2023/02/08

For the Greeks it was not a shame to train or compete naked

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For the Greeks it was not a shame to train or compete naked because the athlete was dressed in the conscience of many with virtue.
The nudity of athletes and gymnasts gave the ritual of the games a religious character as well…
In 720 BC, at the 15th Olympic Games, Orsippos the Megareus was crowned the winner of the stadium race (192 m road race). He was the only one of his teammates and the first to run naked, according to the historian of the 2nd AD. Pausanias, he deliberately let his girdle fall off, because he knew that naked he could run faster.
So, without being ashamed, Orsippos sprinted and won the race.
His triumphant example was established and since then athletes have been competing and naked.
"Greeks fought naked and their nudity became a way of recognizing their Greekness and kindness," Sarah Bond, a history professor at the University of Iowa, told the BBC.
Source: Protagon.gr
In ancient Greece the naked body was not a shame but a pride. The body mirrored mental virtues, courage and devotion to goals. Shame for the ancient Greeks was not the naked body but the naked or asymmetrical body because it showed a man without education and culture.
A well-trained body was a godsend. The gods, the creators of the world and the creators of the games were pleased with the perfect naked body according to the perception of the ancients. And for this very reason the winners of the games were likened to gods.
The handsome fit body was admirable and depicted virtue and bravery. It also showed the hard work of the athletes in the gymnasium (gym). The word gymnásion meant the place where athletes exercised naked.
The freedom of the body reflected the freedom that the Greek citizens had, a freedom that made them stand out from other peoples and spread the characteristics of democracy.
Source: History of physical education 1998, Thomas V. Giannaki
1. Aphrodite or Callipygos Museo archeologico nazionale di Napoli.
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Για τους έλληνες δεν ήταν ντροπή να γυμνάζεται ή να αγωνίζεται κάποιος γυμνός γιατί ο αθλητής ήταν ντυμένος στην συνείδηση των πολλών με την αρετή.
Η γυμνότητα των αθλητών και γυμναστών προσέδιδε στην τελετουργία των αγώνων ενα θρησκευτικό χαρακτήρα επίσης…
Το 720 π.Χ, στους 15ους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες, ο Ορσιππος ο Μεγαρεύς στέφθηκε νικητής στο αγώνισμα του σταδίου (αγώνας δρόμου 192 μ). Ηταν ο μοναδικός από τους συναθλητές του και ο πρώτος, που έτρεξε γυμνός, μάλιστα σύμφωνα με τον ιστορικό του 2ου μ.Χ. Παυσανία, άφησε σκόπιμα το περίζωμά του να πέσει, επειδή γνώριζε ότι γυμνός μπορούσε να τρέξει πιο γρήγορα.
Χωρίς, λοιπόν, να ντραπεί, ο Ορσιππος έκανε σπριντ και κέρδισε τον αγώνα.
Το θριαμβευτικό του παράδειγμα καθιερώθηκε και έκτοτε οι αθλητές αγωνιζόντουσαν και γυμνοί.
«Οι Ελληνες αγωνίζονταν γυμνοί και η γυμνότητά τους έγινε ένας τρόπος αναγνώρισης της ελληνικότητας και της ευγένειας τους», λέει στο BBC η Σάρα Μποντ, καθηγήτρια Ιστορίας στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Αϊόβα.
Πηγή: Protagon.gr
Στην αρχαία Ελλάδα το γυμνό σώμα δεν ήταν ντροπή αλλά υπερηφάνεια. Το σώμα καθρέπτιζε τις ψυχικές αρετές, την ανδρεία και την αφοσίωση στους στόχους. Ντροπή για τους αρχαίους έλληνες δεν ήταν το γυμνό σώμα αλλά το αγύμναστο ή ασύμμετρο σώμα γιατί έδειχνε άνθρωπο χωρίς μόρφωση και καλλιέργεια.
Το καλά γυμνασμένο σώμα αποτελούσε δώρο θεού. Οι θεοί, οι δημιουργοί του κόσμου και δημιουργοί των αγώνων ευχαριστιούνταν με το τέλειο γυμνό σώμα σύμφωνα με την αντίληψη των αρχαίων. Και για αυτόν ακριβώς το λόγο οι νικητές των αγώνων παρομοιάζονταν με θεούς.
Το ωραίο γυμνασμένο σώμα ήταν άξιο θαυμασμού και απεικόνιζε την αρετή και την ανδρεία. Επίσης έδειχνε την σκληρή προσπάθεια των αθλητών στο γυμνάσιον (γυμναστήριο). Η λέξη γυμνάσιον (gymnásion) σήμαινε το χώρο όπου οι αθλητές ασκούνταν γυμνοί.
