von Fabiola Heynen
For some disciplines, the ancient athlete needed equipment. He needed his discus to hurl it as far as possible and used jumping weights to gain momentum for the long jump. The objects become particularly exciting when we find them beyond their sweaty use as gifts, so called votive offerings to the ancient deities. This phenomenon of ancient Greece is part of my dissertation at the Institute of Classical Archaeology at Vienna.
To research sports equipment in their function as votive gifts, it is worth looking to take a first look at Olympia, the venue of the Olympic Games. Ancient Olympia was both a competition site and a sanctuary itself.
Traces of dedicated sports equipment in ancient written sources
In the 3rd century BC, the travel writer Pausanias visits ancient Olympia and gives us insights not only into the local customs but also into the architecture and treasuries he marvelled at the site. He reports that several pieces of sports equipment were displayed among other expensive objects in the treasure houses. This is where the ancient Greeks safely stored the most valuable votive gifts for their deities. According to Pausanias, several dedicated diskoi were for example on display in the treasure house of the Sikyonians (Paus. 6.19.4). However, Pausanias also reports that next to the left side of the temple of Zeus there was a jumping weight as a votive gift of Mikythos from the 5th century BC:
„Ἀγών τε ἐν τοῖς ἀναθήμασίν ἐστι τοῖς Μικύθου φέρων ἁλτῆρας, οἱ δὲ ἁλτῆρες οὗτοι παρέχονται σχῆμα τοιόνδε: κύκλου παραμηκεστέρου καὶ οὐκ ἐς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον περιφεροῦς εἰσιν ἥμισυ, πεποίηται δὲ ὡς καὶ τοὺς δακτύλους τῶν χειρῶν διιέναι καθάπερ δι᾽ ὀχάνων ἀσπίδος. τούτων μὲν δὴ σχῆμά ἐστι τὸ εἰρημένον. (…)“ (Paus. 5.26.3)
“Among the offerings of Micythus is Struggle carrying jumping-weights, the shape of which is as follows. They are half of a circle, not an exact circle but elliptical, and made so that the fingers pass through as they do through the handle of a shield. Such are the fashion of them. (…)“
(Translation by Jones — Litt — Ormerod)
Dedicated sports equipment in the archaeological record
Neither the diskoi mentioned by Pausanias nor the jumping weights, the so-called halteres, can be identified in the archaeological record of Olympia. Although there are in general a number of diskoi and jumping weights found at Olympia, these can by no means all be identified with certainty as votive gifts for the gods. They may also be sports equipment left behind from athletes’ training or competition.
But one example is especially striking for our research. A jumping weight with a decisive inscription1:
The inscription testifies that the Spartan Akmatidas used a victory in the Pentathlon as an occasion to dedicate one of his stone jumping weights. In keeping with the origin of the athlete who dedicated the jumping weight, the alphabet is also in laconic script, the alphabet from Sparta.
Winning without touching the sand
With the adverb ἀσσκονικτεί, the inscription refers to the fact that Akmatidas did not even have to compete in the last of the five disciplines of the pentathlon and thus did not come into contact with the dust of the battlefield. Reasons for this could have been, for example, the opponent’s abandonment or disqualification. In this way, Akmatidas achieved victory without having to compete.
The jumping weight is therefore a piece of sports equipment that was dedicated by an athlete on the occasion of a victory in a competition. Was the device actually used by Akmatidas in training beforehand? The heavy weight and the special Taygetos marble suggest that the object was made especially as a votive and never meant to be used. This conclusion already touches on several questions of my dissertation: Can a distinction be made in the dedication of sports equipment between those that were dedicated before the competition with a wish for victory and those that were dedicated out of gratitude after success? Can we distinguish dedication gifts that were specially made as votives from those that were converted after profane use?
But let’s go back to our jumping weight of Akmatidas. Dating between 500 and 480 BC, this is the first reliably surviving dedication of a piece of sports equipment from Olympia. In my dissertation I ask when do such dedications of sports equipment begin in Olympia? And when do they begin in general in ancient Greece?
