Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

Preface xi

1 Introduction 1

2 Beginnings and Evidence 12

3 Athletic Events 24

4 Combat and Equestrian Events 38

5 Zeus Country 52

6 Pindar and Immortality 67

7 Body, Mind, and Greek Athletics 80

8 Questions of Profit and Social Class 92

9 The Athletes 102

10 Women and Greek Athletics 113

11 Between the Greek and Roman Worlds 122

12 The Later Centuries of Olympia 130

13 The Origin and Authenticity of the Modern Olympic Games 138

Appendix A: Chronology and Schedule of the Athletic Circuit 158

Appendix B: Technical Note on Discus and Long Jump 161

Appendix C: Modern Issues: The Marathon and Torch Relay 165

Notes 170

Glossary 175

Bibliography 177

Index 181

About the Author

David C. Young is Professor of Classics at the University of Florida and author of the acclaimed The Modern Olympics: A Struggle for Revival (1996). His Olympic Myth of Greek Amateur Athletics (1984) won the Book of the Year award from the North American Society of Sports Historians. He translated the Words of Pindar which were read out at the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Reviews

"David Young is one of the world's foremost experts on the Olympic Games, and this book contains many interesting details that have remained in the deep shadows of history much too long. An excellent read!" Anthony Th. Bijkerk, Secretary-General, International Society of Olympic Historians end!->
"An impressively comprehensive, clear and often vivid survey of the ancient Olympics ... The book is packed with carefully considered interventions in long-standing debates." The Journal of Hellenic Studies