Hellenistic Athletes

Sebastian Scharff holds a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia at the Università di Trento. He has published extensively on ancient athletics, including a co-edited volume on Athletics in the Hellenistic World (2016).

'Scharff should be congratulated for providing a wealth of information on athletic representation. I would recommend this book without any reservation not only to scholars working on aspects of ancient festivals or sport, but also to anyone who wishes to understand Hellenistic societies.' Georgios Mouratidis, H-Soz-Kult

• 1. Introduction; 2. What's new in hellenistic athletics?; 3. Athlete and polis. The hellenistic city as an agonistic community of fame; 4. Athlete and koinon. agonistic success beyond the level of the polis; 5. Victorious kings. The self–representation of a 'new society of victors'; 6. Becoming Greek through athletics. The participation of non–Greek victors in hellenistic games; 7. Conclusion.