Some Basic Aspects of Panhellenic Games and Festivals in the Late-Archaic and Classical Period

Some Basic Aspects of Panhellenic Games and Festivals in the Late-Archaic and Classical Period

Thomas Heine Nielsen

Universidad de Copenhague

 

10.48232/eclas.164.02

Resumen

This essay deals with the meaning of the term ‘panhellenic’ in its use in a sporting context, considering why the term is reserved in modern scholarship to designate the four great sporting festivals of ancient Greece (Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian and Nemean Games). It is an inescapable conclusion that the basic characteristics of the Panhellenic athletic festivals (their inclusion as spectacles into religious festivals, their acceptance of all comers, the events program, the complex competitions announcement system) are not exclusive to these four festivals but shared with numerous other festivals. So, the Panhellenic festivals were simply the most conspicuous examples of a rather common Greek institution, the athletic festival. The crowds that attended the Games, and the ambitions and motivations of the athletes when participating are also considered.

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Abstract

El artículo se ocupa del sentido del término ‘panhelénico’ en su uso en contextos deportivos, discutiéndose específicamente por qué los estudiosos modernos reservan el término para designar los cuatro grandes festivales deportivos de la antigua Grecia (Juegos Olímpicos, Píticos, Ístmicos y Nemeos). Es indiscutible que las características esenciales de los festivales deportivos panhelénicos (su inclusión como espectáculo en festivales religiosos, el hecho de que pudieran participar griegos de cualquier procedencia, el programa de pruebas, el complejo sistema de anuncio de las competiciones) no son exclusivas de esos cuatro grandes juegos, sino compartidas con otros muchos festivales. Los Juegos Panhelénicos eran simplemente los más sobresalientes ejemplos de una institución griega común, el festival deportivo. Se estudian también aspectos relativos a las multitudes que se congregaban para asistir a los juegos y las ambiciones y objetivos de los atletas para participar.

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