Sexual life in ancient Greece : with thirty-two full-page plates

NATIONAL FESTIVALS

“Great honours awaited the Olympian victor in his native town, which the fame of his victory also glorified. Sitting m a purple dress in a carriage drawn by four white horses, accompanied by friends and relatives on horseback and in carriages, he entered the town amidst the applause of the people. Part of the town wall and gate was pulled down to make a wide path for his carriage; a town which possessed such men believed, says Plutarch, that it needed no walls. The festal procession moved through the main street to the temple of the chief god, where the victor laid down his crown as a votive offering. After this a great banquet was held in honour of the victory. Solemn choral songs resounded during the procession and also at the banquet. It was considered a great piece of good fortune if a distinguished poet, like Pindar, composed a song of triumph for a victor at such a festival, for then he was sure of lasting fame. ‘The feast of victory, together with the song, was usually repeated in succeeding years. Other rewards also fell to the lot of the victor ; statues of honour were erected to him in the gymnasia and palzstree, in the market-place, or at the entrance to a temple. At Athens, according to a law of Solon, the Olympian victor received a present of 500 drachmez (about £20) as well as the right of a seat of honour at all public spectacles; he also had the privilege of being entertained in the Prytaneum. In Sparta, besides similar distinctions, a victor also had the honour of fighting in battle at the side of the king.” 4

Many states sent special ambassadors (@ewpoé) to the games, who often appeared with great pomp, to glorify the common festival and to let their home be seen in special brilliancy. A great fair was also held in combination with the festival,

_’ This passage from ‘‘ The crowns were exhibited (p.ro5) . . . of the king” is a quotation from H. W. Stoll, Bilder aus dem altgriechischen Leben (1875, p: 230).

107