magic of olympic fame - to the history of the cames

8/8/2019 Magic of Olympic Fame - to the history of the Cames

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m a g i c o f O l y m p i c f a m eto the his tory o f th e C a m e s

edited byHeleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg

andThomas van Maaren

Publ ished for Utrecht U nivers i tyin cooperat ion with NOC*NSFby Bureau Studium Genera le UU1996


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C o nten t sPreface by ANDR BOLHUIS 5At lanta 1996 7H E L E E N S A N C I S I - W E E R D E N B U R OOlympic Games between 393 en 1896 9H E L E E N S A N C I S I - W E E R D E N B U R GInternational or Olympic? 15G E R A L D A J U R R I A A N S - H E L L EThe torch and Olympic fire 21H . W . P L E K E TThe reward of the Olympic athlete 27M A R I J E B O S M A NThe Olympic stadium 31T H O M A S V A N M A A R E NA p i t e : Go ... 37K A R I N R I K K E R SEquestrian events 41J . J . V . M . D E R K S E NWrestl ing, boxing and the p a n k r a t i o n 47T H O M A S V A N M A A R E NThe two throwing events 53J . J . V . M . D E R K S E NThe Olympic Pentathlon 59H E L E E N S A N C I S I - W E E R D E N B U R GThe marathon: in the tracks of a legend 65H . T . W A L L I N G ACompetit ive rowing is no sport 73G U I D O V A N D O N G E NRecords and eternal fame 77S. W l E R S M ABlest is the one on whom praises shower 81H . W . P L E K E TThe social status of Greek athletes 87H.F.J. HORSTMANSHOFFExertion and pain 91


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H.C. T E I T L E RThe Olympic Games in Ant iochJ E R O E N A.B. BONSThe M o me n tL i s t of authorsReferencesL i s t of illustrationsContents

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1031071081101 1 1

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'Exert ion a n d p a i nSpor t , medic ine a nd p h ys i o th era p y

Medicine is an integral part of modern sport. Doctorscounsel professionals and amateurs, doctors recommendsport as a way of promoting health, but on the other handa lot of sick leave is due to sports injuries. Physiotherapyplays an important role in modern sports. What was thesituation in antiquity?The idea that health is the result of a balance between theh u m o u r s or bodily f luids (ill. 1), and that disruption of thatbalance causes illness, is the foundation of ancient medicine.H ow people l ive and behave affects their health. The preciseorigin of this doctrine is still unclear, but it was fu l lydeveloped by the time of Hippokrates, th e father of Greekmedicine (late fifth century BC), and was to continue todominate medicine unt i l late in the nineteenth century A D .Dietetics (the Greek d i a i t a can be roughly translated as 'life-s ty le ' ) was not confined to nutr i t ion, but extended to sleep,sexuali ty, movement, and the patient's whole l ife-style. Sophysicians concerned themselves with th e exercise of sportand trainers developed medical theories: the start of aprolonged rivalry.

The earliest mention of the connection between sport andmedic ine goes back to 668 BC. The Spartan Charmis , whowon the 200 metre sprint in the Olympic Games held in thatyear, followed a special diet of dried figs. The long-distancerunner Dromeus (the name means 'runner') is said to havebeen the first to substitute a diet of meat for the tradit ionalcheese diet. I t worked, because he won twice at the Olym-pic Games (in 484 and 480 BC). The athlete Ikkos ofTarente (mid-fif th century BC) had a clear answer to thequestion of whether sex and top-level sport were compat-ible. He had never had contact with a boy or woman


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H. F . J . H O R S T M A N S H O F Ft h roughou t his career, and he was moderate in his consump-tion of food and drink. 'Ikkos' meal' became proverbial.

