Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources, Expanded Edition

by Stephen G. Miller

From the informal games of Homer's time to the highly organized contests of the Roman world, Miller has compiled a trove of ancient sources—Plutarch on boxing, Aristotle on the pentathlon, Philostratos on clay dust as an anti-perspirant and on the buying and selling of victories, Vitruvius on literary competitions, Xenophon on female body building. With fully twice as many texts as the highly successful first edition, this new version of Arete offers readers an absorbing lesson in the culture of Greek athletics from the greatest of teachers—the ancients themselves.

These sources, which Miller himself has translated, provide unparalleled insights into ancient athletic practices and competitive festivals. They emphasize the fundamental role of athletics in education and shed light on such issues as the role of women in athletics and the politics and economics of the games. Ultimately they demonstrate that the concepts of virtue, skill, pride, valor, and nobility embedded in the word arete and so closely associated in the modern mind with Greek athletics are only part of the story from antiquity.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Classical Studies, Sports, School, Philosophy

239 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1979

Reviews

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arete: virtue, skill, prowess, pride, excellence, valor, nobility. It is a cool word and makes an intriguing title. However, this book is a handbook intended as a class supplement, and is simply a culling of sports quotes from ancient sources, which is mildly interesting and not at all useful.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an impressive collection of sources from a range of writers from the ancient world. These selections are from poets, politicians, philosophers, as well as plaques, stone inscriptions, and vase paintings. They all connect in different ways to ancient Greek sport. Many are about the Olympics, but it is far broader including a variety of ancient competitions as well as physical education and exercises more generally.

This is not a book to be read as such; it is a useful handbook to find ancient quotations about sport. I found it quite useful for finding sources for my classes -- but it is not something a causal reader would find helpful. I would have liked more introduction to, context for, or interpretation of the quotations. But the author quite consciously is putting this together to be used along side a text that would provide such explanations.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as a part of CLAS 263 (Athletics in the Greek and Roman World) taught by Al Duncan. As a lover of all things Ancient Greece, I really enjoyed this text. I thought Miller's context and narration was incredibly helpful in dissecting this rather complex book full of first hand sources from the ancient world. A fascinating insight into the role of athletics for Greek people, both upper class and lower.

[Dasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the combination of primary source material that was reprinted and make up the bulk of the book and the secondary sources which provide introduction and context to the primary sources and help guide the reader. It is a book that you can skip around and read different sections out-of-order which made it easy to read casually over a longer period of time. Overall, an interesting read!

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great quotes about the Olympics from the ancients themselves!

[Elysa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had a great variety of kinds of evidence, but it ended very abruptly.