Victory and Celebration
An Introduction to Greek Athletics
Nigel Nicholson(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 31. July 2025
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-19-762632-0 (ISBN)
Description
Victory and Celebration traces how athletic success was transformed into broader social and political capital in ancient Greece in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE--how being a good boxer or wrestler, or having a fast son or superior horses was made into something of significance beyond the stadium or hippodrome. Athletic success did not speak for itself. Its meanings had to be produced and defended, and this was the work of the victory memorials--the poems, statues, and other dedications produced to commemorate the athletic victories.
Through readings of these victory memorials, Victory and Celebration explores, first, how Greek athletics was intertwined with general ideas of excellence, beauty, and a closeness to gods and heroes, and second, how the memorials communicated more directly political visions of leadership, inherited ability, and the victor's place in their city and the wider world. Finally, the book examines how specific events, such as boxing, contests for youths, and chariot and horse races were shaped and made valuable, or kept valuable, by the memorials. The significance of athletic victory was not a given; by addressing what meanings were attributed to athletic success, and the often-innovative ways in which these meanings were made to seem true, Victory and Celebration emphasizes how much work had to be done to make that success count.
Through readings of these victory memorials, Victory and Celebration explores, first, how Greek athletics was intertwined with general ideas of excellence, beauty, and a closeness to gods and heroes, and second, how the memorials communicated more directly political visions of leadership, inherited ability, and the victor's place in their city and the wider world. Finally, the book examines how specific events, such as boxing, contests for youths, and chariot and horse races were shaped and made valuable, or kept valuable, by the memorials. The significance of athletic victory was not a given; by addressing what meanings were attributed to athletic success, and the often-innovative ways in which these meanings were made to seem true, Victory and Celebration emphasizes how much work had to be done to make that success count.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
23 figures, 1 map
Dimensions
Height: 22 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 235 mm
Weight
602 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-762632-0 (9780197626320)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
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09/2025
Oxford University Press Inc
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E-Book
07/2025
OUP eBook
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E-Book
07/2025
OUP eBook
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Person
Nigel Nicholson is Walter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Humanities at Reed College, where he has also served as the Dean of the Faculty. He is the author of Aristocracy and Athletics in Archaic and Classical Greece, The Poetics of Victory in the Greek West, and, with Nathan Selden, The Rhetoric of Medicine: Lessons on Professionalism from Ancient Greece. A dedicated teacher, he was named Oregon's Professor of the Year for 2004.
Author
Walter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean StudiesWalter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Reed College
Content
Introduction
Part I. More-Than-Mortal Excellence
1: Making the Most of Athletics
2: Escaping the Competition
3: Beautiful (Male) Bodies
4: More Than Mortal
Part II. Politics
5: Leaders
6: Born Excellent
7: Victor and City
8: Making Greece
9: Not for the Money
Part III. Specific Events
10: Boxing
11: Youth Events
12: Horse Races
13: Events at the Margins
Postscript
Part I. More-Than-Mortal Excellence
1: Making the Most of Athletics
2: Escaping the Competition
3: Beautiful (Male) Bodies
4: More Than Mortal
Part II. Politics
5: Leaders
6: Born Excellent
7: Victor and City
8: Making Greece
9: Not for the Money
Part III. Specific Events
10: Boxing
11: Youth Events
12: Horse Races
13: Events at the Margins
Postscript