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Athletics in Ancient Greek and Roman Art played a major role in the development of how both cultures portrayed their athletics. The Greeks enjoyed the struggle of man against man, and to see which man would win. In Greek athletics there was no second place simply a winner or looser. Greeks of course have had the Olympics, and Romans built great coliseums to have chariot races and other sporting events in them. Artists valued these athletes and the athletic events they participated in that they sculpted statues of the athletes and related figures. The statues sculptors crafted of athletes were often similar to the statues of the Gods or heroes that were created. In some instances "Greek athletes could start to think that they were not just like heroes, but were really heroes endowed with superhuman strength"(1) A couple examples which are amusing are the examples of Milo and Polydamas. Milo was a wrestler that died trying to tear a tree trunk apart. Polydamas was crushed when he tried to hold up a collapsing mountain. Both are examples of athletes thinking they were heroes or Gods and their statues helped contribute to this way of thinking.

Some of the items I have discovered are wonderful pieces of work. From the Greek I found the Diskobolos or (discus thrower) by Myron and Apoxyomenus or (The Scraper) by Lyssippos. I will also talk about another statue of a seated boxer from 100-50 b.c. The Romans loved to do things on a great scale. The Coliseum and the Circus Maximus are two of the grandest pieces of architecture they did. These massive arenas held large sporting events, which included chariot races and the famous gladiator fights. I will discuss the coliseum in general and also briefly mention a funerary relief I found from Ostia A.D. 110-130 of a circus official riding in a chariot race.
The Discus Thrower was made by a Greek sculptor named Myron circa 460 BC. Myron worked mainly in bronze, and although he did do some sculpture of gods and heroes, most of his work was of athletes. In sculpting his athletic works Myron made great strides in advancing sculpture. He introduced bolder poses and greater rhythm. He was considered a master of Rythmos. This means he was more rhythmic in his art. The Discus Thrower shows the extreme limits of an athlete. His arm is all the way back and the farthest point just before he releases his discus. His stomach muscles are tensed and the leg muscles are also tensed. The head is looking back at the discus and the face is calm

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