One Proud Olympic Mama! Aelian, Var. Hist. 10.1

Name:  Aelian Date:      175 – 235 CE Region:  Praeneste [modern Italy] Citation:      Various History 10.1

The Olympic Games did not allow women spectators, but there are several stories of women who challenged this law in order to watch their family members compete. You can see another example here.

Pherenike brought her son to the Olympic games. When the judges forbid her from attending the games, she countered them, saying that not only was her father an Olympic champion, but her three brothers were and now even her son was, too.  She was able to win over both the people and their laws (which forbid women from watching the Olympics).

 

Pherenice filium suum ad Olympia certaminis causa adduxit: & quum Hellanodicae prohiberent eam a spectaculo ludorum, ad ius cum ipsis descendit, dicens se patrem habere victorem Olympiorum, atque tres fratres, itemque filium adduxxisse pugilatorem. His rationibus & populum & legem superavit, quae feminas a spectaculis arceret, & Olympia spectavit.

Φερενίκη τὸν υἱὸν ἦγεν ἐς Ὀλύμπια ἀθλεῖν. κωλυόντων δὲ αὐτὴν τῶν Ἑλλανοδικῶν τὸν ἀγῶνα θεάσασθαι, παρελθοῦσα ἐδικαιολογήσατο πατέρα μὲν Ὀλυμπιονίκην ἔχειν καὶ τρεῖς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ αὐτὴ παῖδα Ὀλυμπίων ἀγωνιστήν: καὶ ἐξενίκησε τὸν δῆμον [p. 108] καὶ τὸν εἴργοντα νόμον τῆς θέας τὰς γυναῖκας, καὶ ἐθεάσατο Ὀλύμπια.

Translated into Latin by Joannis Schefferi  (1662)

 

Aelian  [Claudius Aelianus; 175 – 235 CE, modern Italy] was a famous scholar from Praeneste [modern Italy] who lived during the second and early third century CE. He is known for two famous works, a scientific work On the Nature of Living Things and his collection of anecdotes called the Various Histories.

 

Ace Champion Atalanta: Hyginus, Fab. 185

Name: Hyginus   Date:  64 BCE – 17 CE Region:  Hispania [modern Spain] / Alexandria [modern Egypt]; Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Fables 185

It is said that Schoeneus had a beautiful daughter named Atalanta who surpassed men on the racetrack with her own athletic ability. She asked her father to remain unmarried, so whenever one of her many suitors asked for her hand in marriage, her father would set up a contest. A suitor who wanted to marry his daughter had to first run a race with Atalanta, but he would run the track unarmed, while she pursued him with a spear. After she hunted him down and killed him, she would put his head on display on the racetrack. After Atalanta had defeated and killed many suitors this way, she was finally defeated by Hippomenes [the son of Megareus and Merope]. Venus gave Hippomenes three special apples, and told him how to use them. During the race, he tossed the apples to the girl to slow down the race. She slowed down while she collected them and marveled at their golden appearance, and so the youth ended up winning the race. Schoeneus was impressed by the trick and happily married off his daughter to Hippomenes. But while he led her back to his homeland, Hippomenes forgot that he only won the race by Venus’ help, and did not thank her. Venus grew angry at that, and while Hippomenes was sacrificing to Jupiter the Winner on Mount Parnassus, he became overcome with lust and slept with Atalanta in the god’s sacred shrine. Because of this act, Jupiter turned them into lions, so they could no longer sleep together again*.

* According to ancient superstition, lions and lionesses could not mate with each other.