A dedicated discus for Zeus at Olympia
In another case, a bronze discus from Olympia shows that they can be traced until Roman Imperial Times2. Again its inscription indicates that it was used as a votive offering. On on side of the object, we find the indication to whom and when the votive gift was dedicated:
On the other side, we find the information by whom the sports equipment was donated to Zeus:
„Εὐχαριστήριον Διεὶ Ὀλυμπίῳ, Πόπλ(ιος) Ἀσκληπιάδης Κορίνθιος πένταθλος,
Ὀλ̣(υμπιάδι) σνεʹ“
“Popl(ios) Asklepiades from Corinth, winner in the pentathlon, in gratitude to the Olympic Zeus,
in the 255th Olympiad” (own translation)
A dedicated discus of a “gym boss” in Sikyon
These were a few examples from Olympia. In my dissertation, however, I would like to look more broadly at the phenomenon of dedicated sports objects in ancient Greece. Where and when do we find sports equipment as votive offerings? In the course of my search for other dedications of discoi in Greece, I came across a bronze discos from Sikyon, which can also be interpreted as a dedicatory gift on the basis of its inscription3:
„Μηνόδοτος (Μηνοδότου) γυμνασιαρχῶν Ἑρμᾶι Ἡρακλεῖ,
ἔτους ἑ[β]δομηκοστοῦ.“
“Menodotos, (son of Menodotos), of the Gymnasiarchs (dedicated this) to Hermes (and) Heracles in the seventieth year.” (own translation)
Menodotos dedicated the discos to Hermes and Heracles. The inscription says that Menodotos was the Gymnasiarch of Sikyon. This title for an official in the ancient Greek world might be simplistically translated as the “gym boss” as Menodotos had several official responsibilities in the gymnasium.
Although the diameter and weight of his dedicated discos correspond to the standard for throwing discos, it cannot be reconstructed with certainty whether the discos was actually used and in this case, the inscription would have been added later. What is exciting here is that, unlike the discos of Asclepiades from Olympia, no occasion for the dedication, such as an athletic victory, is mentioned. It is indeed the dedication of the sports equipment, but not a dedication of an athlete. Instead, the dedicant Menodotos is named with his official title as gymnasiarch, an office that is of course closely linked to athletics.
How can dedications of sports equipment be identified in the archaeological record?
All the examples of dedications of sports equipment mentioned so far can be identified as such on the basis of their inscription. However, there are other ways to find votives in archaeological finds. The context of the findings can also be decisive, as an athlete’s dedication from Nemea shows4. Here, the javelin heads, discus, jumping weight and strigils were all found together in the earth. The direct proximity of the objects to each other suggests that they were deposited together at the same time. The discus and the jumping weight are clearly sports equipment and in this context, the strigil can also be understood as such. Additionally, the javelin tip can also be interpreted as athletic – it is a reference to the javelin throw in the ancient contest of the pentathlon. All together the deposit can be therefore interpreted as a dedication of an athlete. This example shows that dedications of sporting tools can be grasped in various ways in the archaeological record, which I want to further explore in my dissertation.
In the search for further dedications of sports equipment, I am always happy to receive more information about known examples, because the objects are not only scattered all over Greece, but also in the research literature. (fabiola.heynen@univie.ac.at)
When she’s not researching sports equipment for her thesis, she enjoys to share her enthusiasm for the ancient world in her podcast: „Ausgesprochen Alt. Der Antike Podcast“.
Image sources:
- Long jumper on Lekythos, 470–460 BC, Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonio Salinas NI 2135 (V.689) (© Marie-Lan Nguyen. CC BY 2.5)
- Jumping weight of Akmatidas from Olympia, Archaeological Museum of Olympia, A 189 (© Matthias Kabel, CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Replica of the disc of Asklepiades from Olympia, Roman Imperial, Glyptothek München (© Matthias Kabel, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Selected literature:
- M. Bentz, Zeugnisse antiken Sports. Geräte, Preise, Bilder, in: W.-D. Heilmeyer – N. Kaltsas – H.-J. Gehrke – G. E. Hatzi – S. Bocher (Hrsg.), Mythos Olympia. Kult und Spiele (München 2012) 257–263.
- M. Kajava – E. M. Salminen, Greek Inscribed Discs. Athletes, Dedications and Tombstones, in: A. Kavoulaki (Hrsg.), Πλειών. Papers in Memory of Christiane Sourvinou Inwood, Rethymnon, Crete, 22–24 September 2012, Ariadne Suppl. 1 (Rethymno 2018) 295–338.
