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The Ancient Olympics by Nigel Spivey
The Ancient Olympics by Nigel Spivey
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The Ancient Olympics

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The Ancient Olympics

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Description

The word 'athletics' is derived from the Greek verb 'to struggle for a prize'. After reading this book, no one will see the Olympics as a graceful display of Greek beauty again, but as war by other means.Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were - fierce contests between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted to cheating and bribery. Contested always bitterly and often bloodily, the ancient Olympics were not an idealistic celebration of unity, but a clash of military powers in an arena not far removed from the battlefield.

Author Biography:

Nigel Spivey is Senior Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, where he also is a Fellow of Emmanuel College. As an undergraduate he won honours at the Oxford-Cambridge athletics match, and set the university record for throwing the hammer. He went on to study at the British School at Rome and the University of Pisa. He has written widely on Classical culture and beyond: among his previous publications are the prize-winning Understanding Greek Sculpture (1996) and the widely acclaimed Enduring Creation (2001). He presented the major BBC/PBS television series How Art Made the World in 2005.
Release date Australia
June 14th, 2012
Author
Audience
  • Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Illustrations
40 black and white halftones, 3 maps and figures
Pages
310
Dimensions
131x196x17
ISBN-13
9780199602698
Product ID
18627568

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Books >
Non-Fiction >
Humanities >
History >
European history >
European history: BCE to c 500 CE
Books >
Non-Fiction >
Humanities >
History >
World history >
World history: BCE to c 500 CE
Books >
Non-Fiction >
Humanities >
History >
European history
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Sports & Outdoors >
Sporting Events & Tours >
Olympic games
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Sports & Outdoors >
Track & Field