Episkyros

Dating around 2000-800 BCE, The Greeks developed a kicking & throwing ball game called Episkyros (also referred to as Phaininda). This fast paced sport was played by both Greek men and women (a rarity for its time) in the morning for entertainment and conditioning. Regardless of gender, the game was played in the nude, a tradition of Greek society to show of the physical prowess of there athletes. The game was played with a ball called the follis, and consisted of a rectangular court with a line through the middle of it. It was a physical and rigorous sport consisting of two teams of around 12. Though the victory conditions are not positive, many speculate that the purpose was to retain possession of the ball on your side of the field. Episkyros would become the foundations for the later Roman game of Harpastum.

This marble relief found in Athens shows a Grecian Athlete

balancing a follis on his leg. He is believed to be training a young boy the techniques of Episkyros, though no hard

evidence has been found. This relief is found on the modern European Cup trophy in soccer.

Rules

History

Episkyros came from the early Greek civilization (most likely named from the Grecian island of Skyros [right]). The exact date of the sport is unofficial though there are accounts of it dating anywhere between 2000 to 800 BCE. While there is much evidence to ball games like Episkyros in Grecian time there tends to be an overall lack of information and detail on them. The beginning developments of the sport came with the finding of the new ball. While the follis (inflated bladder) was most commonly used, balls such as ones made with linen and hair wrapped together, chopping sponges and stringing them together, or with a small harder ball called a paganica. The Roman equivalent of Harpastum used a relatively smaller and harder ball. The use of a court would be the next trend in Grecian games, especially in ball sports. While the game could be held inside, it would typically be played in the open air, often in a dirt field. The lines were carved out with a chip of stone called a skyros. It would be these basic developments that would first form the games of Episkyros and Harpastum, eventually leading to what is modern day rugby and soccer. The game grew in popularity over time both as a form of entertainment and sport but even more so as a method of conditioning for the armies. It became popular as a way of physical conditioning for the Grecian armies. The sport was played exceptionally in Sparta, where athleticism and physical stature were of most importance. Episkyros lasted through the fall of the Greek Empire into the rise of the Roman. It would become the above mentioned game of Harpastum, a Roman adaptation of the Greek game. Harpastum means "the small ball game", and was played similarly to Episkyros, with less use of the feet. Emperor Julius Caesar is noted playing Harpastum and using it to condition his soldiers much as the Greeks had done. It is even speculated that the Romans took the game to the British Isles, though is doubted to having much of a connection to the development of English Mob Football.

WHY WHERE BALL GAMES NEVER HELD IN THE OLYMPICS?

The primary reason for ball games lack of notice in ancient days lays right in how Greece viewed sports. The Grecian people were focused on personal performance rather than team work, and integral element of almost all ball games. Episkyros could be seen as the modern equivalent of school yard football for young boys and girls. It was simply a sport of fun and conditioning for bigger games or purposes. It would even be called by the name Ephebike, rooted from the Greek word for "adolescent". It is by no surprise then that games made for the Gods, like the Olympics, did not include a ball sport such as Episkyros.

ARCHITECTURE

The court itself would play a monumental roll in the Grecian ball games, much including Episkyros. These ball games would be played either in a room (sfairisterion) or on a field (sfairodromion). Eventually the playing field would become a "palaistra" (palaestra), a more popular place of play that would also be adapted as a wrestling field. Athletics became an area of interest for the Greeks in a way of achieving the perfect body, a thing of beauty that often is reflected in Grecian architecture. The main structures of the Greek sports world were the palaestra, gymnasium (area of practice and indoor sports, often including showers and changing rooms), and the stadium (place holding the main event). While Episkyros would almost never hold a place in the stadium, it was often played in or outside the gymnasium. This was a place of practice and fun in preparation for the main events, including the Olympics, to be held in the stadium. The Greek gymnasium consisted of large open and pillared areas for different courts and fields, baths, a palaestra, etc. All athletes competed and practiced in the nude. Episkyros was a sport of the gymnasium, never allowed to see the light of the glorious crowds of the stadium.

WRITINGS ON HARPASTUM & EPISKYROS

"Harpastum, which used to be called Phaininda, is the game I like most of all. Great are the exertion and fatigue attendant upon contests of ball-playing, and violent twisting and turning of the neck. Hence Antiphanes, "Damn it, what a pain in the neck I've got." He describes the game thus: "He seized the ball and passed it to a team-mate while dodging another and laughing. He pushed it out of the way of another. Another fellow player he raised to his feet. All the while the crowd resounded with shouts of Out of bounds, Too far, Right beside him, Over his head, On the ground, Up in the air, Too short, Pass it back in the scrum."

- Athenaeus

A youth I saw was playing ball,

Seventeen years of age and tall;

From Cos he came, and well I know

The Gods look kindly on that spot.

For when he took the, ball or threw it,

So pleased were all of us to view it,

We all cried out; so great his grace,

Such frank good humour in his face,

That every time he spoke or moved,

All felt as if that youth they loved.

Sure never before had these eyes seen,

Nor ever since, so fair a mien

Had I stayed long most sad my plight

Had been to lose my wits outright,

And even now the recollection

Disturbs my senses’ calm reflection.

- Damoxenus

"And now the illustrious Filimatius sturdily flung himself into the squadrons of the players, like Virgil's hero, 'daring to set his hand to the task of youth'; he had been a splendid player himself in his youth. But over and over again, he was forced from his position among the stationary players by the shock of some runner from the middle, and driven into the midfield, where the ball flew past him, or was thrown over his head; and he failed to intercept or parry it. More than once he fell prone, and had to pick himself up from such collapses as best he could; naturally he was the first to withdraw from the stress of the game."

- Sidonius Apollinaris

"better than wrestling or running because it exercises every part of the body, takes up little time, and costs nothing."; it was "profitable training in strategy", and could be "played with varying degrees of strenuousness." Galen adds, "When, for example, people face each other, vigorously attempting to prevent each other from taking the space between, this exercise is a very heavy, vigorous one, involving much use of the hold by the neck, and many wrestling holds."

- Galen

Game Design Elements

Episkyros, much like all other sports, is a finite game. It has an objective, a victory condition, and local objectives (often in the plays ensued and strategies to maintain possession). The victory condition is an important element in Greek sport, as they wanted to award the best to please the Gods. Episkyros also has rule sets to help shape the action of play. The Greeks changed the way the ball game was played by limiting all physical contact and tackling to just the man with possession. This limitation would force players to resort to wittier and mischievous ways to obtain the ball instead of just brute force (though this still was often the case). It also used the playing field (field of action), an important element of game design. Although the field was archaic in modern terms, it served just the purpose for ball games such as Episkyros. The game is also more abstract in the sense that it does not represent battles, or events in history as many of the Roman Gladiator games would. Episkyros was simply a game of wit, physicality, and play.

As far as players, Episkyros is very much an explicit game, in where the players know a pre-set of rules/ideas. With that in mind though, the game is very asymmetric in the fact that how the player approaches the game will change both the play and the outcome. A defensive strategy will open a whole selection of skill sets that will not be used against a team playing and offensive strategy, etc. Episkyros employs a number of objective mechanics. It uses elements of traversal (movement of ball across field and mid line), restriction (rule against tackling and players on field), and occupation (desire to keep ball in possession) in terms of space in game play. The movement of the game is most like open field, all though timing takes an element if refs and penalties are brought into play (which often they weren't). There is even the use of position in how players set up plays during the game. It is these complex elements that are still seen in modern games that make up Episkyros, and most ancient ball games.

Art