Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals

by E. Norman Gardiner

The drivers and jockeys were usually paid servants; but sometimes we hear of the owner himself, or one of his family acting in this capacity. Damonon, in the inscription referred to above, records with pride certain races where he was his own charioteer. Pindar, in the first Isthmian Ode, congratulates Herodotus of Thebes on not entrusting his chariot to the hands of strangers. Thrasybulus probably drove his father’s chariot in the victory commemorated in the sixth Pythian ode. Carrhotus, the charioteer of Arcesilas of Cyrene, was his brother-in-law. Next to the statue of Timon at Olympia was the statue of his youthful son, Aepytus, who had ridden his horse to victory.[^[791]] Though the owner took the prize, the victory was due in no small degree to the skill of the charioteer, and the latter was not undeservedly sometimes associated with his master in the hymn of victory, or represented in the monument which commemorated the victory.

No event could compare in brilliance or in excitement with the four-horse chariot-race, the sport of kings in the Greek world. Each turn in the course was fraught with danger, and there were twenty-three turns. Every reader is familiar with the description of the chariot-race, with its shifting fortunes, and its catastrophes, in the Electra of Sophocles. The danger of the turn was twofold, there was the danger of striking the pillar with the chariot wheel in trying to turn too close, there was the danger of collision with other chariots. Both dangers are illustrated in the Electra. The first accident occurred at the turn between the sixth and seventh round; “The Aenian’s hard-mouthed horses bolt, and at the turn dash headlong into the Barcaean car.” The Barcaean car was leading on the outside; to make the turn, it had to sweep round in front of the Aenian car, thereby forcing the latter to check its pace for fear of collision. Unfortunately, the Aenian horses had bolted, and could not be checked, and therefore charged into the back of the other chariot. The accident is perfectly intelligible if we realise that the chariots were not racing in a line, one behind the other, but were often side by side. The chariot on the inside would naturally make a wide sweep after the pillar; the outside chariot would make the sweep first, and try to turn close to the pillar on the other side.[^[792]] One accident leads to others. All the chariots came to grief except that of Orestes, who drove last, keeping himself for the finish, and the chariot of the Athenian, who cleverly pulled aside, and checked his pace, letting the crowd of chariots rush on to their destruction. Orestes started off in quick pursuit of him, but in making the last turn he was too quick. The left-hand trace-horse had been reined in to make the turn; the horses had already turned round the pillar, but the chariot itself was not yet clear when Orestes gave the rein to the left-hand horse. The horses dashed off down the straight, and the wheel of the chariot caught the pillar, Orestes was thrown from the chariot, and dragged along by the horses still entangled in the reins.

Accidents of a milder character are often depicted on coins and vases. On a red-figured hydria in Würzburg, one of the horses has broken his traces and runs away.[^[793]] A broken rein tangled round the forefoot of a horse is a favourite motive on the fifth-century coins of Syracuse, bearing the signature of Euaenetus.[^[794]] It occurs also on one of the coins of Catana shown in Fig. [171]. The other coin has in the exergue an object which seems to represent a broken chariot-wheel.

Fig. 171. Silver tetradrachms of Catana, in the British Museum (enlarged). Fifth century.

The chariot-race is depicted on the François vase, and also in the Amphiaraus vase (Fig. [3]). The scene on the latter is a particularly fine picture of the crowding and confusion of the race. It represents the finish. Three tripods are set for the prizes, and beyond them sit the three judges.

Fig. 172. Decadrachm of Agrigentum, 413-406 B.C. Decadrachm of Syracuse, 400-360 B.C.

The finest representations of the chariot occur on the coins of Sicily (Fig. [172]). It is impossible to dwell on them in detail, and interesting as they are artistically, they add little to our knowledge of the race. Two examples must suffice; two decadrachms of Agrigentum and Syracuse respectively. The former shows a spirited rendering of a four-horse chariot, as the driver reins in his horses. The driver, contrary to usual custom, is almost naked, probably he is the personification of the river Acragas. Above him is an eagle flying away with a serpent in its claws; below is the city emblem, a crab. Still more interesting is the coin of Syracuse belonging to the series of medallions connected with the defeat of the Athenians at the river Assinarus. This defeat was commemorated by the festival of the Assinaria, which was celebrated for the first time in 412. The coin in our illustration is the work of an unknown artist, usually called “the New Artist.” The chariot is represented in full career, and above the chariot floats a figure of Victory holding a crown. The most interesting feature of the coin is the group of objects in the exergue. They are a shield and helmet on either side, in the middle a cuirass flanked by a pair of greaves. These form the panoply of a heavy-armed soldier. Above the shield on the left is the word ἆθλα, prizes, and there can be little doubt that these arms are the spoils taken from the Athenian hoplites, which were offered as prizes at the Assinarian games.

Chariot-racing was a costly amusement, and in the century before our era it disappeared from the programme of Olympia, doubtless because of want of competitors. It was restored spasmodically under the Empire, but never recovered its old position in Greece. The racing of the hippodrome had given place to the races of the rival factions in the Roman circus. The account of the circus and its games belongs not to Greek history but to Roman.