The Gymnasion in the Hellenistic East: Motives, Divergences, and Networks of Contacts
This thesis is a socio-cultural study of the Greek gymnasion in the Hellenistic period: its development, the factors that underpinned its adoption, and the role of native educational practices in that process.
How to Stage a Bloodbath: Gladiators at the Roman Arena
Garrett Fagan explores the theatrical aspects of Roman arena games—the stage sets, equipment of the fighters, and so forth—that created an artificial landscape in which the violence of the spectacle was staged.
EXHIBITS – Defining Beauty: The Body in Ancient Greek Art
My review of the British Museum’s – Defining Beauty: The Body in Ancient Greek Art which explores daily life, gender, sexuality, athleticism, heroism, and the social and political ideologies the Greeks espoused through their views on the human form.
On War and Games in the Ancient World
Not surprisingly, at the Olympic Games and other such festivals, boxing matches sometimes ended with the death of the defeated opponent. Other Olympic sports were almost as brutal; they included the pankration, a form of unarmed combat in which anything was allowed other than biting and gouging (a rule that was not always strictly observed).
A Literary Criticism of the Classical Themes and Allusions Found in The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is a richly interwoven tapestry of numerous intriguing parallels to historical events and literary staples. Although set in a futuristic society, the chief inspirations for its narrative structure and themes are drawn from the ancient Mediterranean world. Classical themes and allusions permeate the first novel, and the connections to the classical are mythological, historical, linguistic, and stylistic in nature.
Bulls and Bull-leaping in the Minoan World
A religious function is also suggested by the portrait-like quality of some rhyta. In contrast to the stylized depictions of priestesses, princes, and even deities, the Bull
The end of the Olympic Games in the Ancient World: Abolishment or Vanishing? Observations
The importance of sport in the Greek world, as an expression of panhellenic unity over the city particularism and as model of a perfect and complex organi- zation, is stated by the institution of the four big games and by other less impor- tant feasts, but significant ones like the Panatheneans.
History and Importance of Bath in Ancient Times
In Ancient Greece, swimming was never considered as one of the traditional games (although, it is possible that the Isthmian Games were swimming competitions in the Sea of Corinth, in the true competitive Greek spirit). Among the Greeks, the Athenians and, above all, the Delians from Delos were the best swimmers. Their ability is well-known.
Maya Ritual and Myth: Human Sacrifice in the Context of the Ballgame and the Relationship to the Popol Vuh
What this paper intends to establish is the exploration of the role of ritual human sacrifice among the Maya with particular reference that this ritual possessed in the context of the ballgame.
Violence in Sports: A Comparison of Gladiatorial Games in Ancient Rome to the Sports of America
Aristocrats’ funerals celebrated their victories and enhanced their reputations. Emperors presented the games to show the public how much power they had. Among the gladiators were thousands of prisoners of war.