. Greek athletic sports and festivals . Fig. 55.— kylix. Formerly in Berlin.( xxiii. p. 278.) helmets and greaves, and carried round shields, twenty-five ofwhich were kept there for the use of competitors. The wearingof greaves was discontinued at a later date.^ The vase paintings, ^ Phil. Gym. 8, 24. 1 have already pointed out tliat Pliilostratus is some-what credulous, and too iiuich inclined to accept without investigation the talespoured into his ears by the authorities at Elis and elsewhere. It was the fashionin his time to exaggerate the Spartan severity of Greek athletics. ^
. Greek athletic sports and festivals . Fig. 55.— kylix. Formerly in Berlin.( xxiii. p. 278.) helmets and greaves, and carried round shields, twenty-five ofwhich were kept there for the use of competitors. The wearingof greaves was discontinued at a later date.^ The vase paintings, ^ Phil. Gym. 8, 24. 1 have already pointed out tliat Pliilostratus is some-what credulous, and too iiuich inclined to accept without investigation the talespoured into his ears by the authorities at Elis and elsewhere. It was the fashionin his time to exaggerate the Spartan severity of Greek athletics. ^ For Nemea wrfe Philostratus, ; for Olympia, Paus. ii. 11, 8 ; for AthensAristoph. Av, 291, and Scholiast. ^ Paus. v. 12, 8 ; vi. 10, 4. 288 GREEK ATHLETIC SPORTS AND FESTIVALS chap. which mostly represent Athenian practice, show that whilethe usage varied previous to 520 , greaves became generalafter that date, but disappear entirely after 450 There. Fig. 56.— kylix. Berlin, 2307. -.^idenc^ that_the runners ever carried weapons. of such a practice is obriou^. ^^W^-afTefi-s^e processionsof hoplites thus armed proceeding at a double, and these are1 Hauser, Jahrh., 1895, p. 199. XIII THE FOOT-RACE—RACE IN ARMOUR 289 often described as races.^ It seems safer and more reasonableto regard them merely as military processions, or perhaps com-petitions such as we know took place at the Athenian the various details of the race are pictured on the a red-figured vase by Euphronius in Paris we see the pre-parations for the race (Fig. 54). In the centre stands a robedofficial or trainer with his rod, and around him are variousrunners practising. One of them is putting on his armour,others, perhaps, are engaged in a preliminary canter such asis described by Statius.^ The position at the start has alreadybeen described. From the number of shields kept for thisrace at Olympia it would seem that the field
Size: 1319px × 1894px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, books, booksubjectfastsandfeasts
