Athletic training and athletic competition were key features of ancient Greek life for more than 1,000 years, from the foundation of the Olympic festival in the eighth century BC into the Roman period. Recent years have seen an enormous growth in scholarship on the subject, and in undergraduate teaching, but many seminal articles remain inaccessible, especially to English-speaking readers. This volume brings together for the first time a collection of important pieces and extracts on core themes, covering gymnasium education, festival competition and victory, the role of athlectic activity in conceptions of ancient identity, and the reception of the ancient athletic heritage in the modern world. Features: * Five of the twelve pieces are translated for the first time from French and German * contains an extensive introduction covering key issues for study and research * brief editorial discussions of each of the articles are included.