Gender and Sexuality in Greek Sport

Abstract

Greek sport was in its earliest forms and predominantly thereafter a male activity. Greek masculine virtues were consistently reflected in texts discussing sport from Homer onward. The athletic and the martial spheres were often in tension regarding how greatly success in sport was valued as a measure of male excellence. The Greek gymnasium and athletic nudity were factors that fostered the Greek male sexual system of pederasty. Material culture in the form of sculpture, inscriptions, and vase paintings reflects the androcentrism of Greek sport. Female participation in Greek sport has a historical existence much less consistent and widespread than that of males, seen most prominently during the Roman empire.