Thomas F. Scanlon

The Dispersion of Pederasty and the Athletic Revolution in Sixth-Century BC Greece

Abstract Dorian Crete and Thebes are conventionally seen by ancient sources as the originators of pederasty; modern historians see support for this view in Dorian male-centered militarism and sexual segregation in upbringing. Here athletic culture, including training, nudism, and competition, is argued to be a chief ‘trigger’ for the emergence of pederasty in Sparta and its relatively rapid spread to other Greek states in the seventh to sixth centuries BC. Athletic nudity, in particular, was not a device to enforce civic egalitarianism, as some have argued, but is a persistently erotic incentive that reinforces hegemonic maleness and advertises the individuals virtuous exercise of restraint. In particular, Sparta is found to be the likely source of generalized athletic nudity combined with open pederasty in the early seventh century BC. Nudism in Greek art is erotically charged and not, as others argue, simply a gender marker in the seventh century. Generalized athletic nudity spread to other Greek states emulating the successful Spartan model by the ‘athletic revolution’ of the early sixth century. With athletic nudity, open pederasty, again following Sparta, was fostered.

Contesting Ancient Mediterranean Sport

This essay sketches the ways in which ancient sport history has come of age in the last century or so, and suggests selectively some timely themes in the study of ancient Mediterranean sport. It begins with two observations about this area of study: first the extent and the limits of the legacy of Greek and Roman sport in the world tradition; and second, the limits and biases of ancient sources. Then there is a brief discussion of how the study of ancient sport was in some ways marginalized until the late twentieth century, but then has emerged with an exciting new dynamism in recent years, epitomized by the work of the contributors to this present collection.

Athletics in Ancient Athens

A study on ancient athletics, assessing a complex body of material from archaeological, historical and literary sources.