Schoeneus filiam Atalantam virginem formosissimam dicitur habuisse, quae virtute sua cursu viros superabat. ea petiit a patre ut se virginem servaret. itaque cum a pluribus in coniugium peteretur, pater eius simultatem constituit, qui eam ducere vellet prius in certamine cursu cum ea contenderet, termino constituto, ut ille inermis fugeret haec cum telo insequeretur; quem intra finem termini constituta fuisset interficeret, cuius caput in stadio figeret. plerosque cum superasset et ocidisset novissime ab Hippomene Megarei et Meropes filio victa est. hic enim a Venere mala tria insignis formae acceperat, edoctus quis usus in eis esset. qui in ipso certamine iactando puellae impetum alligavit. illa enim dum colligit et ammiratur aurum, declinavit et iuveni victoriam tradidit. cui Schoeneus ob industriam libens filiam suam dedit uxorem. Hanc cum in patriam duceret, oblitus beneficio Veneris se vicisse, grates ei non egit. irata Venere in monte Parnasso cum sacrificaret Iovi Victori, cupiditate incensus cum ea in fano concubuit. quos Iupiter ob id factum in leonem et leam convertit,  quibus dii concubitum Veneris denegant.

Hyginus [Caius Julius Hyginus; 64 BCE – 17 CE, modern Spain or Egypt] was one of Augustus’ freedmen and a famous mythographer. He was originally from Hispania [modern Spain].  Some think that he was actually from Alexandria [modern Egypt], and brought to Rome as a boy by Caesar after the fall of Alexandria. He studied under the Greek scholar Cornelius Alexander, then followed in his footsteps. He was in charge of the Palatine library, and despite this, still had the time to teach many people. He was very close friends with the poet Ovid and Clodius Licinius, the former consul and historian who, after Hyginus fell into poverty, supported him financially for as long as he lived.

Own Voices: A Fragment of Cleomachus, Poetae Lyrici Graeci 32

Cleomachus in Their Own Words: The Only Extant Line of Cleomachus’ poetry

Name:   Cleomachus Date:       4th century BCE    Region:   [modern Greece]    Citation: Greek Lyric Poets, Fragment 2.32

 

Who took my cup? I was still drinking that…

Τίς τὴν ὑδρίην ἡμῶν ἐψόφησ; ἐγὼ πίνων...

Quis mihi calicem ademit?  Ego bibens… Translated into Latin by Kris Masters

Cleomachus [4th century BCE] According to Strabo, Cleomachus was an Olympic boxer who became a poet after falling in love with a man. The Christian author Tertullian adds more information to this transformation, adding that the poet “covered the scars of their gauntlets with bangles, and exchanged their athletic jersey for a dress.”

Found Family: Cleomachus, The Boxer/Poet: Strabo, Geog. XIV.1.41

The Trans Poet Cleomachus’ Found Family

Name:  Strabo Date:         64 BCE – 24 CE Region:     Amasia [modern Turkey] Citation:       Geography 14.1.40

When Cleomachus the Boxer was smitten with a certain cinaedus [1] and the girl he was raising, they began to imitate the speech patterns and mannerisms of a cinaedus.

---

 [1] The term cinaedus is an umbrella term and cannot be accurately translated here. The original term refers to a bird that wiggles its tail, used to describe exotic dancers who "shake their booty." It can refer to human trafficking victims, same-sex couples, non-binary persons, etc. Although some authors use it as an insult (e.g., Catullus), it does not always have a negative connotation; Phlegon of Tralles uses this term in the next passage to describe men capable of giving birth.

καὶ Κλεόμαχος ὁ πύκτης, ὃς εἰς ἔρωτα ἐμπεσὼν κιναίδου τινὸς καὶ παιδίσκης ὑπὸ τῷ κιναίδῳ τρεφομένης ἀπεμιμήσατο τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῶν παρὰ τοῖς κιναίδοις διαλέκτων καὶ τῆς ἠθοποιίας:

Item Cleomachus pugil, qui in cinaedi cuiusdam & ancillae amore incidens, quae a cinaedo alebatur, cinaedorum et orationem et mores est imitatus. Translated into Latin by  Conradus Heresbachius

A Boxer, and A Fighter By Her Trade: Cleomachus, Tertullian de Pallio 4.4

Cleomachus, a Boxer and a Fighter by Her Trade

Name: Tertullian Date:  155 – 220 CE Region:   Carthage [modern Tunisia] Citation:   On the Pallium 4.4

But there’s someone who surpasses the Hercules: the boxer Cleomachus! After their masculinity underwent an unbelievable transformation at Olympia, (where they had their surgery) they were lauded in Novius’ Fullers’ Tale and memorialized in the mime Lentulus’ Catinians. They covered the scars of their gauntlets with bangles, and exchanged their athletic jersey for a dress.

