IV. TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN AMONG THE ANCIENT HELLENES.
We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of professional athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily have influenced the more widespread practices whereby the young developed their bodies, just as today the system of professional athletics is a model for college training and exerts an influence upon the sports of even young children. But professional athletics, even in ancient Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct from that important phase of Hellenic education called γυμναστική.
In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no means be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of education. But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were held in least favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves; being thoroughly in earnest to produce a race that was hardy and valiant to the last degree, and regarding physical culture as a serious and all-engrossing business rather than an exciting amusement, they quickly discerned that the specialism of professional athletics was detrimental to this end.
The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby all Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever uppermost in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither deluded themselves in their estimate of these needs, nor did they even dream of a compassion that would deter them from establishing and executing regulations whereby these needs would be met. In Sparta the unfortunate individual who did not conform in promise or attainment to the criterion of a Spartan citizen found no pity.
And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the man, without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle outward show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely fearless, who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing pain; it was the man whose powers of endurance were very great, who could march long distances over a rough country without fatigue, who could then halt and await the onset of an enemy with a glad and confident heart, and who could engage his enemy and be victorious; it was the man who loved combat.
The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens should marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage. If at the present day we exercised the same care to bring sound children into the world there would be little need of being “born again.” Spartan infants were subjected to the judgment of a body of selected citizens, and if approved by the latter became thenceforth the objects of the care and direction of the state, but if condemned as not promising health and vigor they were killed. According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were exposed in the apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (Ταΰγετος) and left to die.
Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care of their parents, but even during this early period they received a foretaste of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very plain and limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the little fears of childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the dark or when left alone.
Many interesting little sports were in vogue among Hellenic children, and it may well be believed that in Sparta they were practised with a peculiar earnestness. Most of the amusements of modern children were also the delight of Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the latter are no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (πλαταγή) was a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas. Then there were hoops (τροχοί or κρίκοι). The childish game of rolling the hoop was called κρικηλασία. The κρίκος corresponded to the Roman trochus described by Horace (Ode 3; 24, 57) and Ovid, as well as by Propertius, Martialis, and other writers. The κρίκος was a large hoop probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its diameter was less than the height of a man, reaching probably to his chest. The implement used in rolling it is said to have been a crooked-necked iron with a wooden handle, called ἐλατήρ (Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as with us, the hoop was set round with small metal rings or bells which when in motion caused a jingling sound very pleasing to a child’s ears. Some regarded these rings as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them on the ground that the sound they produced added much to the child’s happiness and engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also considered this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and advised that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating. The familiar top (βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος), old as the days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own times—“στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη” (Il. xiv, 413).
The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and made to revolve by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil in the following lines:
“Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,
Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum
Intenti ludo exercent.”
Æneid vii, 378-380.
Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children. Stilts (καλόβαθρα) were much used by children and also by adults in certain mimic dances. The girls had dolls (κόραι) of wax or clay, and the usual paraphernalia connected with this ever popular plaything. Many of these, which still survive, show that they were painted and that the arms and legs were so fastened with strings as to be easily movable. The word κόρη literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek girls dedicated their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus. If they died unwedded, their dolls were buried with them. The terms δάγυνον, δαγύς and πλαγγών were often applied by the Greeks to the wax doll.
The swing αἰώρα occupied the same position in Greece as in our nurseries. Then there were clappers (πλῆκτρα), toy-carts (ἁμαξίδες), hobby-horses (ἱππίδια ξύλινα), toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.
In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned. From the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy of consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in sport, then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental powers and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise. The Spartan children were superior to the other Greek children in the power of expression, although they were not so highly educated. This is no doubt due to the fact that at a very early age the Spartan children were forced into a free life in the open air and to systematic gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also though they did not consider gymnastics of so much importance as did the Hellenes, did not neglect them. Being a warlike people, they began to develop and strengthen the body of the child at an early age. The sports of childhood are as important to the boy as work is to the man, and demand as much of his strength and intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as a real victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games are imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause the child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch. Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He claimed that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work, should be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first training should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction should be followed by that based on theory and science. Experience has often corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic life itself furnishes the best illustration of it. According to the legend, Achilles, attired in the garb of a girl among the daughters of the king, betrayed himself to the keen eye of Odysseus, by handling the weapons, placed by the latter among the ornaments which he offered for sale. Strepsiades, hard pressed by his creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness for horses and chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates with pride how as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts, moulded houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind. (Aristophanes, Nub. 877.) Cato the Younger also, says Plutarch, gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks, often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.
