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Kartik Rajeev
Professor David Potter
Ancient Greek Sport
10/8/14
The Role of Sport
What do the settings for Greek sport tell us about the role of sport in Greek society? Can the
facilities for sport, at the collegiate or professional level, give us information about the role of
sport in contemporary society?
Sports have been a monumental part of society for as long as we can remember. There is
so much evidence of how big a role sports have played in the past as well as in the future. Even
going back before Christ, there are accounts of how great of an influence sports had on society.
The settings for Greek sport tells us so much about the role of sport in Greek society based on
the types of events held, where they were held, as well as the emphasis people put on sport. Even
in contemporary society we can see how great of a role sports have today based on the facilities
for sport at the collegiate and professional level as well as what goes into them.
First piece of evidence regarding the importance of games in Greek society is how much
money was spent in organizing them. Miller stated a multitude of expenses that went into the
organization of a Panhellenic festival, the Pythian Games, totaling in $43,000 (#81 Miller). Now
to us today, $43,000 might seem like a measly sum for the cost of hosting an event of such
magnitude, but in 246 B.C. the equivalent of $43,000 was astronomical. Miller even goes into
detail about exactly what the money was used for from $880 for construction of the vaulted
entrance in the Pythian stadium to $1,232 for making a pedestal in the Pythian theater. It
amazes me that in 246 B.C. civilization was advanced enough that having organized games was
common and held so much significance that people would spend hundreds of dollars on luxuries
such as a pedestal and vaulted entrance.
Another piece of evidence that I think shows how important of a role Greek sport played
in Greek society is how much preparation athletes went through for the games. Miller says how
for each of the games, the people of each city collect the athletes in the town to train for 30 days
prior to the start of the games (#84 Miller). Clearly just from this it shows how dedicated athletes
must be for the games. The athletes must live in the respective town and train for a month in
order to compete in the games. Today, to have athletes live in and train for 30 days would seem
preposterous, but then it was the norm and a necessity. That itself shows how much pressure was
put on athletes to perform well and how important it was for them to compete and win.
Not only is pressure on athletes to perform and money spent on the games huge
indicators of the importance of sport, but also how winners were acknowledged. Potter notes
how people viewed successful athletes as heroes and even goes on to say how people would
imagine them to have extraordinary qualities (Potter, Victor's Crown p. 94). Today, it can be
argued that some athletes could be considered heroes such as Tim Howard because of his

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performance in the World Cup or Michael Phelps in his performance at the Olympics, but I
would say this is much rarer than it was in Ancient Greece. On top of that, no one today would
think that Tim Howard or Michael Phelps have extraordinary qualities similar to that of Gods.
For people to view accomplished athletes in such a high regard, the roles the games would play
in society must have been monumental.
Just as in Ancient Greece, sports today have a huge impact on society. I would argue that
its not as important and impactful as it was back then, but it still carries a lot of significance and
prominence. Solely from the facilities at the professional and collegiate level we can make
assumptions on how important sports are today.