- L. Semmlinger, Weih-, Sieger- und Ehreninschriften aus Olympia und Umgebung (Diss. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg 1974).
- P. Siewert, Die Inschriften Olympias der letzten 100 Jahre und ihr Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Olympischen Agone, Nikephoros 10, 1997, 245–250.
Footnotes
1 SEG 11, 1227; SEG 14, 355; SEG 29, 408; SEG 45, 405; SEG 50, 455; SEG 55, 546. I.Olympia Suppl. Nr. 21. Cf. for discussions of the object for example R. Hampe – U. Jantzen, Die Grabung im Frühjahr 1937, in: E. Kunze – H. Schleif (Hrsg.), OlBer 1. Herbst 1936 – Frühjahr 1937 (Berlin 1937) 82–84. Taf. 25; J. Ebert, Griechische Epigramme auf Sieger an gymnischen und hippischen Agonen, AbhLeipzig 63, 1 (Berlin 1972) 51–54 Nr. 9; L. Semmlinger, Weih-, Sieger- und Ehreninschriften aus Olympia und Umgebung (Diss. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg 1974) 281–287 Nr. 58; L. H. Jeffery, Local Scripts of Archaic Greece. A study of the origin of the Greek alphabet and its development from the eighth to the fifth centuries B.C., Oxford monographs on classical archaeology 2(Oxford 1990) 184. 191 Anm. 3. 199 Lakonia Nr. 20; J. Mouratidis, On the Jump of the Ancient Pentathlon, Nikephoros Beih. 20 (Hildesheim 2012) 24. Anm. 63. 112; H.-J. Gehrke, Kat. 15.5 Akmatidas-Halter, in: W.-D. Heilmeyer – N. Kaltsas – H.-J. Gehrke – G. E. Hatzi – S. Bocher (Hrsg.), Mythos Olympia. Kult und Spiele (München 2012) 560.
2 I.Olympia Nr. 240. I.Olympia Nr. 241. Cf. for discussions of the object for example M. Lämmer, Der Diskos des Asklepiades aus Olympia und das Marmor Parium, ZPE 1, 1967, 107–109; L. Semmlinger, Weih-, Sieger- und Ehreninschriften aus Olympia und Umgebung (Diss. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg 1974), 264; J. Ebert, Der olympische Diskus des Asklepiades und das Marmor Parium, Tyche 2, 1987, 11–15; S. B. Zoumbaki, Elis und Olympia in der Kaiserzeit. Das Leben einer Gesellschaft zwischen Stadt und Heiligtum auf prosopographischer Grundlage, ΜΕΛΕΤΗΜΑΤΑ 32 (Athen 2001) 146–148; U. Hofstätter – A. Schmölder-Veit – N. Schröder-Griebel (Hrsg.), Das antike Olympia in München. 1972–2022 (München 2022) 287 Kat. 2.69.
3 SEG 14, 312. Cf. for discussions of the object for example K. Orlandos, Ανασκαφ Σικυῶνος ὑπo ᾿Αναστασίου, Prakt 1951, 190 f. Abb. 5; G. Schörner, Votive im römischen Griechenland. Untersuchungen zur späthellenistischen und kaiserzeitlichen Kunst- und Religionsgeschichte, Altertumswissenschaftliches Kolloquium 7 (Stuttgart 2003) 71. 337 Kat. 427; M. Kajava – E. M. Salminen, Greek Inscribed Discs. Athletes, Dedications and Tombstones, in: A. Kavoulaki (Hrsg.), Πλειών. Papers in Memory of Christiane Sourvinou Inwood, Rethymnon, Crete, 22–24 September 2012, Ariadne Suppl. 1 (Rethymno 2018) 295–338, Kat. 20.
4 S. G. Miller, Excavations at Nemea 1982, Hesperia 52, 1983, 70–95; S. Miller, The Stadium at Nemea and the Nemean Games, in: W. Coulson – H. Kyrieleis (Hrsg.), Πρακτικά Συμπoσίoυ Oλυμπιακών Aγώνων, [Aθήνα] 5–9 Σεπτεμβρίoυ 1988. Proceedings of an International Symposium on the Olympic Games. 5–9 september 1988 (Athen 1992) 81 f.
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