intelligence from Arcadian deserters about the status of Greek military preparedness. What happens then illustrates how deeply embedded in Greek culture was the relationship between philosophy, history, and the importance of athleticism.
[H]e was told in reply that the Greeks were celebrating the Olympic festival, where they were watching athletic contests and chariot-races. When he asked what the prize was for which they contended, the Arcadians mentioned the wreath of olive-leaves which it is our custom to give . . . [and] when he learned that the prize was not money but a wreath, he could not help crying out in front of everybody, "Good heavens . . . what kind of men are these that you have brought us to fight against--men who compete with one another for no material reward, but only for honour!" (Herodotus 532).
The Greeks' behavior is especially noteworthy for the fact that it occurred in the wake of the (costly) Persian defeat of the Greeks at the pass of Thermopylae. The point is that a statement about Western culture, ethos, and identity is being made when competitive recreation can supplant military alert or the experience of military defeat.
Plutarch's biographical account of Alexander the Great refers to his indifference "to the whole tribe of athletes" and says that Alexander, who, to be sure, was preoccupied rather with conquering the world, "never was interested in offering prize for boxing or wrestlin
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