The Greek Notion Of Contest

The Greek Notion Of Contest

We think of theatre as something quite different from a boxing match or a pentathlon. The Greeks don't. To them every kind of a contest is equally important, necessary and central to who they are. So if we want to understand the birth of theatre we need to understand the Greek notion of contest. [In Greek, contest is agon*.]

The greatest of the early contests is the Olympic games, held at Olympia*, a city on the river Alpheus in the far wester part of the Peloponneus. It is the chief site of the cult of Zeus*. There these quadrennial (every fourth year) games are held in his honor. The Olympic games* will continue, without interruption, into the fourth century A.D.

The Greeks love to spend their public money on building. These buildings are thought of as serving the whole society. The stadiums, gymnasiums, (and later theatres) are places of assembly for everyone. The events which take place in these buildings, the games, festivals (and later the performances) are not regarded as recreation. Instead, they are exercises full of ethical and religious meaning. These events are essentially public education. Education of the whole public and not just the privileged few.

Everyone has a part to play in all these contests, and they participate as a community in a cultural experience. The Greek notion of amicable competition is the way in which individuals are able to prove their societal worth.

Our word "athletics" comes from the Greek word athlos which means "contest". The concept behind the Greek notion of contest involves training, testing and perfecting the mind and the body as one unified whole. The concept goes far back in the Greek heritage. We find it well developed in Homer's* account of contests in the Iliad*. Before that it is told in song and Our word "athletics" comes from the Greek word athlos which means "contest". The concept behind the Greek notion of contest involves training, testing and perfecting the mind and the body as one unified whole. The concept goes far back in the Greek heritage. We find it well developed in Homer's* account of contests in the Iliad*. Before that it is told in song and

Sparta* puts a different emphasis on the contest because they are a militaristic bunch who don't think the mind is too important. The other Greek cities think pretty much as Athens does, that the mind is as important as the body.

The public buildings at Olympia* and at Delphi* (for the Pythian* games, a quadrennial event at Delphi in honor of Apollo*) are the most extensive and elaborate. These centers of worship and culture could be thought of as shrines of sports pilgrimage as well as other forms of worship. Visitors from all over Greece and the Greek Mediterranean come as performers or spectators to worship and witness spectacles and parades, and enjoy the fairground atmosphere. Souvenirs, local goods and foreign products are hawked all over the area around the sacred precincts. It is Mardi Gras, Wimbledon, the Super Bowl, the World Series, and Easter in Rome, all wrapped up together.

Slightly smaller but still important festival sports complexes are almost as busy in two other locations. One of the oldest is on the island of Delos* (the Delian* games, in honor of Apollo* on his sacred island). The second is the Isthmian* games (a biennial event, centered in Cornith* and held in honor of Poseidon*).

These festivals and their games are vitally important to the Greeks. When the time of the Olympics* approaches, they send heralds out to every town and through the countryside to announce it. If any of the city-states are fighting each other (as they usually are) a general truce is proclaimed so that every eligible man can compete and attend and people can travel to attend. Soon, theatre will be a vital part of these festival contests, but, before we go deeper into this, we need several other societal elements that are still developing.

753 BCE - Rome* founded c.700 BCE - Hesiod* writes the Theogony (story of the creation and gods)