Then after they had tried the ball straight in the air, they danced
upon the bounteous earth with tossings to and fro. Other young men beat
time for them, standing round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping
arose. Then to Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned
of all, you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is
proved true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric
ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (_Athenaios_ i, 246), and long
survived.
The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (_Od._ vi, 100), and her companions
accompanied their game by singing, and the women of Corcyra at a later
period are said to have followed this ancient custom. (_Athen._ i. 24
_b_.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing was also accompanied by music.
The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed the
right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected pillars
in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a player. The
Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did the Athenians, and
to them is attributed the invention of ball games. Among the kings of
Greece, Alexander is mentioned as favoring ball-playing.
In one of his plays, Πλυντρίαι, which was received with great favor,
Sophocles introduced Nausicaä at play with a ball. Only the Milesians,
who were devoted to agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as
it did not tend to increase athletic ability and was of no value in
helping them to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved
on ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians, as
ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a foundation
for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was not considered
complete without having a special room, called the σφαιριστήριον,
devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor (σφαιριστικός) who
had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend
this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to
become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.
The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered it a
pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the Elder enjoyed
a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same day that he received
the refusal of the consulate (_Oratio pro Archia Poeta_ _c._ 6, §6).
Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried ball-playing along with
banquets and games of dice. The emperor, Augustus, enjoyed a game of
ball. Pliny, the younger, relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with
old age by indulging in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a
game at ball was the most common exercise practised immediately before
bathing in the σφαιριστήριον (ball-court) connected with the bath.
The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light
undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during the game,
except in the σφαιριστήριον and probably not always even there.
There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite
descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others we know
simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios consider
the game called οὐρανία to be identical with that practised by the
Phæacians, as in this, according to Homer’s description, the body
was bent backward and the ball was thrown high up into the air. The
players then tried to catch the ball before it touched the ground.
The game called ἐπίσκυρος (_Pollux_ ix, 104) at first peculiar to
Sparta, was very popular and took its name from the line σκῦρος which
separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and parallel
with it were drawn two base lines (γραμμαὶ κατόπιν) beyond which the
players could not go in catching the ball. The latter was placed
upon the σκῦρος (whence the name ἐπίσκυρος) and the players started
simultaneously from their respective base lines. Whoever seized the
ball first, threw it as far as he could toward the enemies’ base
line. The object, of course, was to force the line of enemies back,
by constantly returning the ball further and further over their heads
until they were driven over their own base lines. In this case a swift
runner must have had a great advantage over the others, by securing the
first throw.
A favorite game is described by the term (φαινίνδα). The peculiar
feature of this game was that the player who held the ball appeared
to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an entirely
different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and surprising
another. This game is said to have demanded the utmost dexterity of a
flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a skilful player to display
a fine carriage and much grace, as may be seen in the description of
Damoxenos by Athenaios (_Athen._ i, 15, 7).
Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις,
ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς, ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.
ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ λέγειν
ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν οὔθ’ ἑώρακα
τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς, καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς
φιλόσοφος.
The ἁρπαστόν was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with
the Greeks and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It
required skill in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating
distance, as well as great care in catching the ball. The name of
the game indicates that each player tried to prevent the other from
catching it. This game is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and
according to him it was also played by women.
The term ἀπόῤῥαξις was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which
the ball was thrown to the ground with great force and continually
struck back with the hand, as it rebounded. The number of times the
ball was forced to the ground was counted. The victor was called king
and could order the others about. The loser was called donkey (ὄνος).
In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up
into the air as long as possible with the open hand.
According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing
to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four divisions
according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he described
in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball games, which he
considered of great importance on account of the benefit which they
imparted to the mental and physical powers.
In connection with these various ball games, they practised a peculiar
gymnastic exercise with the κώρυκος, a leathern sack that must have
resembled the modern punching bag on which pugilists try their fists.
In form it resembled a ball, but in size and weight far surpassed the
largest and heaviest ball. The κώρυκος was filled with fig seeds, meal
or sand, and its size varied according to the age and strength of the
individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach to about the middle
of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in increasingly rapid
motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast and hands. The game is
alluded to by Plautus (_Rud._ iii, 4, 16). This sport cannot properly
be styled a ball game, although it resembled one in some respects.
Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient physicians regarded
this exercise as very beneficial, because it not only strengthened the
muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent corpulency.
There are no records in classical literature to show that the Greeks
and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.
At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into
disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came
under the charge of the παιδονόμος; this official was, in conformance
with the direction of Lykourgos, one of the best citizens; he was
expected to discipline the youth in all the exercises that were so
nicely adapted to develop the Spartan citizen, and to teach him all the
cunning and courage that would afterwards be required in his service of
the state.
In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself. When
children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and nurses
was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were conducted each
day by the παιδαγωγός, a special slave whose duty it was not only to
conduct the children to and from school, but also to supervise their
deportment.
In the Athenian school, gymnastics (γυμναστική) was not by any means
the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included three
distinct courses:
(1) γραμματική.
(2) μουσική.
(3) γυμναστική.
Under γραμματική were included reading and writing, to which were added
after the 4th century B. C. elementary geometry, arithmetic and drawing.
When the child was able to read and write with facility, he entered
on the course called μουσική, which embraced the study of poetry and
music. Passages from Homer, Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon,
and from many lyric poets, were read and committed to memory. Xenophon
mentions in his Symposium (_Symp._ iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who
had committed to memory the whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The boys were also taught to chant the poems they had learned to the
accompaniment of the lyre. Much stress was laid on the moral effects of
music.
But from no system of Greek education was γυμναστική, the careful
and systematic development of the young body excluded. Nor did this
training cease in mature years; when young men left the palæstra, they
found awaiting them the gymnasium,--an institution that was adapted to
social as well as athletic purposes.
Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected, ever
dream of dropping γυμναστική from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of
Plato there is a detailed discussion of the education of children, and
the plan is therein advocated of restricting the education of boys to
gymnastics until their tenth year; the regular study of letters was
not to begin until after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also
maintained that gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany
that of the mind.
Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood was
not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked athlete with
firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted that the mass of
their young men reached during the best age of Greek history a stage
of physical perfection which has never been attained in any other age
or country. This is attested by thousands of statues of victorious
athletes, not only in Olympia but throughout Greece. Although the
Greeks had no cricket or football they had on the other hand a far
greater variety of games than we have, and this variety made for the
symmetrical development of the body. The athletic sports of Greece
remained great and respected until excessive training and extreme
specialization brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted
all his time to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of
a harmonious development of the body. The influence of the old Greek
games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics,
will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal of a sound
body for a sound mind.