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Games, Sports & Recreation in Ancient Egypt
Although the ancient Egyptians are often depicted as death-obsessed and dour, they actually had a great appreciation for life and their culture reflected their belief in existence as an eternal journey imbued with magic. Life was a gift from...
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Boxing in the Roman Empire
Boxing is one of the oldest sports in the world that is still practiced today. Included in the original athletic contests of the Olympic Games, pugilism or boxing was well known and loved by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The style used in...
Definition
Sumo - Japan's Ancient Form of Wrestling
Sumo (Ozumo) is an ancient form of wrestling which has long been the national sport of Japan. Its origins go back to the Yayoi period (c. 300 BCE - c. 300 CE) and it incorporates many elements of the Shinto religion in its various rituals...
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Gymnasium - The Ancient Greek Building for Sport & Study
The Gymnasium was a Greek building originally used for athletic activities but which came, over time, to be used also as a place of study and philosophical discussion. In the Hellenistic Period, gymnasia became highly standardized both in...
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Nemea
Nemea was a religious sanctuary in the northern Peloponnese of Greece where pan-Hellenic athletic games were held every two years from 573 BCE until 271 BCE, after which, the Games were definitively moved to Argos. Early Settlement Situated...
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As You Like It - Learning to Love in Shakespeare's Forest of Arden
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), written in 1599 and likely first performed that same year. Indeed, it is thought to be the inaugural show performed by Shakespeare's acting company, the Lord Chamberlain's...
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Sioux War Chief Gall (Eastman's Biography)
Gall (Phizi, l. c. 1840-1894) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux war chief best known for his participation in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. He was a close associate of Red Cloud (l. 1822-1909), Sitting Bull (l. c. 1837-1890), and...
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Athletics, Leisure, and Entertainment in Ancient Rome
Although much of ancient Roman life revolved around negotium (work and business), there was also time available for otium (leisure). Ranging from swimming to playing board games to attending theatre performances, athletics and forms of entertainment...
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Pherenike the Female Olympic Trainer
Pherenike (l. c. 388 BCE, also known as Kallipateira) was an athlete from Rhodes who, because she was a woman, could not compete in the Olympic Games and, as a married woman, was not allowed to even watch them. Defying these rules and risking...
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Hercules and Alcestis: Personal Excellence & Social Duty
For the ancient Greeks, the quality of arete (personal excellence) and the concept of eusebia (social duty) were most important. Aristotle discusses both of these at length in his Nichomachean Ethics and relates arete to eudaimonia - translated...