Conspicuous Stigmatized Identities in the Ancient Olympics: Femininity, Slavery, and Physical Disability

Year 2024, , 69 - 87, 10.06.2024

Buket Aydemir Mustafa Yıldız

https://doi.org/10.53025/sportive.1440189

Abstract

This study discusses the exclusion of women, slaves, and physically disabled individuals from the ancient Olympics, focusing on Goffman's theory of stigma. It also delves into how kalokagathia influenced beauty, athleticism, and virtue, reinforced hierarchies and stigmatized those who did not fit the idealized image. Overall, the study provides a comprehensive exploration of how ancient Greek ideals and societal structures stigmatized certain groups based on gender, social status, and physical ability. Femininity, slavery, and physical disability were the conspicuous stigmatized identities of ancient Greek societies. In ancient Greece, the concept of kalokagathia, intertwining physical beauty with moral and intellectual excellence, formed the basis of societal standards. This ideal, however, was exclusive, applying only to free men of good heritage, while women, slaves, and the physically disabled faced stigmatization based on physiognomic reasoning and body temperature distinctions. The stigma was based on physical deviations from the able-bodied male standard. The physiognomic concept hidden behind the ideal of kalokagathia reproduced the stigma. Body temperature played a significant role in shaping discriminatory practices, associating warmth with virtues and deeming the male body superior. Women were considered inferior due to their colder bodies, and slaves were viewed as cold and incapable, reinforcing social hierarchies. Women and slaves were excluded from athletic ideals because of their non-normative body temperatures, while the physically disabled were excluded due to their ugly/deformed bodies. The ancient Olympics showcased able-bodied men displaying their athletic arete. Women's visibility in the ancient Greek Olympics was only representative. Restricted from participating in public athletic events, women were also subject to strict prohibitions on competition in the ancient Olympic Games. Only in the chariot races were exceptions made for unmarried women. While Kyniska emerged as the first female Olympic champion in 396 BCE, opportunities for representative participation in the Olympic Games were limited to women of wealth and status. Sport in ancient Greece served as a means of distinguishing between free citizens and slaves. Slaves, the anonymous figures of the ancient Olympics, could only participate in horse and chariot races on behalf of their owners. Although some local festivals allowed slave participation in athletic activities, major events like the Olympic Games prohibited direct competition for slaves, emphasizing their exclusion. This stigma-based athletic exclusion made it impossible for slaves to represent themselves as competitors in the ancient Olympics. The physically disabled, on the other hand, were completely deprived of the opportunity to compete in the ancient Olympics; they could compete neither representatively nor anonymously. Discriminatory practices against the physically disabled, embedded in social structures reinforced by philosophical ideals, myths, religious stereotypes and sacrificial rituals, resulted in them remaining completely absent from the ancient Olympics.

Keywords

Ancient Olympics, Stigma, Kalokagathia, Femininity, Slavery, Physical Disability

Antik Olimpiyatlar’da Görünür Damgalanmış Kimlikler: Kadınlık, Kölelik ve Bedensel Engellilik

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Goffman'ın damgalama teorisine odaklanarak kadınların, kölelerin ve bedensel engelli bireylerin antik Olympiyat Oyunları’ndan dışlanmalarını tartışmaktadır. Ayrıca kalokagathia idealinin güzellik, atletizm ve erdem algısını nasıl etkilediğini, hiyerarşileri nasıl güçlendirdiğini ve idealize edilen imaja uymayanları damgalamayı nasıl sağladığını incelemektedir. Genel olarak bu çalışma, antik Yunan ideallerinin ve toplumsal yapılarının cinsiyet, sosyal statü ve bedensel yetenek temelinde belirli grupları nasıl damgaladığına dair kapsamlı bir inceleme sunmaktadır. Kadınlık, kölelik ve bedensel engellilik, antik Yunan toplumlarının göze çarpan damgalanmış kimlikleri olmuştur. Antik Yunan'da bedensel güzelliği ahlaki ve entelektüel mükemmellik ile bütünleştiren bir ideal olan kalokagathia, toplumsal standartların temelini oluşturmuştur. Ancak bu ideal, yalnızca iyi bir soydan gelen özgür erkeklere uygulanarak dışlayıcı bir nitelik taşımakta; öte yandan kadınlar, köleler ve fiziksel engelliler fizyonomik gerekçeler ve vücut ısısı ayrımlarına dayalı damgalamalarla karşı karşıya kalmaktaydı. Damgalama, sağlam bedenli erkek standardından fiziksel sapmalara dayanmaktaydı. Kalokagathia idealinin ardında gizlenen fizyonomik kavram damgalamayı yeniden üretmişti. Vücut ısısı, ayrımcı uygulamaların şekillenmesinde önemli bir rol oynamış; sıcaklık erdemlerle ilişkilendirilmiş ve erkek bedeni üstün sayılmıştı. Kadınlar daha soğuk bedenleri nedeniyle aşağı görülmüş, köleler ise soğuk ve aciz olarak değerlendirilerek toplumsal hiyerarşiler pekiştirilmişti. Kadınlar ve köleler normatif olmayan vücut sıcaklıkları nedeniyle atletik ideallerden dışlanırken, bedensel engelliler de çirkin ve deforme olmuş bedenleri nedeniyle dışlanmıştı. Çünkü Antik Olimpiyatlar yalnızca atletik yeteneklerini ortaya koyan sağlam bedene sahip erkekleri sergilemekteydi. Antik Yunan Olimpiyatları’nda kadınların görünürlüğü sadece temsili düzeydeydi. Halka açık atletik etkinliklere katılmaları kısıtlanan kadınlar, antik Olimpiyat Oyunları’nda da katı yarışma yasaklarına tabiydi. Sadece atlı araba yarışlarında evli olmayan kadınlar için birtakım istisnalar söz konusuydu. Kyniska, milattan önce 396 yılında ilk kadın Olimpiyat şampiyonu olarak tarihe geçse de, kadınların Olimpiyat Oyunları’na temsili katılım olanakları varlıklı ve statü sahibi olanlarla sınırlı olmuştu. Antik Yunan'da spor, özgür vatandaşlar ile köleler arasında bir ayrım aracı olarak hizmet etmekteydi. Antik Olimpiyatlar’ın anonim figürleri olan köleler, sadece sahipleri adına at ve araba yarışlarına katılabilmekteydi. Bazı yerel festivaller kölelerin atletik etkinliklere katılmasına izin vermiş olsa da, Olimpiyat Oyunları gibi büyük etkinlikler kölelerin doğrudan yarışmalarını yasaklayarak dışlanmışlıklarını vurgulamıştı. Bu damgalamaya dayalı atletik dışlanma, kölelerin kendilerini antik Olimpiyatlar’da yarışmacı olarak temsil etmelerini imkânsız hale getirmekteydi. Öte yandan bedensel engelliler antik Olimpiyatlar’da yarışma fırsatından tamamen mahrum bırakılmışlardı; ne temsili ne de anonim olarak yarışabilme olanağına sahiptiler. Çünkü antik Yunan toplumlarına özgü felsefi idealler, mitler, dini kalıp yargılar ve kurban ritüelleriyle pekiştirilen toplumsal yapılara gömülü olan bedensel engellilere yönelik ayrımcı uygulamalar, bedensel engellilerin antik Olimpiyatlardan tamamen dışlanmalarına yol açmaktaydı.

Keywords

Antik Olimpiyatlar, Damga, Kalokagathia, Kadınlık, Kölelik

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