I I I . 1: Scheme o f t h e four elements.Herodikos of Selymbria (fifth century BC) connectedmedicine with gymnastics, though not everyone approved ofhis methods. 'Herodikos has kil led fever patients by makingthem run, wrestle and take steam baths', Hippokratesdeclares. In the words of an anonymous Greek medicalauthor: 'Herodikos of Selymbria believes that illness iscaused by how one lives. It is natural if it includes amoderate degree of exertion and pain and if food is digestedaccordingly.'The influence of the physicians could be seen in theplace where wrestling was done (the palaistra). Forinstance, Hippokrates recommends the use of oil duringtraining in the winter because it does not draw heat from th ebody, whi le sand is preferable in the summer because of itscool ing effect. Sand and oil had to be scraped off aftertraining with a strigil. The body was then rinsed with coldwater and a sponge and rubbed with aromatic oils.Large numbers of medical and paramedical professionalswere to be found in and near th e stadion, where races wereheld , and the palaistra, where contact sports were practised.

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E X E R T I O N A N D P A I NA n inscription from the third century A D indicates that anathletics association in a city in Asia Minor (present-dayTurkey) employed i ts own sports physician.The main taskof doctors was to treat injuries; caring for fit athletes wasleft to the trainers.

The oldest word for a trainer or coach is paidotribes,from pais (boy) and t r i b e i n (rub), referring to massagingwith oil. However, perhaps tribein simply means 'train'.A n o t h e r word is gymnastes ('training master'), a functionoften performed by retired athletes whose age forced themto withdraw from active competitive sports. The gymnastesand the paidotribes represented th e theoretical and practicalsides respectively. The aleiptes, 'anointer', knew thephysical condition of his pupils and how he could improvetheir muscular development with massage.

Accord ing to Galen (second century AD), it was not allthese trainers and masseurs but the physicians who were thereal teachers of gymnastics. Galen spares himself no painsto elevate th e status of his own profession, medicine, in hismany works. One of his writings is entitled: Th e bestphysician i s also a philosopher Galen's own motto.However, Galen's enormous erudition was exceptionalamong physicians. In general th e medical knowledge oftrainers, dieticians and masseurs wil l not have differedappreciably from that of physicians in antiquity.

Galen was a sports physician.He was associated with thegladiatorial school of the city of Pergamum (present-dayBergama in northwest Turkey). H e was responsible for thehealth of the gladiators, w ho fought to the death in thearena. H e kept an eye on their daily diet, advised on theirt raining, and patched them up when they were wounded. I nth e process, he took advantage of their terrible injuries toimprove his anatomical knowledge. H is writings containextended reports of his successes.

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H . F . J . H O R S T M A N S H O F FI n his theoretical w rit ing s, how ever, G alen is anyth ingbut positive about sport. H e views professional sport as anactivity for the uncivi l ised. People deserve praise for theirintellectual and moral feats, not because they happen to be

good at discus-throwing. Galen continued a long-standingtradition of philoso phical cri t icism of sport which goes backat least to the sixth century B C. A thletes, 'enslaved to the irappetites', have no part in the riches of the spirit. Theirphysical well-being is damaged by the excessive trainingand eating. Their peak condition is inflated and immediatelycollapses once they stop training reminiscent of the worldof anabolic steroids and other pep pil ls.The only exception that Galen considers suitable for asensible person is 'the game with the smal l bal l ', on w hichhe wrote a separate treatise. I t does not involve any roughplay and it promotes the ability to react (ill . 2).Overindulgence in sport is detrimental to heal th.

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111. 2: F u n e r a r y stela o f an athlete playing a ball game.N a t. M u s e u m , A t h e n s , i nv . nr. 873.A s a physician, Galen did not consider himself abovedevoting his medical skil ls to the gladiators in his care. A sa phi losopher, however, he felt them to be beneath his

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E X E R T I O N A N D P A I Ndigni ty . I n this he was simply representing the traditionalpoint of view of the intellectual elite.

H.F.J . H O R S T M A N S H O F F

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magic of olympic fame - to the history of the cames

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