Η ελευθερία του σώματος αντικατόπτριζε την ελευθερία που είχαν οι έλληνες πολίτες, μια ελευθερία που τους έκανε να ξεχωρίσουν από τους άλλους λαούς και να διαδώσουν τα χαρακτηριστικά της δημοκρατίας.
Πηγή: Ιστορία φυσικής αγωγής 1998, Θωμά Β. Γιαννάκη
1. Αφροδίτη η Καλλίπυγος. Museo archeologico nazionale di Napoli.
May be an image of sculpture and indoor
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  • Tiago Alves
    That's true but there are two important details that should be mentioned regarding nudity in ancient Hellas: nudity was valued and seen as normal in SPORTS context or in bathhouses,      walking around naked in the agora, for example, would be considered bizarre;                                                              secondly, that pride in the naked body was only applicable to men: after all, sports games were solely allowed to men (in spite the fact the photo shows a female figure, which can induce to error;          as for female nudity in ancient Greece, it was mainly artistic licence and not so accepted by society in real life as male nakedness was).
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    • Ralf SoGen Boeck
      Tiago Alves In classical Greece women were not depicted like that. That type of statue became fashionabe not before early hellenism (around 300).
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    • Antonis Moutsopoulos
      Tiago Alves If I am not mistaken, the only female figure that was represented naked, was Aphrodite
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      • Jean-François de Saint-Gapour
        Tiago Alves Indeed and women were not allowed to attend the games even as spectators. There is the story of the mother of one athlete who wanted to see her son perform and was disguised as a male trainer. She was discovered and coaches were also asked to be naked for attending the games afterwards.
      • Алик Толчинский
        Tiago Alves I.e. Ed.Manet was wrong when he did his picture where Athena girls are inviting the young men to compete?
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    • Jac Se
      Greek nude sculptures inspired me to start a nude beach in the latter 1960's. One guy in beach shorts questioned: "what are you doing"? He must have spread the word, as it became a very popular nude beach. I want a nude sculpture of myself placed on the cliffs above that beach, with my founder's name plaque.
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    • Pat Hockel
      In 720 BC wouldn’t the source be more accurately labeled Spartan? The Athenians and Spartans had not yet united under the banner of Greece.
      Sparta was a non-hetero society, and therefore “naked” was an energy producer for their own kind, also.
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      • Author
        Ancient Ellenic Civilization
        Pat Hockel To correct as far as the city-states of the Greek area are concerned, that they were Greeks and did not have a state yet, that is, a human group has a common origin and ties of kinship (the omaemon), common gods (the omothriskon), the same language (the omoglosson) and the same morals and customs (homotropon), constitutes a nation, i.e. it is an entity with the same means of communication.
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    • Marianna Pitt
      What is she training for here?
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    • Sarah Davis
      I’m reading this naked 😂
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    • Aaron Hunsley
      People arguing that "The Greeks" (or even "The Hellenes") had this or that attitude toward nudity is missing the point. We're talking about a civilization made up of thousands of tiny cities, speaking dozens of dialects. Each little city had different customs, and these didn't remain static, but changed over the centuries. *In general* married women were secluded from public life, but even in Athens, which was more sexually segregated than many city states, women were allowed to run around in the nude before marriage, at least in certain contexts. And that's it: context was everything. *In general* the average ancient Greek man wasn't against male nudity at all, and was only against female nudity if it was his sister or daughter. There was a time and a place for it, though generally speaking the ancient Greeks were much less prudish about sex and nudity than modern people are. But then, even medieval Christians were much less prudish about sex and nudity than modern people are. "NSFW" and "think of the children" are very modern inventions, at least in the western world.
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    • Michael Klainos
      We were taught in Greek high school that in one of the Olympic Games a female was dressed like a man and was competing with men. When she was discovered to be a female the Olympic organizers decided that the male athletes will compete naked. No women were allowed to compete. That’s what we learned in Greek schools.
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    • Susil Gunaratne
      Once you hate the nudity it's the surest way to self alienation. Then it could easily manifest in to other popular mental issues such as depression & pessimistic outlook because you have become a burden to yourself.
      Once you enjoy the other beautiful things of the Nature with the beauty of human figure, even Scientific investigations in an artistic angle it's a surest way to happy & creative life.
    • Joe Carbery
      Perfect bottom.
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    • Jacob Snyder
      So even like today. The only difference is we sexualize naked bodies that are ripped and shame people that have less to give in terms of sexiness. So culture as a whole has become morally corrupt. At least in the US it has.
