Cynisca – The First Woman to Win the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece

 

 

At the time, 396 BC, the victory of Cynisca, a Spartan princess and according to Pausanius, ancient Greek travel writer, the first female champion of the ancient Olympic Games, was an unheard of achievement for a woman in ancient Greece, where women were expected to be neither seen nor heard.

Born in Sparta, Peloponnese, in 442 BC, Cynisca, took part in the Olympic Games of 396 BC and again in 392 BC, in the four horse chariot race, not as a driver but as a breeder and trainer of horses.

She won both times.

 

Ancient Greek Olympic Games

 

 

The ancient Olympic Games, almost entirely restricted to men, held in honour of Zeus and staged in Ancient Olympia, one of the most visited archeological sites of Greece, from 776 BC-393, began on the day (The day, in ancient Greece, began at sunset, not at midnight, as today) of the mysterious full moon of August and were held every four years.

The tradition still holds today, the modern Olympic Games are held in August, it is a matter of luck though, if the opening ceremony falls on the day of the full moon.

 

 

In Greek mythology, Selene, Titan Goddess of the moon, Selene paid nightly visits to her lover,  Endymion, in his cave on Mount Latmos, and eventually bore him fifty daughters, who represented the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad, or period of four years, marking the beginning of the Olympic Games.

 

 

 

Ancient Greek women were expected to be neither seen nor heard.

 

In ancient Greece, women were treated almost as slaves, had little or no education and were not to be seen or heard and rarely left the home and even then, only if accompanied by a man.

Ancient Greek girls were often married off, to a man chosen by their families, by the age of twelve; they were not allowed to own land or property, or handle large amounts of money and had no say in politics.

Fifth century Athenian women, may have lived in the city regarded as the cradle of western civilization, a city of cutting edge art and architecture but it was all for the men.

The women were expected to practice wise sophrosyne, enjoy a little cooking, a little cleaning and if they were lucky enough to have slaves, which meant spare time, this, they filled with a little sewing.

 

 

Pericles, (495 – 429 BC) Greek statesman and general of Athens is known to have thought it was shameful for women to be seen or talked about in public, ironic really, as he ended up having a long-term relationship with Aspasia, one of the most vivid figure in Athenian society, who was a rhetorician and philosopher (there also exist rumours that she was a brothel keeper and a courtesan).

Xenophon, an Athenian-born military leader, philosopher, and historian, recommended that women should stay indoors, live a sheltered existence and have as little education as possible.

Menander, (c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) Greek dramatist and comedian wrote:

 ‘Teach a woman letters! a serious mistake-like giving extra venom to a terrifying snake’

They do say, there is an exception to every rule and in ancient Greece, the exception to women being neither seen nor heard, was Sparta.

 

Women of Sparta

 

 

 

Sparta:  “the country of lovely women” Homer

If you were born a woman in ancient Greece, Sparta was the place to be, unlike their counterparts of Athens, Sparta, when it came to women, was positively radical.

Spartan women, some of the most unique women of ancient Greece, had more freedom and were usually better educated than women elsewhere in the ancient Greek world, the thought being, that an educated women would produce strong, intelligent children.

Outside of Sparta, they had a reputation for promiscuity and controlling their husbands and unlike Athenian women; Spartan women could legally own and inherit property.

 

The making of Spartan warriors

 

By the fifth century, Sparta, a militarist state, was the most powerful nation in all of Greece.

Soon after birth, male babies of Sparta, were bathed in wine and if they survived this, were taken to the elders, who decided if the child was strong enough to become a Spartan.

 If there were any visible defects, or the child looked weak, it was taken to mount Taygetos, and left to die, owing to this harsh custom, women far outnumbered men in ancient Sparta.

 

 

Children, until the age of seven were schooled at home, after that; they were educated by the state, the emphasis being on athletics and physical fitness.

To produce these future male warrior babies of Sparta, the women, who were physically outstanding and as dominant as any man in Spartan society, had an upbringing unparalleled to anywhere else in ancient Greece.

 They were fed the same food as the men, drank wine, were taught by the state, how to wrestle, how to dance, how to throw a javelin and to be every bit as competitive as boys.

 

 

The Spartan women were powerful in their own right; they could take on men in politics, in the streets and even in the sporting arena.

To men from outside of Sparta, the women here were objects of fear, Aristotle, (384–322 BC), Greek philosopher described ancient Sparta as a “Gynaikokratia”; a state run by women, and he didn’t mean it kindly!

 

Cynisca wins the day

 

 

 

Cynisca, whose name means “little puppy”, being a wealthy Spartan princess, would have perfected her equestrian expertise, through her daily habit of overseeing all the land she owned, on horseback, a sight unprecedented anywhere in the ancient world.

Cynisca, sporting legend, successful trainer and owner of a champion chariot team, at the age of around forty, proved herself to be as worthy as any man, when, at the Olympic Games of 396 BC, she employed male charioteers to drive the horses she trained (a man employed by a woman must have been unthinkable to the rest of Greece back then) and won the four-horse chariot race (tethrippon Greek: τέθριππον).

And, as if that was not enough proof, she did it all over again at the 392 BC Olympics, even men were astounded at her achievements.

On the grounds that “male only “rules applied at the ancient Greek Olympics, Cynisca’s victory wasn’t honoured at Olympia, she made sure though, that that the word would learn of her triumph by erecting a monument of herself at the heart of the Olympic sanctuary, with the following engraved on its base:

 

 

Ancient Greek;

Σπάρτας μὲν βασιλῆες ἐμοὶ :πατέρες καὶ ἀδελφοί, ἅρματι δ’ ὠκυπόδων ἵππων :νικῶσα Κυνίσκα εἰκόνα τάνδ’ ἔστασεν μόναν :δ’ ἐμέ φαμι γυναικῶν Ἑλλάδος ἐκ πάσας τόν[-] :δε λαβεν στέφανον. Ἀπελλέας Καλλικλέος ἐπόησε.

 

English translation:

“Kings of Sparta who are my father and brothers, I, Cynisca, victorious with a chariot of swift – footed horses, have erected this statue and declare I am the only woman in all of Greece to have won this crown. Apelleas son of Kallikles made it.”

 

After Cynisca set the pace, many other Greek women went on to achieve success in the sport of chariot racing, including Euryleonis, Belistiche, Zeuxo, Encrateia and Hermione, Timareta, Theodota, and Cassia.