The purpose of this essay is to discuss the values that were portrayed from the writings of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Further more, it was also to compare the values from the writings to the attitudes of modern sports. From reading both of these excerpts it can be concluded that multiple aspects from the Greek athletics are prominent in modern sports. These examples range anywhere from awards, pride, religion, trash talk, and even betting. Even the emphases of importance of sports in society were evident during the Greek athletic period, which is also a societal norm in today’s athletics. In the grand scheme of things, athletics of the Greek period were extremely similar to the sports that are played today. The beginning of the Iliad refers …show more content…
Religion plays a tremendous role in the Greek athletics. Odysseus performs a prayer to Athena prior to his foot race with Ajax. “Hear me, Goddess, be kind to me and come with extra strength for my feet.” In today’s sports prayer is still conducted prior to the beginning of a game. It may be on an individual level or as a team. During a game there might also be some negative things said from one competitor to the next. Epeios one of the boxers from the Iliad informs the crowd that whoever he is competing against should just accept defeat. Athlete’s or competitors in today’s society have similar traits to Epeios. Confidence is portrayed by the use of verbal communication, or in other words “trash talk.” Lastly, betting is very common amongst modern sports. In the Ilaid there was an interesting conversation between Ajax and The lord Cretans. The dispute was over who was winning the chariot race, which would eventually lead to Cretans saying, “now put your money where your mouth is and bet me a tripod-cauldron.” Achilles settles the quarrel between the two men and it does not mentioned if the bet was
Giving these real world examples of worldwide popular sports helps boost Whatron’s credibility of his argument. Wharton uses a strong ethos appeal which contributes to the validity of his argument. To begin, David Wharton is a famous sports journalist for the Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times). Wharton received his degree in journalism and as years progressed he won best sports writing awards, won the award of “Best American Sports Writing”, and is the author of two sports related books (Los Angeles Times).
The author begins by talking about how the fans are entertained during the whole time the game is going on. She also mentioned all the advertisements that the fans watching the event see all over the area. Then she changes course to talk about all these things that there are room for in athletics, such as “sex, alcohol, violence, and religion. ”(Smith)
This also shows how the ancient Greeks valued skill, as well. One needs the skill and physical capability to win the contest or competition.
In “Do Sports Build Character or Damage it?” Mark Edmundson explains the pros and cons of children who grow up playing football. Firstly, he believes the perseverance it takes to show up for hard practices is useful later in life. Especially when they get frustrated with something and don’t notice the little bits of progress they are making.
The Director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports,Daniel Gould in his Article, “Are High School Sports Good For Kids” suggests that high school sports are an integral part of American society. He supports this claim by first saying how sports have educational benefits, then talking about their effect on the child as a citizen, and finally claiming that sports give adolescents increased aspirations. Goulds purpose is to illustrate the benefits of children taking part in school sports. He adopts a analytical tone an older audience.
The main reason that these protagonists in these mythical stories wouldn’t be believable is due to modern communication. And with this modern communication it also breaks down the whole notion of athletes being praised as heroes. The writer claims that society sees these athletes of the past as traditional heroes with no faults, meanwhile modern athletes are seen as “parfit knights” due to their lives being more public and commercialism of their lives. While the word hero isn’t being used often to describe athletes, the writer discusses the down fall of the word hero and where ‘hero’ started losing its power. It began with Copernicus and Galileo’s discovery that the universe was not the center of the world.
"Running, long jump, shot put, javelin, discus, and equestrian competitions" are some of the many Olympic sports played many centuries ago. While these sports were made for entertainment purposes, they were also helpful for ancient civilizations. The Games had a religious and political significance and helped Greek historians and writers to keep track of time. These games were very important to history and to this very day The Olympics were held in honor of the Greek gods.
Ethical issues in sports Sports in today’s world have gained a lot of importance and there have been a lot of additions to sports in the form of new rules, policies the way it is meant to be played etc. Though many stringent laws are framed, implemented and monitored there are always some sort of issues in the way the sports activities are carried out. Regardless of the level of participation some of the players resort to unethical ways of winning the event. The attitude towards the sportsmanship has changed significantly over the years.
It tells the story of mighty hero Gilgamesh, the hero king of Uruk, and his adventures. The Iliad is an epic poem written in the mid-8th Century BCE. It describes the main events in the final weeks of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy. The wrath of Achilles, themes of glory and fate are portrayed in the subject matter of the epic.
Functionalist theory generally leads to the conclusion that sports is well known in society, because they maintain the mores and values that keeps the stability and order in everyday life. Conflict theory focuses on the need to change the organization of sports and society. The goal of these changes is to give workers, in-cluding athletes, control over the conditions of their work or even their own schedule. In this case it identifies factors related to class relations and economic exploitation in sports. In the micro approach, it tries to understand the meanings, identities, and social relationships associated with sport
Almost every student has read “The Odyssey” by Homer at one point in their school career. The story the odyssey is still very much relevant to the modern world. This entire essay will be about how “The Odyssey” is still relevant today. The point of proving this is till is because it provides every helpful or imaginary thought to influence people. The odyssey is important and still relevant in the 21st century because it shows facts about the Trojan war, it could inspire people to become historians, and help educate people.
You feel relaxed when you're with your friends, and when you're doing something that you enjoy doing. However, one side reasons why sports bring many together and connect is maybe they might want the same goal at the end to win a event or make a meaningful memory with others. By participating in a sport, or multiple sports, it can have a positive impact on one’s
Do you ever think about the benefits that you get when playing competitive sports? Well there's more than just fun to it. In this essay I will be talking about Why playing competitive sports benefits you. Some people say that competitive sports are not good because of cost, attitude and injury, Others say it prevents obesity, heart diseases, makes you healthier and happier. So is it good or bad.
There is a need for ethics and sportsmanship in athletic competition. It is evident that society places great value on competition and that those who coach and play serve as role models for those who aspire to be athletes themselves. However, today athletics, athletes, and athletic competition fail to consistently provide examples of ethical behavior and good sportsmanship. The behavior of athletes during competition becomes a reflection of the school and the coach.
Iliad, the epic poem is written by a great epic poet Homer. This poem is a classic in real terms and recounts some historic facts about the last ten years of Trojan war and the Greek siege city of Troy. Tracing back its history, Iliad is thought to be written back in 8th century B.C. and it is considered one of the earliest works in western literary tradition. It captures the scene of blood, abductions, murders, wrath of Achilles, revenge, anger and intervention of gods. The scene of warfare and blood are presented in the poem through oral tradition initially.