Athletes in Asia Minor in Antiquity: Social Conditions, Professionalism and Cities

Abstract

Sports has been a part of human life since antiquity and since the appearance of national borders it has occupied a central position in the daily life together with the increase of rivalry both between societies and citizens within these societies. Being the winner of an interna-tional competition has become particularly important for all countries; that’s why countries strengthen themselves in the sports branches they fail by transferring sportsmen from underdeveloped countries . Elvan Abeylegesse, the Turkish athlete who won a silver medal in Beijing Olympics in 2008, constitutes a good example for this. Most countries which faced economic problems such as Argentina, Brazil and Italy used sports especially football as a means until they overcame their financial crisis so the way they play football has acquired a worldwide reputation. Even though some modern intellectuals despise football because of its tincture of opium, many young people who dream of becoming a professional footballer are eager to be given a chance and chase after their dreams. As for the football clubs, they want to render their teams stronger by transferring successful footballers from foreign countries. The foreign sportsmen who were thus transferred are warmly welcomed and showered with affection and love even to the extent that their statues are erected in public places. The statue of Alex de Souza, the Brazillian footballer, who was a former player in Fenerbahçe team, was erected in a park in Kadıköy by his fans and this is a fine example of the expression of gratitute. In paralel with these examples of the modern world this article focuses on the ancient sportsmen and the way they were viewed by the intellectuals of antiquity and discusses what the winnings meant both to the sportsmen and to their cities.

Keywords

• ports • Professionalism • Sportsmen and Cities • Privileges • Intellectualism

Antikçağda Küçük Asya’daki Sporcular: Sosyal Durumları, Profesyonellik ve Kentler

Abstract

Antikçağlardan itibaren insan hayatında yer alan spor, ulusal sınırların belirlenmeye başlandığı andan iti­baren gerek toplumlar arasında gerek­se toplum için­deki vatandaşlar arasında rekabetin artmasıyla gün­lük hayatın merkezine oturmuştur. Özellikle ulus­la­rarası yarışmalarda galibiyet almak tüm ülkeler için çok değer kazanmıştır; bundan dolayı ülke­le­rin başarılı olamadık­ları alanlarda az gelişmiş ülkelerden ken­di­lerine sporcu transfer ettikleri görül­mektedir; 2008 Pe­kin Olimpi­yatları’nda gümüş madal­ya kazanan atle­timiz Elvan Abeylegesse bunun için iyi bir örnek oluşturur. Arjan­tin, Brezilya ve İtalya gibi zamanında eko­nomik sorun­lar yaşayan çoğu ülke, kriz dönemle­rini aşana kadar sporu özellikle futbolu bir tür araç olarak kullan­mışlar; böylece futbolda dünya çapında yer edinmiş­lerdir. Bu afyon etkisi dolayısıyla bazı modern en­telektüeller futbolu küçümsese de fut­bolcu olma haya­lini taşıyan birçok genç bu hayali gerçekleş­tirme fırsa­tını yakalamak için çalışmaktadır. Futbol kulüpleri ise, yabancı ülkelerden iyi sporcuları transfer ederek takım­larını daha da güçlendirmeyi amaç­lar. Bu transferlerle gelen sporcular, ülkemizde de olduğu gibi, aşırı ilgi ve sevgi görmektedirler, öyle ki halkın görebi­leceği yerlere heykelleri bile dikilmektedir; tıpkı Fener­bahçe’nin eski futbolcusu Brezilyalı Alex de Souza’nın Kadıköy’de bir parka taraftarlar tarafından hey­ke­linin dikilmesi gibi. Tüm yayın organları da spo­run günlük gelişmelerine, galibiyetlere uzunca yer vermektedir. Bu makalede mo­dern dünyanın bu kı­sa örneklerine paralel olarak ya­zıtlar ışığında antikçağ sporcuları ve dönemin aydın­larının onlara ba­kış açısı ortaya konulmaya çalışıl­mış ve elde edilen galibiyetlerin kendilerine ve kent­le­rine ne ifade ettiği ile ilgili sorular tartışılmıştır.

Keywords

• Spor • Profesyonellik • Sporcular ve Kentler • İmtiyazlar • Entelektüellik

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