The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment was detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea was most beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of body and soul. Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system of the Hellenes, were developed many gymnastic games which did not require any special apparatus and which were not intended for tests of superior strength, but merely to furnish pleasant and suitable physical exercise.
A game called ὀστράκου περιστροφή was often played. The boys arranged themselves in two divisions on either side of a line. One of them then held up a piece of broken crockery, or an oyster shell, one side of which was blackened with tar. One division chose the black side, the other the white. A boy then threw the fragment, with the words, νύξ, ἡμέρα. The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared uppermost after the throw; this division then pursued the other; those who were captured were called donkeys and were debarred from further participation in the game.
The ἐποστρακισμός (Pollux ix, 119), a more informal game, was played by boys on the beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted in “skipping” smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the water. The boy who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance, or, perhaps, made it cut the water the greatest number of times, was victor. This pastime, known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor with boys.
There were two games for testing bodily strength, the διελκυστίνδα and the σκαπέρδα. In the διελκυστίνδα a party of children separated into two divisions, each of which faced the other in a row, so as to give every member an opponent. Probably a line of some kind lay between the two divisions, and the game consisted in each boy’s striving to pull his opponent across it by means of a rope. The victory was decided when all members of one side had been forced to the other.
The σκαπέρδα was a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made in a tree-trunk or rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two contestants then took their places on opposite sides of the pillar, with their backs to each other and each holding an end of the rope. If one of them could succeed in lifting the other from the ground he was declared victor, but so difficult was the feat that the phrase σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable to very difficult tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the Attic Dionysia.
“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the name χαλκῆ μυῖα, or “brazen fly,” very prettily described by Pollux ix, 122. ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι, θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν αὐτόν, ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν λήψεται. One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture one of the rest. With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating the words χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω, “I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others responded θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, “you will hunt, but you will not catch,” and at the same time struck him more or less lightly with whips or threads of papyrus. When one of them was caught, he was blindfolded in place of the other, and the game repeated.
A game called χυτρίνδα (Pollux ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity on the part of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called χύτρα. The others ran round him, pinching or striking him until by a quick movement he managed to catch one of them, who was obliged to take his place and be the χύτρα in turn. Sometimes the child ran about in a circle, carrying on his head a jar which he held with his left hand. His companions would strike him while asking him the question, τίς τὴν χύτραν; (who has the jar?), to which he answered, ἐγὼ, Μίδας (I, Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that child had to take his place.
The term χυνδαλισμός (Pollux ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play, which somewhat resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging short, pointed poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first child holds his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to leave it standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to throw his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his own standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and so on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is still played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground is soft.
A game especially suited to develop attention was the following. The players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a cord which he tried to place beside another child without being detected in the act. If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside whom the cord was found had to run round the ring amid the blows of his playfellows; if, on the other hand, he had noticed the other when putting the cord there, that one would have been obliged to run round the ring himself.
A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles were flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm in falling, was played under the name of πεντάλιθος. This game was much in favor with Hellenic women, as well as with children, and was said to be the favorite amusement of the famous beauty, Phryne of Athens.
The game of king (βασιλίνδα) consisted of feats, done by one child at the bidding of another, as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be king and who soldier was decided by lot.
A favorite pastime with children was the game called ἀρτιασμός or “Odd and Even” (Pollux ix, 101), in which they guessed whether the number of objects one held concealed in his hand was odd or even. Dice, nuts, coins, etc., were used for this purpose. The amount won or lost was either the articles themselves or a sum of money staked upon the guess. Horace also in the Satires alludes to this game under the name ludere par impar (Satires 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was κολλαβισμός, in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking him.
Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper” (σχοινοφιλίνδα), a piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The modern “hide and seek” was the Greek ἀποδιδρασκίνδα. “Kiss in the ring” (κυνητίνδα) is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no correct details. “Ride a cock horse” (κάλαμου περιβῆναι) was also an amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in Greece and in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this sport in the following words: equitare in arundine longa.
The Greek and Roman children played several games of skill with nuts, which resembled very closely our modern game of marbles. Nuts played so important a part in childish sports that nuces relinquere became a proverbial expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts were pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called ὤμιλλα (Pollux ix, 102-3) or into a hole βόθρος dug in the ground. Those that fell outside the circle were forfeited. The name delta was given to a certain game with nuts in which a triangle was chalked on the ground, and marked across with lines or bars running parallel to the base. The player then flipped nuts into the triangle, winning as many nuts as he crossed bars, provided, of course, that they did not roll outside the triangle, in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most skilful play consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the triangle.
The ball (σφαῖρα) was not only a favorite toy among children, but it also played an important part in the physical exercises of youths and adults. No other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks and Romans of different periods as the ball games, though regarded less as a game than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and cultivating grace and symmetry of body.
They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes as well as in later times when Greece was at the height of its glory. The Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of the emperors, also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued favor which ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its benefit to the body. The earliest mention of ball-playing is found in two passages of the Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare Athen. i, 15, c. Plutarch, Alex. c. 73). In the second passage, Homer represents ball-tossing as an adjunct to the dance. The game was accompanied by music and Odysseus was surprised at the marvelous dexterity of the players.
“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance alone, for with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a goodly purple ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one, bending backward, flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other, leaping upward from the earth, easily caught the ball before his feet touched ground again. Then after they had tried the ball straight in the air, they danced upon the bounteous earth with tossings to and fro. Other young men beat time for them, standing round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping arose. Then to Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned of all, you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is proved true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (Athenaios i, 246), and long survived.
The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (Od. vi, 100), and her companions accompanied their game by singing, and the women of Corcyra at a later period are said to have followed this ancient custom. (Athen. i. 24 b.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing was also accompanied by music.
The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed the right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected pillars in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a player. The Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did the Athenians, and to them is attributed the invention of ball games. Among the kings of Greece, Alexander is mentioned as favoring ball-playing.
In one of his plays, Πλυντρίαι, which was received with great favor, Sophocles introduced Nausicaä at play with a ball. Only the Milesians, who were devoted to agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as it did not tend to increase athletic ability and was of no value in helping them to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved on ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians, as ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a foundation for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was not considered complete without having a special room, called the σφαιριστήριον, devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor (σφαιριστικός) who had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.
The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered it a pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the Elder enjoyed a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same day that he received the refusal of the consulate (Oratio pro Archia Poeta c. 6, §6). Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried ball-playing along with banquets and games of dice. The emperor, Augustus, enjoyed a game of ball. Pliny, the younger, relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with old age by indulging in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a game at ball was the most common exercise practised immediately before bathing in the σφαιριστήριον (ball-court) connected with the bath.
The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during the game, except in the σφαιριστήριον and probably not always even there.
There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others we know simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios consider the game called οὐρανία to be identical with that practised by the Phæacians, as in this, according to Homer’s description, the body was bent backward and the ball was thrown high up into the air. The players then tried to catch the ball before it touched the ground.
The game called ἐπίσκυρος (Pollux ix, 104) at first peculiar to Sparta, was very popular and took its name from the line σκῦρος which separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and parallel with it were drawn two base lines (γραμμαὶ κατόπιν) beyond which the players could not go in catching the ball. The latter was placed upon the σκῦρος (whence the name ἐπίσκυρος) and the players started simultaneously from their respective base lines. Whoever seized the ball first, threw it as far as he could toward the enemies’ base line. The object, of course, was to force the line of enemies back, by constantly returning the ball further and further over their heads until they were driven over their own base lines. In this case a swift runner must have had a great advantage over the others, by securing the first throw.