 

Cleomachus, a Boxer and a Fighter by Her Trade

Sed et qui ante Tirynthium accesserat, pugil Cleomachus, post Olympiae cum incredibili mutatu de masculo fluxisset, intra cutem caesus et ultra, inter Fullonesiam Novianos coronandus meritoque mimographo Lentulo in Catinensibus commemoratus, utique sicut vestigia cestuum viriis occupauit, ita et endromidis solocem aliqua multicia synthesi extrusit.

Tertullian [Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 – 220 CE, modern Tunisia] was an early Christian theologian who lived in Carthage during the 2nd century CE. He was one of the most prolific authors of his age; more than thirty of his treatises are extant. These works shaped the core beliefs of the early Christian church. Although some of his beliefs were later deemed heretical, he was nevertheless granted sainthood for his profound impact on Christianity.

Challenging Gender Roles: Cynisca at the Olympics, Pausanias, Desc. Graec. III.viii.1

 When Archidamus died, he was survived by two sons: Agis and Agesilaus. Agis, the older of his children, began to rule. Archidamus also had a daughter named Cynisca, who ambitiously entered the Olympic games. She was the first woman to train horses, and the first woman to win at the Olympics. There were other women who were victorious at the Olympics, especially from Sparta, none of them were more distinguished than her.

Quum* decessisset Archidamus, filiis duobus relictis, Agis, quod Agesilao maior natu erat, regnare coepit. Habuit Archidamus & filiam, Cyniscam nomine, quae ad Olympicas victorias [audacissime] adspiravit. Prima haec feminarum omnium equos aluit, prima Olympicam palmam tulit. Post eam enim et aliae, inpriis vero e Macedonia nonnulae, sunt victrices in Olympicis renuntiatae: quibus tamen illa longe gloria praestitit.

Ἀρχιδάμου δὲ ὡς ἐτελεύτα καταλιπόντος παῖδας Ἆγίς τε πρεσβύτερος ἦν ἡλικίᾳ καὶ παρέλαβεν ἀντὶ Ἀγησιλάου τὴν ἀρχήν. ἐγένετο δὲ Ἀρχιδάμῳ καὶ θυγάτηρ, ὄνομα μὲν Κυνίσκα, φιλοτιμότατα δὲ ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἔσχε τὸν Ὀλυμπικόν καὶ πρώτη τε ἱπποτρόφησε γυναικῶν καὶ νίκην ἀνείλετο Ὀλυμπικὴν πρώτη. Κυνίσκας δὲ ὕστερον γυναιξὶ καὶ ἄλλαις καὶ μάλιστα ταῖς ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος γεγόνασιν Ὀλυμπικαὶ νῖκαι, ὧν ἡ ἐπιφανεστέρα ἐς τὰς νίκας οὐδεμία ἐστὶν αὐτῆς.  

 *quum is an alternate spelling for the conjunction cum

--Pausanias, Descriptio Graeciae III.viii.1; Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus (1696)

 

Pausanias was a Greek writer who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece. 

Challenging Gender Roles: the Olympic Gold Medalist Cynisca, Pausanias, Desc. Graec. 3.15.1

Cynisca, Princess of Sparta and Olympic Champion

Name:  Pausanias Date:        110 – 180 CE Region:    Lydia [modern Turkey] Citation:      Description of Greece  3.15.1

By the grove of plane trees [in Sparta] is a monument to the hero Cynisca, the daughter of king Archidamus.  She was the first of all women to train horses, and was the first woman to win the chariot-race in the Olympic games.

