Hoplitodromos - the category of ancient Greek athletics

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to find out whether the hoplitodromos, or hoplite race, was more of a military or sporting event, whether the nature of this agon was associated with its late introduction into the program of the Panhellenic games, and whether the rules for its organization differed in Panhellenic and local competitions. On the basis of written sources and data from Attic vase painting, the author shows that there were different types of weapons of the participants in the run - heavy and light, and also that over time the “full” weapons of the hoplite - helmet, greaves, shield - change, retaining only the shield. Despite the widespread opinion in the scientific literature that the hoplitоdromos belonged to “military” competitions, the author comes to the conclusion that the nature of the run was determined by the type of games. And if at local games this agon was often associated with the aition of the festival, for example, with the military exploits of Athena on Panathenaia or the anniversary of the Battle of Plataea on Eleutheria, then at Panhellenic competitions, such as the Olympic Games, the military nature of the run was transformed into a reconstruction, thereby acquiring the nature of an entertaining spectacle.

Keywords

• sprint race
• double-stadion race
• long-distance foot-race
• olympic games
• pythian games
• great panathenaia
• philostratus