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Gymnopaedia
The Gymnopaedia, in ancient Sparta, was a yearly celebration during which naked youths displayed their athletic and martial skills through the medium of war dancing. The custom was introduced in 668 B.C.,Paul Cartledge, Spartan Reflections p.102 concurrently with the introduction of naked athletics, oiling the body for exercise so as to highlight its beauty.
Etymology
Gymnopaedia (also written Gymnopaediae or Gymnopaidiai) derives from the ancient Greek . The word Gymnopaedia is composed of Apart from "Gymnopaedia", modern transliterations include "Gymnopaidiai" (mostly older translations of Greek texts, maintaining a plural form for the word), "gymnopedia", "gymnopedie" and "gymnopédie" (in French, or when referring to the Erik Satie compositions).Gymnopaedia in ancient Greece
The Gymnopaedia festival
The term appears in texts of Herodotus, and several authors in the Attic and Koiné periods. While for the earliest of these authors the meaning of Gymnopaedia appears predominantly as a festival (including several dances, sports, etc,...), in the later periods of antiquity gymnopaedia is referred to as a particular dance. The festival, celebrated in the summertime, was dedicated to Apollo (and/or, according to Plutarch, to Athena). Plato praises gymnopaedia-like exercises and performances in The Laws as an excellent medium of education: by dancing strenuously in the summer heat, Spartan youth were trained in both musical grace and warrior grit at the same time. In ancient Greece (Sparta), as a general rule, sports were reserved for men, and would be performed "gymnos" - naked. Men were the only spectators when such sports were performed publicly. See also Gymnasium (ancient Greece). Public performance of such sports was generally in a ceremonial setting, i.e. for the occasion of a religious feast. While not all ceremonial sports were competitive, some included an element of competition for the most beautiful movement, or for speed or strength. Many of the sport categories of those days resembled dance more than modern track and field events.Roman era
Some eight centuries after the first gymnopaedia had been presented, it still survived in Lacedaemonia. According to Lucian of Samosata (in his dialogue Of Pantomime) there still seems some connection to martial arts, as the youths would engage in gymnopaidia immediately after their daily military training. On the other hand, he describes the gymnopaedia as "yet another dance", neither involving nudity, nor exclusivity for men.See also
- For the pyrrhic dance, a war dance spread throughout Ancient Greece, see: Korybantes (which were the mythological performers of these war dances in Greek Antiquity).
- Gymnopédie - 19th century music and poetry referring to gymnopaedia; particularly the three piano compositions by the French composer Eric Satie.
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