Archive

Women and Sport in the Ancient World: Response to Olympics

This post has been inspired by recent posts regarding the Olympic Games. It consists of some thoughts that occurred to me when reading the posts, and various other musings from reading a number of sources over the years. What struck me most was the relative absence of women in the written and pictorial record of ancient sports. This is reflected, too, in the absence of women in the early modern… Read more

Book Club | September 2024: Meno

Plato’s Meno (or Menon): “Can Virtue Be Taught?” “If the Phaedon and the Gorgias are noble statues, the Menon is a gem.” [1] Meno’s, or the Learner’s Paradox: [A] man cannot enquire either about that which he knows, or about that which he does not know; for if he knows, he has no need to enquire; and if not, he cannot; for he does not know the very subject about… Read more

Olympic Fame

Water is best, and gold, like a blazing fire in the night, stands out supreme of all lordly wealth. But if, my heart, you wish to sing of contests, [5] look no further for any star warmer than the sun, shining by day through the lonely sky, and let us not proclaim any contest greater than Olympia. Pindar, Olympian 1, 1–7, translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien[1] The ancient Olympic Games… Read more