The history of the gymnasium in ancient Greece

The ancient gymnasium in Greece served many purposes, all of which were related to training youth to become better citizens. While it was primarily a place for training for athletic competitions, which could also be used for the military, it was also a place to train the mind and imbue political, ethical, and moral guidance to future citizens. The idea was that a complete individual needed to exercise not only the body, but also the mind. Only adult males were allowed to use the gymnasiums.

The ancient Greeks viewed exercise as part of their daily ritual. While this applied mainly to the citizens, it allowed them the opportunity to combine exercise and study in a holistic environment. The place where this activity came together was the gymnasium, whose name comes from the Greek word gymnos meaning “naked.” Here, Greek men exercised in the nude since they would compete naked in athletic competitions. For the Greeks, the idea of education meant not only intellectual stimulation, but the physical preparation of the body, especially for war.

Stadium and gymnasium at Messenia

The gymnasium allowed both aspects to be addressed. After the end of the intellectual or schooling part of life, gymnastics would continue well into advanced age. Most cities had a gymnasium established except at Sparta, since all males were engaged in constant physical training for military life from the age of seven; in other words, their entire adult life was essentially a gymnasium.

As a public institution, the gymnasium had officials who oversaw its function and upkeep. These individuals, known as gymnasiarchs, ensured the proper training of youth in sports and the games celebrated at public festivals such as the Panathenaea. This also involved directing the schools, including discipline, correct form, and overseeing the competitors. Those who had direct contact with the athletes as teachers, trainers, and coaches were the gymnastai.

Since the competition and training of athletes constituted a communal event, and since it was expected that the men participate, the gymnasium were originally large outdoor areas, not the enclosed areas of today. The outdoor experience also allowed for the citizens to enjoy a variety of competitions simultaneously, such as running, discus, and javelin. These practices then evolved into athletic competitions, which became part of the political, religious, and social life of a city. In Athens, Theseus is said to have started the gymnasium. During the political reforms of the sixth century, several steps were taken by Solon, and later by Cleisthenes.

These reforms probably had to do with the staffing of the gymnasium since it was such an important element of the political and social life of Athens. A particular aspect was the oiling of the body, which became expensive and thus needed oversight. In Athens, after Cleisthenes’s reform, ten gymnasiarchs were appointed, one from each of the ten tribes, and they served in that post for a year.

These were public institutions, and the city paid for their upkeep, as well as for the trainers and coaches, drawing on the public treasury to do so. They were managed by an official who in Athens was elected for a year; this was an expensive undertaking, as he provided free oil for the competitors and also might have to pay for the rest of the undertakings.

Athens had at least three gymnasia, where the Lyceum, the Academy, and the Cynosarges met and became schools for philosophy. This was because many of the youths (it should be stated that the middle and upper classes were the most common visitors) were present to exercise, and the philosophers and sophists attended to lecture and drum up support for their schools. It was not uncommon for youth to exercise and then relax, listening to teachers and debating ideas about current politics.

The Lyceum was a grove and gymnasium outside of Athens that was sacred to the god Apollo Lyceius. Here, Aristotle would teach, and the Lyceum often became associated with his school. It was near the Ilissus River, east of Athens. The Academy was on the western side of the city near the Colonus Hill, and it was sacred to Akademos, which gave its name. Here, the gymnasium was surrounded by gardens and trees, and Plato established his school here. Ultimately, the gymnasium had an extensive library that continued until Athens was sacked by the Roman general Sulla in 86. The Cynosarges stood outside the city of Athens in an area sacred to Heracles and was reserved for Athenians of pure blood. The philosopher Antisthenes began teaching here.

Later gymnasia were often more self-contained. At Delphi, there was a fourth- century building complex that had an exercise yard (palaestra) and associated buildings for changing and bathing. It was surrounded by porticoes, which divided the associated rooms. These were identified as a pool room, changing rooms, and fighting rooms. Traditionally, this was a place where young men were taught to box and wrestle under a master (poedotribes). There was a xystos, a covered portico that ran about 560 feet long and 30 feet wide and was probably used for athletes to train sheltered by the sun. At Olympia, the gymnasium was a large area surrounded by Doric columns used by runners and other athletes, while the nearby Palaestra was about eighty square yards used by boxers and wrestlers.

With the expansion of Greek culture under Alexander the Great and his followers, the gymnasium became a central feature of the new Greek life, or Hellenism. Throughout the Greek world, new structures were constructed to house these exercise places. The gymnasium had an open arena or court used for wrestling and other contact sports, as well as a running track associated with it.

These two components became the central parts of the gymnasium. As time went on, additional facilities were developed, such as jumping pits and throwing areas for the discus and javelin. Often around the arena were colonnade walkways (stoa) used for shelter and teaching. Off of these walkways were other rooms for changing, oiling, and dusting for the gymnasts, bathrooms, baths, rooms for weights or playing ball, and teaching rooms for the philosophers.