178 gymnasium and athletics gymnasium and athletics The gymnasium and athletics were integral aspects of ancient Greek culture and society The gymnasium provided a physical space where men gathered to exercise, participate in sports, and engage in intellectual discourse The gymnasium and the closely associated palaestra also provided a place where athletes trained for competition in wrestling, boxing, pancratium, and track and field Besides these athletic events, ancient Greeks also played several ball games, some at a competitive level, but not in the Olympic Games The best athletes in ancient Greece, who represented the city-states in the Olympic Games and other athletic events associated with major religious celebrations, were professionals supported by wealthy citizens Praised and criticized by philosophers, athletics and athletes provided inspiration for artists, dramatists, poets, and sculptors As Greece declined and Rome rose to dominate the Mediterranean, athletics evolved to meet the cultural and social needs of the Roman world until Christian rulers suppressed it the late fourth century c.e The word gymnasium means “exercise for which one strips”; Greek men exercised and competed in the nude The earliest gymnasiums, founded in the late sixth century b.c.e., were partly shaded sandy areas where men disrobed, rubbed themselves in olive oil, sprinkled sand on the oil, and exercised After exercising, they removed the sandy oil from their bodies with a curved brass trowel, known as a strigil, and then bathed in a clear water stream At their height gymnasiums had evolved into elaborate buildings with clubrooms, lounges, altars, and storage rooms for lotions, olive oil, and athletic powders Bathtubs and showers replaced the streams for washing after exercise and competition Attached to some gymnasiums was a palaestra, a smaller facility for specialized athletic instruction and training Most palaestras, however, were separated from the gymnasium and were open only to professional athletes A sanded field surrounded by a colonnaded court, the palaestra was used for instruction and practice in wrestling, in which most healthy men participated regularly and with great enthusiasm The gymnasium and the palaestra assumed a central focus in the everyday lives of Greek males Many men visited the gymnasiums to watch others train and compete, play board games, discuss the issues of the day, and listen to an orator As informal educational facilities, they were important meeting places for the mixing of generations, debate, and the exchange of ideas Gymnasiums each had their own character and tone; whereas one might have been a haven for left-wing politics, another might have purported more conservative views Others provided a refuge for male prostitutes, who profited from the subtle but tacit homosexuality that pervaded much of male Greek society The largest gymnasiums, the Academia, the Lyceum, and the Cynosarges, were located in Athens The Academia, the name of which endures to mean a place of higher learning, was the choice of Plato and his followers On the other hand, Aristotle preferred the Lyceum, which has survived, linguistically at least, in the French lycée Greeks participated in a variety of athletic events, including running, throwing, jumping, wrestling, and boxing; all of which were contested in the Olympic Games, one of four athletic competitions associated with periodic religious celebrations Foremost among the running events was the stade, a race of approximately 656 feet (200 m), or the length of the stadium Runners also contested the double stade, in which they sprinted to a pole at the end of the course, made a tight turn, and raced back to the starting line Distance runners competed in a race of approximately 15,748 feet (4,800 m.), or 12 stades DISCUS, JAVELIN, WRESTLING, AND BOXING Throwing events included discus and the javelin The discus began as a round flat stone before evolving into a bronze plate The javelin measured six feet and had a small leather loop attached at the center of the shaft in which the athlete inserted two fingers The athlete wound the loop around the javelin to create spin upon throwing it, maximizing its distance The standing broad jump was performed with hand weights that the athlete swung back and forth to enhance the distance of the leap The discus throw, javelin throw, standing broad jump, stade, and wrestling combined to form the pentathlon, an Olympic event, in which the most versatile athletes competed Aristotle described the athletes who participated in the pentathlon as “the most beautiful because they are fit for exercises for speed and for those of strength.” Wrestling, boxing, and the pancratium, a combination of wrestling and boxing, were violent, brutal contests of strength and will Only the largest, heavily muscled, and toughest men throughout Greece competed in these sports, which were bound by few rules, no time limits, no ring, and no weight limit Wrestling, a truly freestyle contest, permitted all types of holds, mostly to the upper body, and tripping to bring the opponent to his knees Although prohibited from biting each other and gouging each other eyes, wrestlers fought until one brought the other to his knees three times