RECOMENDACIONES

The influence (even dominance) of science has led to archaeological materials being considered the only valid sources worth studying when it comes to understanding life in the ancient world. Literature and myth are not generally believed to be worthy of serious academic, historical study. There are several notable exceptions to this in the study of ancient sport history. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid, among others, are semi-fictional works containing elements of mythology and are well regarded by sport historians. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are considered to be important milestones in the history of sport for, as Baker points out, these works are the „oldest surviving books in the Western world‟,168 _{and, upon examination, both}

works include sections on organised sport and games. Particularly notable is book 23 of the Iliad which outlines the athletic events held as part of funeral celebrations.169

Perhaps one of the earliest discussions of the contribution to ancient sport history of Homer‟s Iliad and Odyssey is Gardiner‟s treatment of the subject in Athletics of the Ancient World. Gardiner devotes an entire chapter of ten pages to Homer. Predictably perhaps, given his penchant for the „amateur‟ spirit and „pure‟ athletics, Gardiner states from the outset that „in Homer we first find the true spirit of sport, the

167 _{Lamont, „Running Phenomena in Ancient Sumer‟, p. 213.} 168

Baker, Sports in the Western World, p. 10.

desire to be ever the best and to excel all other men, the joy in the effort‟.170 _In

linking the athletic events to both the training of boys and to the „natural recreation of men‟, in his use of certain phrases such as „the sheer joy of sport has never been surpassed‟ and a discussion of sportsmanship, Gardiner‟s agenda is clear.171

Focussing predominantly on the Iliad, the chapter is largely descriptive with little analysis although connections are made to archaeological finds and artistic works.172

Several other authors have utilised material from the Iliad to examine not only the contests within Book 23 but also as a way of examining, in whole or in part, the sport and contests of the Homeric Greeks. As early as the 1960s, there are examples of articles in sport-related journals that glean information about sport through the pages of the Iliad.173 _{More numerous are the several North American Society for Sport}

History (NASSH) conference presentations which discuss Homer and the Iliad and/or the Odyssey.174 _{There have also been many journal articles that discuss the content of}

the Homeric poems and other ancient literature and mythologies in the pursuit of interesting and useful information about sport and sport in history. Matthew Dickie‟s article, „Fair and Foul Play in the Funeral Games of the Iliad‟, delves into the then

perceived „win at all costs‟ mentality attributed to the Mycanaean Greeks.175 _Dickie

argues persuasively that winning was not everything in Greek athletics and that there are numerous examples of „fair play‟ and goodwill in Book 23. However, Dickie is cognizant of treading on what he calls „uncertain grounds‟ with the „evidence‟ of the

Iliad. It seems clear that Dickie expects criticism of his use of this source. He writes, „I am fully aware that even if I succeed in making my case for the Iliad there will be those who will rule the evidence out of court and will declare that it is illegitimate to

170 _{Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World, p. 18.} 171

Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World, p. 18.

172 _{Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World, p. 27.}

173 _{For example, G. A. Stull, „The Funeral Games of the Homeric Greeks‟, Quest, Vol. 11, Winter}

1968, pp. 1-13.

174 _{Anthony Papalas, „Sport in the Odyssey‟, in Steven Reiss (ed.), Proceedings and Newsletter (La}

Cross, WI: North American Society for Sport History, 1985), pp.7-8; Anthony Papalas, „Sport Spectators in Ancient Greece‟, in D. K. Wiggins (ed.), Proceedings and Newsletter (Vancouver: North American Society for Sport History, 1986), pp. 6-7; Darrell Simko, „Was Achilleus the First Director of Athletics?‟, in Synthia Slowikowski (ed.), Proceedings and Newsletter (Tempe, AZ: North American Society for Sport History, 1988), pp. 47-48; Kenneth Kitchell, „But the Mare I Will Not Give Up‟, in Nancy Bouchier (ed.), Proceedings and Newsletter (Long Beach, CA: North American Society for Sport History , 1995), pp. 52-53.

