In the second book, "What's Wrong with the Diet? What is the role of the psyche?" the key role of the psyche in people's eating behavior was revealed. Harmony in the psyche becomes the engine for future changes in the eating behavior of people with...
What we are researching: How did classes in gymnasiums and palaestras reveal false kalokagathia?
What's new: What contributed to achieving the ideal of body beauty?
What we will learn: What was the main thing that helped us achieve the ideal of body beauty?
1. Forming a teenager's body by pedotribes was similar to the art of a blacksmith, who subjected the metal body to impacts, friction, purification, and hardening with water. It is also identical to the art of a fuller (felting cloth from wool), who crushes the wool with his feet, beats pulls strikes, cuts off what comes out, and then straightens it, weaving it back. As a result of these actions, a beautiful and strong product is formed, suitable for use. This is how one ancient doctor figuratively describes the difficult process carried out by a gymnastics teacher (Hippocrates, 1944. On diet. I. 13, 14) [1].
2. The art of body shaping. In the gymnasiums, palaestra, the time from morning to lunch was regularly devoted to physical exercises or gymnastics. Boys and young men practiced there in the nude, and in Pergamon, Sparta, Teos, and Chios, young girls also practiced. Therefore, it was impossible to hide the shortcomings of the physical development of the body - thinness or fatness. Consequently, it was possible to detect false kalokagathia from a young age to further develop the body by the ideal of beauty [2]. From the age of seven, a doctor and a children's trainer (pedotrib) monitored daily compliance with the ideal of beauty. The pedotrib and the doctor had higher education in antiquity. The level of this education allowed them both to have a good understanding of anatomy, healing, and dietetics and to apply this knowledge in practice [3].
Figure 1. Attic red-figure kylix, attributed to a foundry worker, depicting a scene of boxers and pankrationists training; excavations at Vulci; 490-480 BC e.; British museum; (source: British Museum - CVA British Museum 9 / Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: Great Britain 17, British Museum 9 (48)) *. The training scene depicts a pedotrib with a special fork-shaped stick for punishing disobedient students.
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*Greek pottery is the most common find found in archaeological research in Ancient Greece. The painting on various vessels serves as additional documentary evidence of the way of life of the ancient Greeks and the state of their appearance.
3. Observation and correction of naughty teenagers. Anyone who tried to evade for any reason or did not listen to advice was punished by the pedotrib with a special fork-shaped stick (see Fig. 1, and 2 for the man on the right). But the main thing is that they were skillful in their ability to convince their students in words of the importance of being the owner of a healthy and beautiful body and showed how to achieve this [3]. And yet there were citizens who, for various reasons, might not correspond to the image of beauty. The competitions revealed this (III fr. 10. 12).
Figure 2. Athletic competition of young Achaeans 510–500 BC. e. Archaic. Relief on the base of the statue. Marble. 29x79. National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
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4. Summary. Gymnastics from a young age made it possible to detect false kalokagathia to further develop the body by the ideal of beauty. The supervision of a pedotribe and a doctor made it possible to promptly correct disobedient teenagers with the help of persuasion and punishment.
Figure 3. Athletes playing with a ball in the palaestra 510–500 BC. e. Archaic. Relief on the base of the statue. Marble. 29x79. National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
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Next Chapter: Authenticity in Athletic Competitions
What we are researching: How did sports games detect fake kalokagathia?
What's new: How did the citizens of Athens react to those who did not fit the image of Kalokagathia?
What will we learn: How important was the training and harmonious development of soul and body in achieving the ideal of body beauty?
References
1. Hippocrates. Essays. Volume 2. Translation from Greek by V. Iruanev. Editing and notes by V.P. Karpova. Moscow: Medgiz, 1944. – 512 p.
2. Marru A.-I. History of education in antiquity (Greece). Translation from French A.I. Lyubzhina, M.A. Sokolskaya, A.V. Pakhomova. – M.: Greco-Latin cabinet Yu.A. Shichalina, 1998. ‒ 428 p.
3. Yeager V. Paideia. Education of an ancient Greek. Volume I. /Translation from it. A. I. Lyubzhina. – M.: Greco-Latin cabinet of Yu. A. Shichalin. 2001. - 594 p.
