Athletics played an important role in ancient Greek life.  Exercise of the body was of equal importance to a well-rounded man as education of the mind.  As is still thought by many today, athletics was considered a good way to mold a boy, to steer him away from vices, and keep his energy focused in a positive channel. The gymnasium and palaestra were the ancient “workout” locales; places for boys and men (frequently separated according to age) to acquire the spiritual grace and demeanor that accompanies total bodily control and manly strength.  Activities like calisthenics, wrestling, boxing, running, and different types of jumping games were practiced at these neighborhood gyms.  Like today’s clubs, they usually had a bathing area, masseur and steam baths as well.

Although the Olympic Games remains the most enduring and famous of all ancient organized games, the fact is that ancient Greece hosted a variety of scheduled games, including the Panathenaic Games, the Nemaean and Pythian.  Sites and stadiums where these games were held were adorned with the bronze and marble statues of famous competitors, who were held in high esteem and chased after by children like sports heroes today.

The Olympic Games Amphora is similar in shape and design to amphorae given as prizes to winners in various games.  Usually the vase was filled with olive oil grown in sacred groves.  This amphora of a foot race, the oldest game known to historians, show the runners naked as was the tradition.  The faces, beards and limbs are all in strict profile.  The runners are nicely overlapped. Musculature is shown in detail with incisions, in keeping with the Greek artists’ burgeoning interest in anatomy.

The reverse of the Olympic Games Amphora shows a  wrestling match.  The athlete’s towel is hanging just outside the ring.  One wrestler has the other in a head lock and an amphora filled with body oil sits behind them.  A perfect balance of the scene is achieved by the juxtaposition of the one wrestler’s  arm outstretched behind him and the other wrestler’s leg stretched back.