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    • Davis Gallagher
      They were proud of their bodies, other than the penis. The penis is depicted as unusually small in sculpture because a large penis, at the time, indicated a lack of intelligence. That the man is preoccupied and controlled by his sexual passions, which was shameful.
    • Theoharis Rockas
      It s really fascinating how the word callipygous, stayed in history alongside words like democracy, theater etc. Diane Morgan should have this info at her latest netflix series. 🤣🤣
      jokes aside the topic you brought up is very interesting and Thank you for it. It s even more fascinating how the standards, the customs, the habits have changed through time. how the world changes, the perspectives, the broader ideas everything.
    • Gary Piggott
      Did they have the Winter Olympics?
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    • Vincent Bambinelli
      If I were younger, I'd marry that statue.
    • Louis Williams
      I’ve imagined evolving into a society where being naked emotionally, mentally and spiritually in such that we journey through incarceration open, hiding nothing about our lives and our intentions. The level of social acceptance and unconditional love that could live without label or disapproval entirely. That’s my idea of a heavenly experience.
    • Nicholas Levendis
      Great informative article and beautiful
    • Julie Taylor
      Thank God we got past that...
      Clothing is functional and today athletic gear is like a second skin and does not hinder performance in any way..
      although we still do idolise the athletic body and show it off as much as possible with gym pants that are designed to accentuate and reveal the booty, bare midriffs and tiny tight tops for women..
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    • Dave Knadler
      All in for nude Olympics.
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    • 이우환
      Thanks so much for Greek athletes and the others customs.
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    • Warren Leary
      That last paragraph romanticizing reflecting freedom & spreading characteristics of freedom is complete BS. Greek city states all had their aristocracy that owned bunches of slaves and lorded over lower class citizens. “Freedom” was for the selected minority.
    • Todd Burgus
      Likely the word gymnastics has feminine roots. Gyne, woman. Gen, the root word for gennao, or birth, and Genesis. After all, who but the great goddess are they competing for? Nike that great daimon of Victory. Heracles, the glory of Hera, is credited with establishing the first Olympic games (that's just one theory).
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    • Sandra Lee Ralston
      If so, why weren’t women allowed to watch the games? We were told it was because the athletes were naked!
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    • Henry Thompson
      So round so firm she's so fully packed!
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    • Jr Steele
      I vote... bring it back🤣😁
    • Chrissie Morfy
      Why “Greece” and not “Hellas”?
      There are 2 ways to pronounce the name of Greece. In english it is Greece (Grecia, Griechenland, Grece in some other languages) and the people who live here are called Greeks. The truth is that people in Greece prefer the name ‘’Hellas’’ and the name “Hellene”.
      The origin of the word “Greece” is found back in the Ancient Ages. During the era of Aristotle, a small number of people named “Graes” are shown up. Also in Volos there were some people called “Hellanes” whose name became “Hellene” later. During the era of Hommer the word “Panhellenic” is being used something that indicates the sensation of common origin. But the word “Grekos”( “Γραικός”) had an underestimating meaning and so a lot of people didn’t want to be pronounced this way.
      In historic and scientific aspect we can say that both words have an ancient origin and are legal to be used. The word “Greek” comes out from the Latin word “Graecus” that comes out from greek word “Grekos” (“Γραικός”).
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    • Rich Wahl
      I’m going to order a Hellas Salad!, next time I’m eating out. Just to be a smarty pants.
    • William B Wolfmeyer
      Average athletes were very short. 12-15 year's old!!
    • Sabine de Weijer
      That’s funny : we’re talking about make nudity but show a female nude. I demand to see a male nude picture.
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    • Troy Thorpe
      I’ve made the suggestion that they continue this tradition in the modern games as well. But no luck so far.
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    • Jim Netterfield
      When I lived in Germany, in the cold winter months, my German girlfriend (later wife) and I went to sauna, Gemischte Sauna, on weekends. Everyone was totally naked. At first it was, “weird”, but later it was very natural. Loved it!
    • John Presland
      I'd have thought that having your bits bouncing about would slow you down.
      The Israelites, I remember, would gird up their loins before battle and I would expect that to help other athletic activity, too.
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    • Jeffrey Mc Cann
      "Brah, can you at least place a towel on the bench before you use it in the buff?" 🤣
    • Rod Boudreau
      Try sculpting today's men and woman . Not enough stone to the large bodies .
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    • seenatthemet 
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      This is an aspect that is so hard to relate to in today's society, the fact that virtue was just so important. Seeing a naked body wasn't associated with lust like it is nowadays, which is so hard for people to grasp I think.
