Gymnopedie

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The Gymnopaedie ( Greek  Γυμνοπαιδίαι Gymnopaidiai ) was an annual festival in ancient Sparta at which naked male youths displayed their athletic bodies and martial skills in dances and athletic competitions. The Gymnopedie took place at the end of July and lasted at least three, but probably ten days. It existed from the seventh century before to the first century after Christ. The term gymnopaedia (also Gymnopedie or gymnopaedia ) derives etymologically from the ancient Greek words gymnos = "naked" and pais ab = "boy".

With the festival, the original meaning of the term was lost in the course of time and in the first centuries AD only referred to a dance.

In 1888, Erik Satie composed three solo piano pieces entitled Gymnopédie , thereby giving the term a new meaning.

history

Corybantic dance , a dance that was probably danced on Gymnopedia (Neoattic relief from the 1st century BC)

The Gymnopaidiafest was "the festival of the unarmed boys". The Gymnopaidien were the so-called "naked games", they consisted mainly of choir competitions of three age groups of men (boys, youth, adult men up to 30 years). It was held in the Agora in Sparta, the administration was probably in the hands of the Ephors , and the entire male population of Sparta took part. The Gymnopedie was one of the three most important Spartan festivals in honor of Apollo, alongside the Hyacinthia and the Karneen .

Competitions were held by male choirs on the Gymnopaidia. These competitions were grueling as they took place in the hottest month of the year, in the hottest area of ​​Greece and lasted a long time. Plato called the effort at this festival one of the reasons for the perseverance of the Spartians on campaigns. The Gymnopaidiafest is also a kind of initiation festival for young men (despite their multiple participation).

The Gymnopedie was established in the first half of the seventh century , probably in 665 BC. BC, introduced, at the same time as the nudity at athletics events, the oiling of the body to emphasize its beauty and the recognition of pederastic relationships as an element of pedagogy at the time .

The term appears in texts by Herodotus (484–424 BC) and several authors of the Attic and Koine periods. While for the earliest of these authors Gymnopaedie mainly meant a festival (including several dances, sports, etc.), in late antiquity the term refers to a specific dance.

The celebrated summer festival was Apollo dedicated (by Plutarch of Athena or both). Plato praised gymnopedic exercises and performances in his Dialogue Nomoi as an excellent means of education: Through strenuous dancing in the summer heat, the Spartan youngsters were trained in musical grace as well as in fighting courage.

In ancient Greece, except in Sparta, sport was reserved for men and was practiced naked. Men were also the only spectators at public performances of such sports. In this sense, "gymnos" ( "naked") is a common component for words that are related to sports of that time in connection: gymnastics and school and gymnasium have the same origin.

Such sports were practiced publicly at religious festivals. In so far as the athletes competed with one another, which was not the case in all ceremonial sports, the competition could also concern the elegance of the movements and not just speed or strength. In this respect, in contrast to athletics today, many sports had an aesthetic or dance aspect. All of this also applies to the ancient Olympic Games .

About eight centuries after the first Gymnopedie was performed, it is still recorded in Laconia . According to Lukian von Samosata (in his dialogue “About pantomime”) there also seems to have been a connection to martial arts , because the young people always danced the gymnasts after their daily military training. On the other hand, Lukian describes gymnastics as “another dance” that meant neither nudity nor exclusivity for men.

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literature

  • Johannes van Meurs : Orchestra, sive de saltationibus veterum , Leiden 1618
    • Reprint of the 1745 Florentine edition + comments, updates (English) by Frits Naerebout and Alkis Raftis, Joannes Meursius and his "Orchestra, sive de saltationibus veterum" of 1618. Dutch Dance Studies, 3rd , (Theater of Greek Dances) Dora Stratou, Athens, Pauper Press , 2003, 85 pp., ISBN 960-86150-5-4
  • Karl Otfried Müller , The Dorians , 1824
  • Fred Muller and JH Thiel, Beknopt Grieks-Nederlands woordenboek , Wolters Groningen, 2nd edition (20th century, after 1919)

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