Dissertation committee:
Πάνος Βαλαβάνης, Ομότιμος καθηγητής Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Σοφία Ανεζίρη, Αναπληρώτρια καθηγήτρια Ιστορίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Ευρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου, Αναπληρώτρια καθηγήτρια Αρχαιολογίας ΕΚΠΑ
Στυλιανός Κατάκης, Αναπληρωτής καθηγητής Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Νικόλαος Δημάκης, Επίκουρος καθηγητής Αρχαιολογίας ΕΚΠΑ
Αθανάσιος Αναστασίου, Καθηγητής Τμήματος Επιστήμης Φυσικής Αγωγής και Αθλητισμού ΑΠΘ
Ευάγγελος Αλμπανίδης, Καθηγητής Τμήματος Επιστήμης Φυσικής Αγωγής και Αθλητισμού ΔΠΘ
Summary:
In this doctoral thesis are examined the small votive offerings that were dedicated at the sanctuaries by the athletes, who sometimes, prior to the upcoming competition, asked for the help of the deity, and sometimes, after its successful conclusion, wanted to thank them for the help received. The choice of the term "small" is not intended to judge the size or value of the votive offering but contrasts these relatively mobile items with the life size statuettes of victors found in sanctuaries, therefore the use of the term "small" should be considered as at least partially conventional on our part. The small-scale offerings, which were dedicated to the sanctuaries by the athletes, were sports equipment, such as discuses, jumping weights (halteres), parts of the athletes' basic equipment such as strigils, bronze statuettes of athletes, bronze vases, but also the prizes that had previously been awarded, such as metal vessels and Panathenaic amphorae. Votives related to horse and chariot races include parts of the chariots and harness, paintings on clay plaques, bronze wheels and bronze figurines of horses and riders. This doctoral thesis aims to create a corpus of the small athletic votive offerings in the sanctuaries, to study these votives in relation to the place of discovery, but also to examine the social and economic class of the dedicators as well to investigate their life after the dedication, given that later some ended up as grave goods. The dissertation consists of two volumes. Volume A is the main body of the study and includes nine chapters, followed by the appendices. The Introduction sets out the aims of the study, the methodology and the criteria based on which a finding is considered as an athletic votive offering. The first chapter concerns the votive practice while second chapter examines the divisions of the votive offerings. The third chapter refers to the Panhellenic and local games, the forth chapter to the dedicated athletic instruments while the fifth chapter concerns to the prizes which were later dedicated. The sixth chapter examines the bronze figurines of athletes which are characterized as athletic votives while the seventh chapter the category of votives that are related to equestrian competitions. The study closes with the eighth chapter where the route of the votive offerings is examined and the ninth chapter where the conclusions are presented. The second (B') volume includes the Bibliography, the origin of the images, the lists of the objects that were examined as well as the 115 related plates.
Keywords:
Ancient Athletic Games, Athletic Votive Offerings, Discuses, Jumping weights, Panathenaic amphorae, Bronze statuettes of athletes, Prizes
