An Interview with Professor William Scott

William C. Scott is a professor of Classics at Dartmouth College. He has undertaken administrative work as Chairman of the Classics Departnent at Dartmouth. He is not only the writer of many articles and reviews on classical authors but also the author of four books classical studies books.

These questions and answers were taken from an interview recorded with Professor William Scott on December 1,1995 at Dartmouth College. The answers are paraphrased from his responses.

Table of Contents

• What are the historical precedents of the games?
• Is the Iliad an important source of information on Greek Athletics?
• Was competition important to the Greeks?
• What was the significance of the rules?

Q: What are the historical precedents of the games?

A: There are certain signs of an earlier game culture in Greece because we have numerous poetic versions that report those kinds of games. Most of these games took place at the funerals of great men, celebrating his achievements.

The most famous version we have is the funeral games of Pertrocolus in the twenty-third book of the Iliad. When Pertrocolus is killed, Achilles holds his funeral. Part of this funeral is a set of seven competitions in which the war heroes at Troy compete as athletes rather than warrior.

Q: Is the Iliad an important source of information on Greek Athletics?

A: The Iliad is an important source of information on the games because it serves as a cultural sponge. It soaked up many of the customs, history, people, and stories and concentrated them in one source.

Q: Was competition important to the Greeks?

A: Competition was important to the Greeks. George Orwell has a quote which is quite helpful in explaining why competition was so important.

He said:

(95K)"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, boastfullness, disregard of all rules, and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting"

The Greeks were always an agonistic (competitive) race and therefore needed rules for competitions to make sure that they could determine who was the better person without actually having to resort to weapons.

Q: What was the significance of the rules?

The games had a certain code and style. Behind those games there are very strict rules of competition so that there are equal terms for everybody. This sense of fairness is the basic principle of the Olympic games.