    • Mildred Edwards
      You would think they would at least wear a band or something to keep boobs and balls from flying everywhere.
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    • Bunchy Rahuman
      Just cannot understand how the pendulum and the two nuts were prevented from flipping and flopping and becoming a nuisance when the athletes ran!
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    • Rosanna Kalimeri
      Dustin Koch You don't even know what you are talking about! There are no pre or post "hellenized Greeks" because there are no "Greeks" at all. We call ourselves HELLENES🇬🇷 and our country HELLAS 🇬🇷 in our language, for the last 5000 years or so. Therefore we cannot be "hellenized" or not, we are what we are! 😛 "Greece" and "Greek" are names only foreigners use to describe us. It is high time everybody, including you, learned that! Please forgive
      the intense tone, I'm only trying to set the record straight, for everybody to see a simple fact about my country, "Greece". 🇬🇷
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      • Author
        Ancient Ellenic Civilization
        Rosanna Kalimeri Ελληνικά- Αγγλικά
        Απευθυνομαι σε ολους οσους θελουν να μαθουν απο που προέρχονται τα ονοματα Ελληνας Ellinas και Γραικός Graikós, στον Ελλαδικό χωρο και ειδικά στους Αρχαιους Μυθους την ιερη μας Ιστορια καθε φυλή ή λαός (χώρα) επαιρνε το ονομα του ιδρυτή τους άρα ειναι ελληνικά ονοματα ανδρών ή γυναικών τα τοπωνυμια της. Για να μαθετε να ψαχνετε στο γκουγκλ να κανετε αυτο, με καθε λεξη ή ονομα να βαζεται τον όρο Μυθολογια ή Μύθος παραδειγμα Ελληνας "Ellinas Μυθολογια" ή "Γραικός Graikós Μυθολογια" ή αρχιστε να ψαχνετε στην σελιδα μας για αυτες τις αναρτησεις και ενημερωσεις! Ο όρος Γραικός Graikós ή Ελληνας Ellinas ή Ελλάς απευθυνεται στην ιδια χωρα την Ελλαδα εννοω τον γεωγραφικο χώρο Ελλάς Hellas ή Εllas (δεν ειναι λάθος να αναγραφεται χωρίς το (Η) που ήταν η δασεία στην Αρχαϊκή εποχή διάλεκτο)! Ευχαριστω καλη συνεχεια σε όλους σας
        _____________________________
        I am addressing all those who want to know where the Greek names Ellinas and Greek Graikós come from, in the Greek area and especially in the Ancient Myths of our sacred history, each tribe or people (country) took the name of their founder, so they are Greek names for men or women its toponyms. To learn how to google do this, with each word or name put the term Mythology or Myth example Greek "Ellinas Mythology" or "Greek Graikós Mythology" or start searching our page for these posts and updates! The Greek term Graikós or Greek Ellinas or Hellas refers to the same country Greece, I mean the geographical area Hellas or Εllas (it is not wrong to write it without the (H) which was the dialect in the Archaic era)! Thank you and good luck to all of you!
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      • Azin Nezami
        You'd think that the drive to run faster would result in the invention of running shoes not dropped loinclothes.
      • Allen Hamilton
        Paul Lynde to block!
        “Paul, in Ancient Greece,did soldiers go into battle bottomless?”
        Lynde:”Who says war is hell?”
      • Naja Ravn
        The word for naked is gymnos, gymnastics are things you do naked
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      • Garry Wagner
        How did that work out for them?
      • Julian Evan Spahn
        no shame in being naked, however, some clothing can sometimes keep things from flopping where they shouldnt, which can have some rather painful consequences...
      • Lex Nellis
        Well, then let's take after the Greeks and make clothing optional.
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      • Erin Bobruk Foltz
        So why is the picture on this post of a female sculpture? If we are talking about Greek mens' athletic habits, why not feature a male athlete or god? 🤔
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      • Carlos Garcia
        So? Are we Greeks or lives in those days? I don't think so.
      • Amanda Karczewski
        Angela Lagios I’m disappointed now. No nakedness at the party
      • Burt Griswold
        can't tell whether that is Aphrodite or Callipygos Museo. Were you neutered as a child?
      • Derek Harkness
        What does the text have to do with the statue? This is the Satue of Venus Callipyge in Naples, Italy.
      • Zana János
        If you are young you can be pride on your body. What happens at an old man or woman?
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      • Genesis Lang
        Not a "shame but a pride", however, during that time the most desirable man's shaft would be 4 or 5 inches....longer than that, you are undesirable and considered a barbarian class.
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