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 exploring: How did sports games exhibit 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 is training and harmonious development of soul and body in achieving the ideal of body beauty?
1. How did he dare not honor the goddess Athena with his lack of training? How could he show cowardice instead of arete (valor)? Not showing respect for the rules of the games and fair punishment for their violations? (Author).
2. Public shame and expulsion of a participant in the games.The Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, Nemean, and Panathenaic games served as a place for agons * and arete, appreciating the beauty and admiring the naked participants of these spectacles. But what if one of the citizens, for some reason, did not meet the kalokagathia, but decided to participate in the competition? This was a shame for the participant. Let's consider a historical incident recorded by the ancient Greek comedian Aristophanes in his comedy "Frogs".
AESCHYLUS:
Among the freaks and nags, you won't find anyone,
Who would proudly rush with a torch
DIONYSUS:
Nobody! The gods see! Until the colic these days
I laughed at the Panathenaic festival.
Someone, crooked, decided to take part in the race,
White-bodied and plump. He's behind
He puffed and gasped and snorted. At the Keramika Gate people started beating him
Along the back of the neck, the ribs, and the sides.
Figure 1. Item number 1960.344. Crater depicting a torch race for the hydria prize, 430-420 BC. Attributed to the manner of the painter Peleus, Gela (Sicily). Side A: Torch Run, two torch runners. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, endowed by David M. Robinson.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
* Agon (Greek wrestling, competition). A distinctive feature of Greek life is the uncontrollable desire for competition in almost all spheres of society and life. The main role was played by sports (gymnastics), artistic (poetic and musical), and equestrian competitions [2].
3. Events before the shame and expulsion. Let's move to Athens *. The year 406 BC arrived (a third year after the 93rd Olympics). In the polis, on the 1st of the Attic calendar (part of July and August), the most important holiday for Athens is held - the Great Panathenaea in honor of the patroness of the polis, the goddess Athena. The whole city and guests from other policies of the Delian League (the first Athenian maritime union) gathered. The small agon (competition) starts in the torch running of the phyloi (territorial unit, of which there were 10 in Attica) - as an integral part of the Panathenaic Games at this holiday. In the pottery square of Athens, "someone crooked" attracts the attention of the audience (cripples were not allowed, perhaps we are talking about his manner of running). He stands out from the rest of the race participants with his appearance – "chubby" and his delicacy – "white-bodied". According to the rules of the games, he had to run his distance very quickly and pass the wax torch that had not gone out to the next participant in his species. However, his image of a "freak and a nag" greatly irritates the citizens of Athens - "he puffed and wheezed and sniffled," and "he lagged terribly."
* Starting from this part of the text, a reconstruction of the events of the 4th century BC will be presented. reflected in Aristophanes' play "Frogs" and then, its production in comedy, on the stage of the Dionysus Theater in Athens. The reconstruction is based on surviving historical, archaeological, and literary sources.
4. The image of a "freak and a nag." All these signs told the educated citizen that he was avoiding learning and the harmonious development of soul and body. How did he dare ("go crazy while running") not to honor the goddess Athena with his lack of training? How could he, instead of arete (valor), show cowardice - "stinking, sweating, ... and rushing away"? Not to show respect for the rules of the games - "he blew out his torch and rushed off, fighting off sticks, clicks and kicks" and fair punishment for their violations - "people began to hit him on the back of the neck, on the backside, under the ribs, in the sides"? [3]. Thus, the society of Athenian citizens disgracedly expelled the unworthy from further participation in any competition.
5. Summary. Sports games served as a place for agony and arete, for appreciating beauty and admiring the naked participants of these spectacles. Therefore, it was impossible to hide the false kalokagathia. Citizens of Athens and guests from other policies expelled with shame the unworthy from further participation in any competitions.
But the matter did not end with this public beating and disgrace. It was important to find out the reason for trampling on the ideal of a citizen of the polis.
Next Chapter: Authenticity in the Theater
What we will explore: What is the role of the Theater of Dionysus in the festival of Lenaea?
What's new: What does Aristophanes' comedy "Frogs" expose?
What we will learn: How did Euripides' dramas influence young people and why?
References
1. Aristophanes. Comedy. Fragments / Translation by A. Piotrovsky; The publishing house was prepared by V.N. Yarho; Executive editor M.L. Gasparov; [The editors of the publishing house and the artist are not indicated]. – M.: Scientific Publishing Center "Ladomir": Science, 2000. – 1033 p.
2. Dictionary of Antiquity: Translation from German; Rep. ed. V. I. Kuzishchin / Comp. Johannes Irmscher et al. with Renate Jone. – M.: Progress, 1989. – 704 p.
3. Gvozdeva T.B. Panathenaic festival in the comedies of Aristophanes. Bulletin of the Russian State University for the Humanities. Series "Literary Studies. Linguistics. Culturology". 2016; (11):17-27.
