WHO: Gregory Nagy (Harvard University), Leonard Muellner (Harvard University & New Alexandria Foundation)
WHAT: The Challenge
Throughout history, sports have been a powerful equalizer—bringing people from various places and backgrounds together in a virtuous race over sportsmanship and physical prowess. Yet, in ancient societies sports competitions often were highly elitist. A prime example of elite athleticism is the seasonally recurring event of chariot-racing at the ancient festival of the “Olympics” in Olympia—an athletic event derived from the prestigious wartime practice of chariot-fighting. However, even in ancient Greece we find surprising patterns of inclusion such as footraces for female athletes. We aim to explore patterns of egalitarianism and elitism in societies around the world in deep time.
WHY: Motivations & Intentions
We aim to study the values and social and diplomatic functions of sports in societies across time and space. We examine, for example, how traditional societies face the universal problem of death by way of myths and rituals, which aim to transcend mortality through engagement with sports; or how sports can serve as diplomatic leverage to improve both domestic and international relations. This will help us understand the functions of sports in today’s life in all their dimensions, be they physical, political, social, commercial, or economic and leverage them for the greater good for all.
HOW: Methods & Tools
- Empirical Inductive (not theory-driven) Deployments of Anthropology, Descriptive/Historical Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics
- Include digital source analysis as a vital part of our discovery procedures
- Examine the response of everyday people to sports, especially in the verbal and visual arts
HOW CAN I JOIN? Activities & Events in 2025
- Spring and Fall 2025: Upleveling Content and Functionality of MOOC (courtesy of New Alexandria Foundation) on ancient heroes as models for athleticism in cross-cultural comparison
- Course content is based on Gregory Nagy’s Ancient Greek Heroes, Athletes, Poetry (New Alexandria Foundation, 2024)
For further details, contact the project leaders.