Despite their influence in our culture, sports inspire dramatically less philosophical consideration than such ostensibly weightier topics as religion, politics, or science. Arguing that athletic playfulness coexists with serious underpinnings, and that both demand more substantive attention, Daniel Dombrowski harnesses the insights of ancient G...

This book examines the relationship between athletics and philosophy in ancient Greece and Rome focused on the connection between athleticism and virtue. It begins by observing that the link between athleticism and virtue is older than sport, reaching back to the athletic feats of kings and pharaohs in early Egypt and Mesopotamia. It then traces the role of athletics and the Olympic Games in transforming the idea of aristocracy as something acquired by birth to something that can be trained. This idea of training virtue through the techniques and practice of athletics is examined in relation to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Then Roman spectacles such as chariot racing and gladiator games are studied in light of the philosophy of Lucretius, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. The concluding chapter connects the book’s ancient observations with contemporary issues such as the use of athletes as role models, the relationship between money and corruption, the relative worth of participation and spectatorship, and the role of females in sport. The author argues that there is a strong link between sport and philosophy in the ancient world, calling them offspring of common parents: concern about virtue and the spirit of free enquiry. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Ethics and Sport.

Pindar called Olympia ¿Queen of truth,¿ so it was appropriate that nearly 100 philosophers of sport from 18 countries on four continents presented 80 different papers there in September of 2016. This proceedings gathers fourteen of them, including two of the keynotes. Topics range from sport in education to transgender athletes to Taijiquan. Authors include Drew A. Hyland, Francisco Javier López Frías, José Luis Pérez Triviño, Terry J. McMurtry, Junko Yamaguchi, Emanuel Hurych, Boryana Angelova-Igova, Daniel T. Durbin, Kim Hee-sub, Kwon Oh-ryun, Matt Waddell, Angela Schneider, Matteo Cacchiarelli, Sarah Teetzel, and Heather L. Reid.

Ancient Greece was the model that guided the emergence of many facets of the modern sports movement, including most notably the Olympics. Yet the process whereby aspects of the ancient world were appropriated and manipulated by sport authorities of nation-states, athletic organizations and their leaders as well as by sports enthusiasts is only very partially understood. This volume takes modern Greece as a case-study and explores, in depth, issues related to the reception and use of classical antiquity in modern sport, spectacle and bodily culture. For citizens of the Greek nation-state, classical antiquity is not merely a vague "legacy" but the cornerstone of their national identity. In the field of sport and bodily culture, since the 1830s there had been persistent attempts to establish firm and direct links between ancient Greek athletics and modern sport through the incorporation of sport in school curricula, the emergence of national sport historiographies as well as the initiatives to revive (in the 19th century) or appropriate (in the 20th) the modern Olympics. Based on fieldwork and unpublished material sources, this book dissects the use and abuse of classical antiquity and sport in constructing national, gender and class identities, and illuminate aspects of the complex modern perceptions of classicism, sport and the body. This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

First published in 1910, this book explores the subject of athletics festivals in ancient Greece, looking in detail at its history as well as the exercises commonly seen at such occasions. “Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals” is highly recommend for those with an interest in athletics and is not to be missed by collectors of related literature. Contents include: “Introductory”, “Athletics in Homer”, “The Rise of the Athletic Festival”, “The Age of Athletic Festivals, Sith Century B.C.”, “The Age of Athletic Ideal, 500–440 B.C.”, “Professionalism and Specialization, 440–338 B.C.”, “The Decline of Athletics, 338–146 B.C.”, “Athletics Under the Romans”, “The Olympic Festival, etc. Macha Press is republishing this classic work now in a new edition complete with the extract 'Classical Games' by Francis Storr.

Greek Athletics explores the inspirations for the current day Olympics. Anybody would marvel at the fun illustrations and accurate descriptions of ancient Greek recreation. Contents: Athletics, Athletic Festivals, Gymnastics and Military Training, Physical Exercise, cont.