The Ancient Olympics: A History [Paperback]

Nigel Spivey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192806041 | ISBN-13: 978-0192806048 | Publication Date: June 8, 2006

The word "athletics" is derived from the Greek verb "to struggle or to suffer for a prize." As Nigel Spivey reveals in this engaging account of the Olympics in ancient Greece, "suffer" is putting it mildly. Indeed, the Olympics were not so much a graceful display of Greek beauty as a war fought by other means.
Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were--fierce contests between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, the author notes, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted to cheating and bribery. Contested always bitterly and often bloodily, the ancient Olympics were not an idealistic celebration of unity, but a clash of military powers in an arena not far removed from the battlefield. The author explores what the events were, the rules for competitors, training and diet, the pervasiveness of cheating and bribery, the prizes on offer, the exclusion of "barbarians," and protocols on pederasty. He also peels back the mythology surrounding the games today and investigates where our current conception of the Olympics has come from and how the Greek notions of beauty and competitiveness have influenced our modern culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating book, with much to teach, especially for those who only have a hazy knowledge of the ancient Olympics.... Spivey clearly shows how violent and dangerous the games of ancient Olympia were. He brings alive the place, the time and the brutal men who came together to fiercely compete for honor and glory. He also describes how the contestants were chosen and describes each competition, including boxing, the pentathlon and wrestling."--USA Today

"Just in time for the Summer Olympics, a fresh new history of the games that begot all of today's quadrennial pomp.... An essential resource: always reliable and instructive, often entertaining."--Kirkus Reviews

"A good survey of the Olympics, well informed and concise.... If we had been able to visit Olympia in its classical heyday, he says, we should not have liked it much: 'it must have reeked to high heaven'; it was bloody and noisy; and it 'should not be idealized with too much faded grandeur.' As for the origin of the Games, in his view, that is simple: it is war."--The New York Review of Books

"Lively and accessible.... The book is learned without being scholarly, and it is brief enough to finish in time for tonight's broadcast of the opening ceremonies.... Much of the book's fascination lies in seeing faintly recognizable events made strange by a radically different context. It quickly becomes apparent that the similarities between the ancient and the modern games are at best superficial; it is the difference that makes for interest."--The Wall Street Journal

"Thoughtful and approachable."--The Boston Globe

"A delightful tour through ancient Greece with plenty for the sports-minded, historian, Greek scholar and linguist."--St. Petersburg Times

"His writing exhibits the edge British scholars retain when it comes to tempering trenchancy and erudition with grace and wit. For his versatility and balance I would make him winner in the pentathlon. But with his coaching experience and his emphasis, as the dust jacket puts it, on 'the ancient games as they really were--brutal, fierce and deadly,' he might prefer to walk off with the pankration."-- The New York Sun

About the Author

Nigel Spivey teaches the classics at Cambridge University. He is the author of Understanding Greek Sculpture: Ancient Meanings, Modern Readings, Greek Art, Etruscan Art, and Enduring Creation: Art, Pain, and Fortitude.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192806041
• ISBN-13: 978-0192806048
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellence in Research, August 30, 2006

By 

Thomas Randleman (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ancient Olympics: A History (Paperback)

I cannot praise enough the excellence of Nigel Spivey's research and presentation involved with the ancient Olympics.

The craftsmanship of his narrative is first-rate and there is a refreshing candor and lack of romanticizing regarding this event and the times surrounding it.

Mr. Spivey may be remembered from his presenting of "The Queens and Kings Of England" on the Biography Channel. He is a charming host on this particular documentary and one can see his sincere interest in putting forth well done research in a way to include the viewer outside the convention of a professor ponticificating to his classroom.

A perfectly wonderful book by a perfectly wonderful writer!

Thomas Lee

1 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thank God They're Going to England, Not New York!, July 20, 2005

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ancient Olympics: A History (Hardcover)

The anicent Greeks at Adelphia considered the original Olympics a 'civilized mode of war without the shooting.' The aim was winning at any cost (like American politics today), as the losers were called and looked down on as failures in disgrace. He dwells on boy athletes and shows a marble statue of the naked David minus one arm and a hand.

Why did the early Greek athletes compete naked? Did it have something to do with sex or did they have perfect bodies? Why did the Romans change the games in Olympia and make it more civilized? There the Greeks raised their sporting prowess to heroic status.

The historian, Bettany Hughes, wrote that this book shows "a number of hand-picked historical characters (which) bring us face to face with ... the ruthless business of winning the games." Nigel Spivey includes a photo of the naked wrestlers in marble. This is an erotic book. The poster for the 1912 Stockholm Olympics shows a naked combatant.

There is a drawing of the Olympic Zeus in the original Parthenon, a huge six-story-tall fixture similar to the modern Athena statuary in the Nashville, Tennessee, Parthenon. He has written many books among which are PANORAMA OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD and UNDERSTANDING GREEK SCULPTURE.