Cynisca: Female Athlete of the Fourth Century BCE

Google is a wonderful educator. I was browsing around for more information on the athletic training of Spartan women, when I came across a mention of one Spartan princess named Cynisca, who happened to be an Olympic champion.

Throughout Greece, men ruled society; women stayed out of the way. Anyone who has studied the ancient Olympics has probably come across the fact that only men competed, and they even banned women from watching the events. How did a women come to compete, let alone win? A unique combination of political, social, technical, and familial situations created an atmosphere effecting Cynisca's rise to fame.

Cynisca was born around 440BCE, shortly after the end of the First Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens. Sparta again went to war in 431, and spent twenty-seven years fighting the Second Peloponnesian War. This intense battle and political fighting lead to the social differences that made Cynisca's win possible: wars mean soldiers, and more soldiers can only come from women.

In order to maximize their chances for healthy warriors, Sparta gave its women chances many opportunities denied them in the other Greek lands. Spartan society encouraged women to stay physically active, and even to become athletic to create strong mothers. Strong, healthy women produced more, stronger children and didn't die in childbirth as often. Cynisca would have grown up in a world where she could stay active and compete, albeit not anywhere near on the level men were allowed to.

While Olympic rules banned women from actually competing in any events, the rules did allow them to complete by proxy in one event: four-horse chariot racing. By choosing riders to compete for them, women could vicariously compete and still receive the fame and glory awarded to champions. Her standing as a Spartan princess gave Cynisca the wealth to take advantage of this small loop-hole in the rules, and she pushed that advantage to the fullest.

Cynisca competed and won the race not once, but twice, in both 396 and again in 392. She received the laurel crown given to all champions, and erected a monument in her own honor, claiming,

"My fathers and brothers were Spartan kings, I won with a team of fast-footed horses, and put up this monument: I am Cynisca: I say I am the only woman in all Greece to have won this wreath."

Despite the restrictions women faced in ancient Greece, Spartan women enjoyed a small bit of relative freedom. The wars gave them a reason to stay strong and active, and Cynisca managed to become champion in an event she wouldn't have even been able to watch. In more colloquial language one might add, "You go, girl!"

Source: American Chronicle, "Cynisca of Sparta", Paul Cartledge

The Peloponnesian War

The war between Athens and Sparta was called the Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta were completely different in many ways and had different goals. Athens wanted to expand with new buildings, such as the Parthenon. They were growing in wisdom through their philosophers, such as Aristotle and Socrates. Sparta, on the other hand, cared about expansion for power, not for things such as buildings and wisdom. These two rival city-states were once united to protect the Greek states from invasions by Persia, but their friendship did not last long.

Spartans were trained all their lives to be soldiers, and were known for their military abilities. Spartans and their allies, other Greek city-states, were known as the Peloponnesian League and dominated southern Greece. Athens, on the other hand, had a very strong navy and their allies were known as the Delian League. Conflict aroused between the two city-states and their allies, which lead to the Peloponnesian War.

The war began on 4 April 432 BCE and ended on 25 April 404 BCE. The reason the war started came from Sparta’s fear of Athenian growth of power. It was a strung out war with one side, the Spartans, who dominated on land, and the other side, Athens, who had advantages at sea. They each took advantage of their strengths; Athenian navy raided cities on the Peloponnesus, while Sparta damaged Attica, the territory around Athens. The twenty-eight year war involved various fighting mixed with peace treaties along the way.

In the end, Athens invaded Sicily, which ended in disaster, and the Athenian army surrendered to Sparta. The Athenian city walls and empire were torn down. Sparta’s victory is argued as to whether is was harmful or helpful to Greece as a whole.

 

http://www.laconia.org/gen_info_literature/Peloponnesian_war.htm

http://www.indiana.edu/~thtr/2002/lysistrata/war.html

http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/comp/cw4athensspartap2dz.htm

http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/peloponn/17.shtml

The History of the Olympic Games

The first written records of the Olympic games date back to 776 BC, though it is believed the games had been going on for many years already. The legend says the Olympic Games were founded by Heracles, a son of Zeus. The games were dedicated to the Olympian Gods; Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, and Aphrodite, to name a few. According to a fifth century BC sophist, Hippias of Elis, the first athletic contest was the foot race, and it was held at Olympia in honor of the Olympian god Zeus. The Olympic Games became one of the largest and most famous festivals, and continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200 years.

Unfortunately, in 393 BC, A Roman emperor named Theodosius I abolished the games.  The reason for his decision was based on the fact that he was a Christian and did not like the religious aspect of the games; dedicating them to the Olympian Gods. About 1500 years later, a man named Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman, began the revival of the games. In 1890, he organized and founded a sports organization, despite the unenthusiastic interest from France. For a few years, he talked about his idea to bring the Olympic Games back, but gained no interest from the people. Eventually, after being persistent, he sparked interest at a meeting he organized with 79 delegates who represented 9 countries. The delegates fully agreed with Coubertin’s idea to revive the Games. They had him construct an international committee to organize the Games, which is known today as the International Olympic Committee. The chosen revival location was Athens.

Even though the Olympic games were the most famous, and are still taking place today, they were not the first athletic events to take place in the Mediterranean area. The Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians carved athletic scenes on the tombs of kings, showing a long tradition of athletic activities. Unlike the Olympic games, these athletic activities were not regular organized festivals.

 The history of the Olympic Games is incredible, especially how early these Games started in 776 BC. I had no idea that there was a period of time where the games didn’t take place because of their abolishment, and 1500 years later, the games were revived again. It is amazing to know something that burnt out for so many years was brought back by the persistence of one man, and still takes place today. The Olympic Games are just one of the amazing aspects of life that we adopted from the ancient Greeks.

 http://www.timelineindex.com/content/view/1022

http://history1900s.about.com/od/fadsfashion/a/olympicshistory.htm