πρὸς δὲ τῷ Πλατανιστᾷ καὶ Κυνίσκας ἐστὶν ἡρῷον, θυγατρὸς Ἀρχιδάμου βασιλεύοντος Σπαρτιατῶν: πρώτη δὲ ἱπποτρόφησε γυναικῶν καὶ Ὀλυμπίασι πρώτη νίκην ἀνείλετο ἅρματι.

Ad platanetum est etiam Cyniscae Archidami regis filiae monumentum heroicum. Ea prima feminarum omnium equos alere instituit, & prima ludis Olympicis de quadrigis palmam meruit. Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus

Pausanias [110 -180 CE, modern Turkey] was a Greek writer from Lydia who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.

Challenging Gender Roles: Belistiche the Olympic Gold Medalist

Belistiche: The Olympic Champion

Name:  Pausanias Date:        110 – 180 CE Region:    Lydia [modern Turkey] Citation:      Description of Greece 5.8.11

  In the fifth book of his Description of Greece, Pausanias outlines the evolution of the Olympic games: 

Then they added a race of chariots pulled by a pair of young colts, as well as a colt riding competition. The victory for the first event went to Belistiche, a woman from a shore town in Macedon; the winner of the second event was Tlepolemus the Lycian. Tlepolemus won during the 300^th Olympics; Belistiche won three years prior.

προσέθεσαν δὲ ὕστερον καὶ συνωρίδα πώλων καὶ πῶλον κέλητα: ἐπὶ μὲν δὴ τῇ συνωρίδι Βελιστίχην ἐκ Μακεδονίας τῆς ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ γυναῖκα, Τληπόλεμον δὲ Λύκιον ἀναγορευθῆναι λέγουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ κέλητι, τοῦτον μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης καὶ τριακοστῆς τε καὶ ἑκατοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος, τῆς δὲ Βελιστίχης τὴν συνωρίδα Ὀλυμπιάδι πρὸ ταύτης τρίτῃ.

Receptae deinde pullorum bigae & pullus item desultorius. Bigarum palmam Belistiche, femina e maritima Macedoniae ora; desultorii, Tlepolemus Lycius abstulit: hic tricesima prima supra centesimam Olympiade; illa Olympiade ante hanc tertia. Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus

Pausanias [110 -180 CE, modern Turkey] was a Greek writer from Lydia who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.

Challenging Gender Roles: One Proud Olympic Mama! Pausanias, Desc. Gr. V.vi.7-8

 On the road to Olympia, on your way to Scillus and before you cross the Alpheius, there is a really tall mountain with jagged rocks called Typaeon. According to the law of Elis, women who were caught at the Olympic Games on days when women were forbidden* (even women who were on the other side of the Alpheius) would be thrown from this mountain to their deaths**. But nobody was ever caught or punished, except Callipateira [although some say it was Pherenice, not Callipateira, who was caught].

The widow Callipateira dressed as a trainer and brought her son Pisirodus to Olympia to participate in the games. When he won, she leapt out of the dugout*** and her disguise was revealed. Outed as a woman, she nevertheless was freed of any charge out of respect to her father, her brothers, and her son (for all of them were Olympic victors). But they made the law that from then on, even the trainers had to be nude in the Olympics.

* Portions of the Olympic games were segregated by gender, but there were several documented women Olympic victors (including Cynisca and Bilistiche, both for chariot racing).  

**There are numerous examples of gender-exclusive rites in ancient Greek and Roman religion being profaned by intruders, including Alcibiades' intrusion of the Eleusinian Mysteries in 415 BCE and Clodius' intrusion of the Bona Dea Scandal in 62 BCE. 

