In ancient Greece, sport was a significant part of the culture. Events such as discus throwing, wrestling, and sprinting were all primary events, and put the participants' physical and athletic ability to the test for spectators to witness. In contrast, the sport of choice in ancient Rome was Gladiator battles, which were extremely brutal to witness and a true battle of survival. Interestingly, the Greeks allowed people of any background to participate in their Olympics, and in this way, it was a very even playing field, and a true meritocracy. The Greeks placed an emphasis on the human body, and the nude participants were treated as Gods due to their impressive physical stature. However, the Roman Gladiators were typically slaves and considered savages, and were forced to fight each other for the entertainment of the upper elites and the crowd. Another point of interest was the fact that males dominated athletic competition, and women were typically not present, suggesting the perception of gender differences that still persists to this day. Despite the differences between sports and methods, both the Greeks and the Romans placed an emphasis on winning, and the glorification of the winners as well as the stigmatization of the losers is an aspect of sport that is still present in the modern day.
References: Youtube videos provided of Ancient Rome and Greek sports
No comments:
Post a Comment