Introduction to Ancient Greek Ball Games
Evidence for a History of Field Hockey, Football, Rugby and More
Nov 16, 2009
Though there is plenty of evidence for ball games in ancient Greece, specific information about the rules of ancient ball games is sparse indeed. Even so, archaeologists and ancient historians have been able to identify ancient forebears of some modern games in the written sources and draw conclusions about game similarities from ancient art.
Why Ball Games Were Never Part of the Ancient Olympics
A primary reason that the evidence for ball games is so scant is its standing in ancient Greece. The focus of ancient Greek athletics was on personal performance rather than teamwork, the foundation of most ball games.
The ancient forerunners of modern football were, in modern terms, school yard games for young men and women. One popular game was even known as ephebike from the Greek word for adolescent. It is therefore not surprising that the great games, like the Olympics, did not include any ball games.
Balls Made From Leather and Animal Intestines
The ancient Greeks had many different types of balls and many names for them though the most common was sphaira, which remains in modern English as 'sphere'. Balls were frequently made out of pieces of leather sewn together, like today, or from filled or inflated animal bladders. They were then filled with stuffing such as sand, flour, wool, horse-hair or feathers, and dyed or painted for aesthetic appeal or perhaps sport-specific identification.
The Ancient History of Rugby
A game similar to modern rugby is attested in the written sources from as early as the 4th century BCE. The game, which was known as harpaston or phaininda, was played with one or more small and hard balls made out of leather and probably stuffed with horse-hair, though a similar game was also played with a type of soft ball.
It was a harsh and vigorous game. The players were divided into two teams and the playing field was marked with a line down the middle. The object of each team seems to have been to keep the ball on a specific side of that line and not throwing it out of bounds, while running, passing and dodging ruthlessly tackling opponents. Broken bones were not unheard of and fervent wrestling for the ball was common.
Early Greek Forms of Volleyball or Handball
The ancient Greeks had a popular game similar to handball or volleyball, known then as episkyros or ephebike. The game was played with two teams on a court drawn on the ground especially for the occasion. In the middle of the court was a line dividing the two teams, and behind each team was another line.
One team would start with the ball and pass it between them while trying to employ feints on the opponent. Eventually they would try to throw the ball over the opposing team in such a way that it crossed the line behind them. It was then up to the opponent to catch the ball before it stopped bouncing and before it crossed the line behind them. The team that first made the ball or their opponents cross the line won.
Ancient Hockey was Played with Horns
That the ancient Greeks played an early form of field hockey is still uncertain, but the pictorial evidence from a marble relief in which players appear to be in the middle of a face-off is very evocative. The game portrayed may be one known to us only from passing mention in the sources, in which a horn was used to strike a small ball or disc.
Ancient Football is Tentatively Identified in Art
There is very little evidence for any ancient Greek game that can be rightfully called football (soccer). A tentative identification has been made, by some archaeologists and historians, in the relief of a youth showing a younger boy his ball juggling skills. It cannot be certain, however, how this game was played or what its name was.
Sources
Athenaeus, The Gastronomers.
Galen, On Exercise with the Small Ball.
Pollux, Onomasticon.
Miller, S.G., Ancient Greek Athletics, Yale 2004.
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