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6 - Life in the ancient world*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2014

By
Michael Scott
Edited by
William Brown  and
Andrew Fabian
Michael Scott
Affiliation:
Warwick University
William Brown
Affiliation:
Darwin College, Cambridge
Andrew Fabian
Affiliation:
Darwin College, Cambridge
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Summary

Only the future is uncertain, the past is always changing.

Anonymous

Not everything is quite as it seems

The year 2012 is – as it is becoming increasingly difficult to forget – an Olympic year. The Olympics have a long history, as we are often told, which stretches back to the world of ancient Greece. This link between ancient and modern was trumpeted again during 2012, not least at an exhibition entitled ‘The Olympic Journey’ at the Royal Albert Hall, which told the story of the Olympics from ancient Greece to the present day.

And yet, just what picture of the ancient games, and thus the links with our modern Olympics, do we have in our heads? A quick quiz highlights the issues. Which of the following did form part of the ancient Olympics?

  1. (a) the Olympic torch relay

  2. (b) the Marathon race

  3. (c) male athletes tying up their penises with string

Only the last is true of the ancient games. The torch relay was introduced by Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Games, and the Marathon race first became part of the Olympics in 1896, at the inaugural modern games. Athletes tying up their penises with string, on the other hand, known as ‘infibulation’, ‘ligaturing’ or by its ancient name kynodesme (‘dog-tying’), was a well-known feature of ancient athletics. Its purpose is, however, unclear, with some scholars arguing that it was meant to help avoid unwanted erections, others simply to keep the penis out of the way when running, others that it was an issue of sexual attraction and others still an issue of modesty.

Type
Chapter
Information
Life , pp. 96 - 123
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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