Includes index.

Contents: Introduction: The myth of amateurism -- The warrioir and the funeral games in Iliad: The arete of the warrior -- The hoplite race -- The funeral games for patroclus -- Alkinoos' contests for odysseus -- Early olympia: Geographical setting -- Religious setting -- Setting worth fighting for -- Mythic setting -- Setting for Lacedaemonians -- Setting for growth -- The panhellenic cycle of athletic festivals and their poet: Olympic games: The first event -- Pythian games: Horse racing -- Isthmian games -- Nemean games -- Pindar's epinician odes -- The heavy event: Wrestling -- Boxing -- Pankration -- Athletics in Athens: Panathenaic games -- The gymnasion and its culture -- The critics -- Olympic festival: The sanctuary during the classical period -- The games: Making ready -- The five days of competition -- Pentathlon -- Discus -- Jump -- Javelin -- The sequence of events in pentathon -- Determining the winner of pentathlon -- Glorious day, day of glory.