175

Matthew Dickie, „Fair and Foul Play in the Funeral Games of the Iliad‟, Journal of Sport History, Vol. 11, No. 2, Summer 1984, pp. 8-17.

extrapolate from the lesson that the Funeral Games have to teach …‟.176 _Dickie

counters this expected response with the assertion that the Iliad and the Odyssey do not stand apart from the rest of Greek literature and life and, more tellingly, that the concerns, attitudes and values of post-Homeric literature do not differ much from those of Homer‟s works.177

Virgil's Aeneid also includes a chapter on funeral games and in his thorough examination of Book V of the Aeneid Peter Lindsay asserts that Virgil „provides a window into the Augustan era‟.178 _{The Funeral Games described in Book V not only}

bear some resemblance, and therefore warrant comparison, to Book 23 of the Iliad but they are at the same time characteristically Roman in their nature and performance. Indeed Lindsay spends much of the paper drawing out the links between not only Virgil‟s tale and Homer‟s Iliad but also the connections between the Aeneid and the Roman setting in which it was written.179

Betty Spears also utilises fiction in the pursuit of sport history.180 _{Spears examines}

women‟s sport in ancient Greece and, in order to draw as accurate a picture as possible, uses literary as well as archaeological and epigraphical evidence.181 _In

examining the Archaic Period (800-500 BCE), Spears contends that the evidence of women‟s lives comes largely from Homer.182 _{In outlining the games and sport-like}

activities of women during this period, Spears uses the example of Nausicaa as the only well-known female character in either the Odyssey or the Iliad to engage in such activity.183

176

Dickie, „Fair and Foul Play in the Funeral Games of the Iliad‟, p. 9. 177 _{Dickie, „Fair and Foul Play in the Funeral Games of the Iliad‟, p. 9.}

178 _{Peter Lindsay, „The Funeral Games of Virgil‟s Aeneid‟, Canadian Journal of History of Sport, Vol.}

22, No. 2, December 1991, p. 1.

179 _{Nancy Reed also utilises evidence from Virgil‟s Aeneid in her examination of the antecedents of a}

particular horse race that supposedly dates from the early Roman period in her „Research Notes: The Equestrian Standing Race and its Antecedents‟, Journal of Sport History, Vol. 23, No. 2, Summer 1996, pp. 157-164.

180 _{Betty Spears, „A Perspective of the History of Women‟s Sport in Ancient Greece‟, Journal of Sport} History, Vol. 11, No. 2, Summer 1984, pp. 32-47.

181 _{Spears, „A Perspective of the History of Women‟s Sport in Ancient Greece‟, p. 32.} 182 _{Spears, „A Perspective of the History of Women‟s Sport in Ancient Greece‟, p. 33.} 183

While on a picnic, Nausicaa makes a „match‟ of the laundry and later plays a ball game with the other girls. See Spears, „A Perspective of the History of Women‟s Sport in Ancient Greece‟, p. 34.

There are other scholars who have broached the boundaries of myth and legend in sport history. Reet and Maxwell Howell‟s article „The Atalanta Legend in Art and Literature‟ does just that.184 _{The paper analyses the Greek myth of Atalanta, a}

formidable female sporting talent and warrior. Howell and Howell recognise the „obvious inferences … related to the female athlete in culture, and the conflict which ensued where there is societal stereotyping of the female and the female athlete in a patriarchial society‟.185 _{That Howell and Howell consider that this information is}

relevant to sport historians is evident because, as they write, „it illuminates broader issues surrounding the cultural depiction of the gendered “person-hero”‟.186 _Clearly

Howell and Howell are not dissuaded by the mythic nature of the tales when connecting it to aspects of the modern (perhaps postmodern) condition. As they note, „[a]ncient, and for that matter, more modern writers, obviously encountered difficulties creating a heroine out of the female Atalanta who surpassed males in the masculine domain of athletic physical prowess‟.187

However, the respect given to these works is not afforded to the Irish tales. Marginalised by sport historians, there is little mention in the literature of the Irish contribution to sport history. Furthermore, what little information there is on the study of sport and games in the early Irish tales is not well represented in sport history journals. Necessarily, then, these issues are further explored later in this chapter. Having established, at least to some degree, the relevant academic materials pertaining to sport in the ancient world generally, the next section is devoted exclusively to the scholarly studies of sport-like activity in Ireland and in the Ulster Cycle of tales.