Importance of Sports in Greek Society

Some of the events in Book 8 of The Odyssey suggest the importance of sports in Greek society. They appear to have a major role in lives of some of the characters, in particular the Phaeacians.

Before the contests in Book 8 begin, King Alcinous announces to the people that they must participate in all kinds of games "so [their] guest can tell his friends, when he reaches home, how far [they] excel the world at boxing, wrestling, jumping, speed of foot" (Book 8, 119-121). Odysseus is going to return home soon, and they know they do not have long to impress him so that he will speak well of the nation to the people of his own land. This land isolated from the rest of the world by the oceans would appreciate its fame spreading throughout the world, and it seems that what its people want to be known as is athletic. This goal suggests suggests that it is an honor to be a great athlete. Similarly, it is a disgrace for a man to lack athletic talent. When Odysseus originally refuses to participate in the games, Broadsea mocks him saying, "I never took you for someone skilled in games, / the kind that real men play throughout the world" (Book 8, 185-186). The apparent fact that Odysseus has no skill in sports makes him less than a "real man."

Compared to sports in modern American society, sports in Greek society as demonstrated in The Odyssey appear to be more intense at the amateur level but the professional level seems less significant or non-existant. The contests in Phaeacia seem to be just for fun, but the characters all take it really seriously, with the trash talking between characters and hopes for glory among the people. Meanwhile, it does not seem that characters are able to become wealthy celebrities like people in modern society can from sports. On the contrary, it appears that most of the characters who participate in these major sporting events are men who are already wealthy wishing to have fun and gain bragging rights over each other.