eighth century BC. A fondness for athletic contests, something on which the ancient Greeks prided
themselves, was not at all an unusual feature of their festivals in honor of the gods, and the Greeks felt that
this practice, and especially the habit of male participants competing in a state of total nudity,
distinguished them from non-Greeks. And it was only freeborn Greek males who were eligible to
participate in the Olympic games. How the officials of the games determined whether a given competitor
was in reality a citizen of a Greek polis is not known, but that it was their responsibility to determine the
Hellenic identity of competitors (as well as to ensure that the rules of the contests were observed) is clear
from their name, HELLENODIKAI, or “assessors of Greeks.” We see, then, that in the face of increasing
contact with foreigners at the end of the Geometric Period the Greeks were making a collective attempt at
self-definition. That self-definition focused, in the case of the Olympic games, on religious observance
and on the naked display of athletic excellence. In the following chapter, we will see another form of self-
definition with the development of what might be called a “national” literature, but for the fact that there
was no “nation” of the Greeks.

“The    Spartans    instituted  the practice    of  exercising  in  the nude    and,    with    their   bodies  exposed to

public  view,   to  anoint  themselves  with    olive   oil as  they    exercised.  In  earlier times   athletes    even    at

the Olympic games   used    to  compete wearing a   loincloth   about   their   genitals,   and it  is  not many    years

since   that    practice    came    to  an  end.    It  is  still   the case    among   many    foreigners  today,  especially  in

Asia,   that    when    contests    in  boxing  and wrestling   are held,   they    engage  in  these   activities  wearing

loincloths. This    is  one of  many    instances   in  which   one can see similarities    between the Greeks  of

old and foreigners  of  today.” (Thucydides,    The Peloponnesian   War 1.6.5–6)

HELLENODIKAI    Literally   “assessors  of  Greeks,”    the title   of  the judges  or  umpires who were

responsible for the organization    and operation   of  the Olympic games.

Zetemata: Questions for Discussion

What    kinds   of  evidence    might   provide a   fixed   date    by  which   a   relative    chronology  can be  turned  into

an  absolute    chronology?

Why is  it  that    the ancient Greeks  thought in  terms   of  a   progressive degeneration    in  human   affairs,

whereas we  tend    to  think   in  terms   of  human   “progress”?

What    differences have    you noticed between the ancient Greek   polis   and a   typical modern  city    with

which   you might   be  personally  familiar?

Bearing in  mind    the story   of  the judgment    of  Paris,  why might   the Greeks  have    felt    that    a   given   deity

would   hold    particularly    strong  feelings,   either  positive    or  negative,   concerning  a   given   polis?

In  the absence of  standardized    units   of  measurement or  accurate    means   of  telling time,   how might   the

Greeks  have    compared    the performance of  athletes    in  different   venues  and at  different   periods?

Recommended for Further Reading

Boardman, J. The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade, 4th edition (London 1999): a
reliable and well-illustrated account of Greek territorial expansion and trade to the end of the Archaic