Victory and Celebration: An Introduction to Greek Athletics

— —

Nigel Nicholson (Walter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Walter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Reed College)

Victory and Celebration

An Introduction to Greek Athletics

Nigel Nicholson (Walter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Walter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Reed College)

$64.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Oxford University Press Inc
23 October 2025

Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Sociology: sport & leisure; Track & field sports, athletics

Victory and Celebration traces how athletic success was transformed into broader social and political capital in ancient Greece in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE--how being a good boxer or wrestler, or having a fast son or superior horses was made into something of significance beyond the stadium or hippodrome. Athletic success did not speak for itself. Its meanings had to be produced and defended, and this was the work of the victory memorials--the poems, statues, and other dedications produced to commemorate the athletic victories.

Through readings of these victory memorials, Victory and Celebration explores, first, how Greek athletics was intertwined with general ideas of excellence, beauty, and a closeness to gods and heroes, and second, how the memorials communicated more directly political visions of leadership, inherited ability, and the victor's place in their city and the wider world. Finally, the book examines how specific events, such as boxing, contests for youths, and chariot and horse races were shaped and made valuable, or kept valuable, by the memorials. The significance of athletic victory was not a given; by addressing what meanings were attributed to athletic success, and the often-innovative ways in which these meanings were made to seem true, Victory and Celebration emphasizes how much work had to be done to make that success count.

By: Nigel Nicholson (Walter Mintz Professor of Greek Latin and Ancient Mediterranean Studies Walter Mintz Professor of Greek Latin and Ancient Mediterranean Studies Reed College)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 233mm, Width: 159mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 503g
ISBN: 9780197626337
ISBN 10: 0197626335
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 23 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Nigel Nicholson is Walter Mintz Professor of Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Humanities at Reed College, where he has also served as the Dean of the Faculty. He is the author of Aristocracy and Athletics in Archaic and Classical Greece, The Poetics of Victory in the Greek West, and, with Nathan Selden, The Rhetoric of Medicine: Lessons on Professionalism from Ancient Greece. A dedicated teacher, he was named Oregon's Professor of the Year for 2004.