Nudity in sport: Encyclopedia II - Nudity in sport - In ancient times

Nudity in sport - In ancient times

• In ancient Greece, athletic exercise played an important part of daily life. In fact, the Greeks credited several mythological figures with athletic accomplishments, and even male gods (especially Apollo and Herakles, patrons of sport) were commonly depicted as athletes.

It is said that in the city-state of Sparta the custom of exercising naked was first introduced. Anyhow, it spread to the whole of Greece, and the athletes from all its parts, coming together for the Olympic Games and the other Panhellenic Games, competed naked in almost all disciplines, such as boxing, wrestling, pankration (a free-style mix of boxing and wrestling, serious physical harm allowed) -in such martial arts equal chances in terms of grip and body protection require a non-restrictive uniform, as presently common, or the bare-, stadion and various other foot races including relay race, and the pentathlon (made up of wrestling, stadion, long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw). However, they did not perform in the nude during chariot races. It is believed to root in the religious notion that athletic excellence was an ‘esthetical’ offering to the gods (nearly all games fitted in religious festivals), and certainly was welcomed as a measure to prevent foul play, which was punished publicly on the spot by the judges (often religious dignitaries) with a sound lashing, also endured in the bare!

Evidence of Greek nudity in sport comes from the numerous surviving depictions of athletes (sculpture, mosaics, and vase paintings). Famous athletes were honored by a statue erected for their commemoration (see Milo of Croton). A few writers have insisted that the athletic nudity in Greek art is just an artistic convention, finding it unbelievable that anybody would have run naked. This view could be ascribed to late-Victorian prudishness applied anachronistically to ancient times.

The word gymnasium (from Greek gymnasion, being derived from Greek gymnos, meaning "naked" as ), originally denoting a place for the in the intellectual, moral and physical education of young men as future soldiers and (certainly in democracies) citizens (compare ephebos), is another testimony of the nudity in physical exercises. The more recent form gym is an abbreviation of gymnasium.

• In Hellenistic times, Greek-speaking Jews would sometimes take part in athletic exercises. They were then exposed to ridicule because they were circumcised - a custom which was unknown in the Greek tradition. In fact the Greek athletes, even though naked, seem to have made a point of avoiding exposure of their glans; for example by tying a bit of string around their foreskin. In roman-occuped Jerusalem, Jews that went to the gymnasium would wear prostetic foreskins made from sheep gut in order to avoid being ridiculed for being circumcized.

• The Romans, although they took over much of the Greek culture, had a somewhat different appreciation of nakedness. To appear nude in public was considered disgusting except in appropriate places and context : the public baths (originally open to both sexes) and even public latrines were as popular meeting places for all as the forum.

Athletic exercises by free citizens (no longer required to serve as soldiers since Marius' army reform) was partly replaced by gladiatorial games performed in amphitheatres. The gladiators were mainly recruited among slaves, war captives, and death row convicts -the very lowest, who had no choice- but occasionally a free man choice this fast lane to fame and riches. When fighting in the arena, against one another or against wild beasts, they would be armed with swords, shields, etc., but would otherwise be partly or totally naked (see Gladiator for particulars).

• Gladiators were one of many features, especially religious, Rome inherited from its highly respected Etruscan neighbours. This ancient, alien (not Indo-European, possibly originating from Asia Minor) culture even depicts warriors fighting completely naked!

• When Christianity in the fourth century became the state religion, gladiatorial games were soon abandoned, and the concept of nudity as 'sinful' took root.

• In Japan, female sumo wrestlers wrestled in the nude. Today, females are not allowed to sumo wrestle, and the sport, practiced by men in ceremonial dress of loin cloth-size, in general is considered sacred under Shintoism.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "In ancient times", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki