National Museum of Archeology Athens - Classical Period

The Classical Period (5th - 4th century BC) saw extremely important inventions in politics (an early for of demcracy), art and architecture, literature and theatre, philosophy (Plato) and science (Aristotle) that shaped nothing less than the course of Western history and are still influential today.

As already said regarding the Panathenaic Stadium, physical education played an important role in ancient Greece (notably Sparta) as they had to defend against invasions of the Persians by land and by sea. The Olympic Games included wrestling, racing and discus throwing among other disciplines. Wrestling (called Pankration - literally "sports of all forces") could be quite brutal with heavy studded gloves against no protection. However, they managed to stave off the Persians for quite some time.

An uncommon find was this rare leisure activity: Betting on animal fights! Here we see a dog and a cat fighting each other ferociously, with the owners watching in tension.

Ecstatic dance was not only a ritual part of the Olympic Games and other events, but also (as it still is today) a common celebration and leisure activity.

Lastly, we see a kind of sports I did not expect to find ... did you know that they played hockey in Ancient Greece? Maybe some rules changed over the course of time, but the sticks are clearly distinguishable. What else did they do? Read my next post!

Photo gallery