A favorite game is described by the term (φαινίνδα). The peculiar feature of this game was that the player who held the ball appeared to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an entirely different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and surprising another. This game is said to have demanded the utmost dexterity of a flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a skilful player to display a fine carriage and much grace, as may be seen in the description of Damoxenos by Athenaios (Athen. i, 15, 7).
Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις, ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς, ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.
ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ λέγειν ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν οὔθ’ ἑώρακα τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς, καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος.
The ἁρπαστόν was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with the Greeks and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It required skill in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating distance, as well as great care in catching the ball. The name of the game indicates that each player tried to prevent the other from catching it. This game is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and according to him it was also played by women.
The term ἀπόῤῥαξις was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which the ball was thrown to the ground with great force and continually struck back with the hand, as it rebounded. The number of times the ball was forced to the ground was counted. The victor was called king and could order the others about. The loser was called donkey (ὄνος). In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up into the air as long as possible with the open hand.
According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four divisions according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he described in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball games, which he considered of great importance on account of the benefit which they imparted to the mental and physical powers.
In connection with these various ball games, they practised a peculiar gymnastic exercise with the κώρυκος, a leathern sack that must have resembled the modern punching bag on which pugilists try their fists. In form it resembled a ball, but in size and weight far surpassed the largest and heaviest ball. The κώρυκος was filled with fig seeds, meal or sand, and its size varied according to the age and strength of the individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach to about the middle of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in increasingly rapid motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast and hands. The game is alluded to by Plautus (Rud. iii, 4, 16). This sport cannot properly be styled a ball game, although it resembled one in some respects. Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient physicians regarded this exercise as very beneficial, because it not only strengthened the muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent corpulency.
There are no records in classical literature to show that the Greeks and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.
At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came under the charge of the παιδονόμος; this official was, in conformance with the direction of Lykourgos, one of the best citizens; he was expected to discipline the youth in all the exercises that were so nicely adapted to develop the Spartan citizen, and to teach him all the cunning and courage that would afterwards be required in his service of the state.
In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself. When children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and nurses was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were conducted each day by the παιδαγωγός, a special slave whose duty it was not only to conduct the children to and from school, but also to supervise their deportment.
In the Athenian school, gymnastics (γυμναστική) was not by any means the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included three distinct courses:
(1) γραμματική.
(2) μουσική.
(3) γυμναστική.
Under γραμματική were included reading and writing, to which were added after the 4th century B. C. elementary geometry, arithmetic and drawing.
When the child was able to read and write with facility, he entered on the course called μουσική, which embraced the study of poetry and music. Passages from Homer, Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon, and from many lyric poets, were read and committed to memory. Xenophon mentions in his Symposium (Symp. iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who had committed to memory the whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The boys were also taught to chant the poems they had learned to the accompaniment of the lyre. Much stress was laid on the moral effects of music.
But from no system of Greek education was γυμναστική, the careful and systematic development of the young body excluded. Nor did this training cease in mature years; when young men left the palæstra, they found awaiting them the gymnasium,—an institution that was adapted to social as well as athletic purposes.
Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected, ever dream of dropping γυμναστική from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of Plato there is a detailed discussion of the education of children, and the plan is therein advocated of restricting the education of boys to gymnastics until their tenth year; the regular study of letters was not to begin until after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also maintained that gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany that of the mind.
Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood was not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked athlete with firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted that the mass of their young men reached during the best age of Greek history a stage of physical perfection which has never been attained in any other age or country. This is attested by thousands of statues of victorious athletes, not only in Olympia but throughout Greece. Although the Greeks had no cricket or football they had on the other hand a far greater variety of games than we have, and this variety made for the symmetrical development of the body. The athletic sports of Greece remained great and respected until excessive training and extreme specialization brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted all his time to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of a harmonious development of the body. The influence of the old Greek games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics, will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal of a sound body for a sound mind.