*** A sectioned-off portion specifically for coaches and trainers

In via quae Olympiam ducit cis Alpheum, Scillunte venienti, celsa crepidine praeruptus mons occurrit: Typaeum illum appellant. Hinc de saxo feminas deiicere Eleorum lex iubet, quae ad Olympicos ludos penetrasse deprehensae fuerint, vel quae omnino Alphaeum transmiserint, quibus est eis interdictum diebus. Non tamen deprehensam esse ullam perhibent praeter unam Callipatriam, quam alii Pherenicen nominant. Haec viro mortuo, cum virili ornatu exercitationum se magistrum simulans, Pisidorum filium in certamen deduxit: iamque eo vincente sepimentum id quo magistros seclusos habent, transiluit veste posita. Feminam tamen agnitam, omni crimine liberarunt. datum hoc ex iudicium aequitate, patris, fratrum, & filii gloriae, qui omnes ex Olympcis ludis victores abierant. Ex eo lege sancitum, ut nudati adessent ad ludicrum ipsi etiam magrstri.

κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν ὁδόν, πρὶν ἢ διαβῆναι τὸν Ἀλφειόν, ἔστιν ὄρος ἐκ Σκιλλοῦντος ἐρχομένῳ πέτραις ὑψηλαῖς ἀπότομον: ὀνομάζεται δὲ Τυπαῖον τὸ ὄρος. κατὰ τούτου τὰς γυναῖκας Ἠλείοις ἐστὶν ὠθεῖν νόμος, ἢν φωραθῶσιν ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐλθοῦσαι τὸν Ὀλυμπικὸν ἢ καὶ ὅλως ἐν ταῖς ἀπειρημέναις σφίσιν ἡμέραις διαβᾶσαι τὸν Ἀλφειόν. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἁλῶναι λέγουσιν οὐδεμίαν, ὅτι μὴ Καλλιπάτειραν μόνην: εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ τὴν αὐτὴν ταύτην Φερενίκην καὶ οὐ Καλλιπάτειραν καλοῦσιν.

 αὕτη προαποθανόντος αὐτῇ τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἐξεικάσασα αὑτὴν τὰ πάντα ἀνδρὶ γυμναστῇ, ἤγαγεν ἐς Ὀλυμπίαν τὸν υἱὸν μαχούμενον: νικῶντος δὲ τοῦ Πεισιρόδου, τὸ ἔρυμα ἐν ᾧ τοὺς γυμναστὰς ἔχουσιν ἀπειλημμένους, τοῦτο ὑπερπηδῶσα ἡ Καλλιπάτειρα ἐγυμνώθη. φωραθείσης δὲ ὅτι εἴη γυνή, ταύτην ἀφιᾶσιν ἀζήμιον καὶ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῆς καὶ τῷ παιδὶ αἰδῶ νέμοντες—ὑπῆρχον δὴ ἅπασιν αὐτοῖς Ὀλυμπικαὶ νῖκαι—, ἐποίησαν δὲ νόμον ἐς τὸ ἔπειτα ἐπὶ τοῖς γυμνασταῖς γυμνοὺς σφᾶς ἐς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐσέρχεσθαι.

--Pausanias, Description of Greece V.iv.7-8; Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus (1696)

Pausanias was a Greek writer who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece. 

Bringing Home A Gold Medal: Cynisca, Princess of Sparta [Greek Anthology 13.16]

In Praise of Cynisca 

Name:  Unknown Date:     Unknown Region:    Unknown Citation:    Greek Anthology 13.16

My forefathers and brothers were Kings of Sparta,

I, Cynisca, erect this monument

In my chariot-racing victory.

Of all the women in Greece,

I alone can say that I brought home the prize.

 

Σπάρτας μὲν βασιλῆες ἐμοὶ πατέρες καὶ ἀδελφοί- ἅρμασι δ’ ὠκυπόδων ἵππων νικῶσα Κυνίσκα εἰκόνα τάνδ’ ἔστησα. Μόναν δέ με φαμὶ γυναικῶν Ἑλλάδος ἐκ πάσας τόνδε λαβεῖν στέφανον.

Spartae quidem reges mei patres et fratres, curribusque velocipedum equorum vincens Cynisca imaginem hanc erexi. Solam autem me aio mulierum Hellade ex omni hanc reportasse coronam. Translated into Latin by Johann Friedrich Duebner