A study of the keles event in Ancient Greece : from the pre-classical period to the 1st century B.C.

This thesis covers an area of sport in ancient Greece which has largely been neglected in recent scholarship, namely the single-horse race with hockey, or the Keles event. The work, which comprises five chapters, avails itself extensively of- ancient literary, epigraphical and lexicographical sources, and attempts to place its main arguments both in the context of horsemanship and sport in ancient Greece, and also of the social, political and economic background of the periods in question: In addition there are frequent parallels drawn with contemporary horse racing. The first chapter of the thesis deals with the history of the Keles event in ancient Greece from the Archaic period to the end of the first century B.C.. It traces the development of horse racing from its probable origin as a pastime of the mounted warriors of the Geometric period to its zenith in the Hellenistic period when it became the most popular equestrian event at the Panathena-: games. The second chapter deals with the structure and organisation of horse racing in ancient Greece, and is divided into three sections. The first discusses the social position of owners and jockeys and the Importance attached to a Panhellenic victory in the Keles event. The second deals with the different formats of the Ke1es event at different festivals and tackles the difficult problem of the length of this race at the ancient Olympic games. The third examines the age categories set for the horse racing events at sports festivals in ancient Greece, and compares the handicapping system employed in modern racing with the disregard by the ancient Greek authorities for the effect of the weight carried by a horse in a race. The third chapter concentrates on the hippodrome in ancient Greece. The racecourses described in Homer Iliad Book 23 and Sophocles Electra are analysed, along with those at_ Olympia, Mount Lycaeon, Isthmia, Athens and Delos. The chapter ends with a discussion on the alternative uses of the hippodrome, such as for agriculture, cavalry training, and recreatyon. Chapter Four deals with the starting mechanism on the Olympic hippodrome. The hysplex type of starting apparatus is discussed first, with an attempt to explain further its working. It is suggested that such a device antedated the prow-shaped starting mechanism on the Olympic hippodrome described by Pausan±as. The functioning of this latter device is then studied with reference to the two most recent comprehensive treatments of this subject, namely those of H. A. Harris and H. Wiegartz, and the apparent shortcomings of both are revealed. In the final chapter, several terms connected with horse racing ir. ancient Greece which have caused both ancient and modern scholars the greatest problems as regards interpretation are analysed in an attempt to clarify their various meanings in different contexts