Agon and Homonoia: The Dynamics of Competition and Community in the Panhellenic Sanctuary

Abstract

<p>The aim of this thesis has been to explore agonism, and the relationship of individual and collective in Classical Greece, through the lens of athletic competition at the panhellenic sanctuaries. This study moves beyond the presumed dichotomy of <em>agon</em> and <em>homonoia </em>upon which the standard view of agonism in modern scholarship has been predicated to explore the ways in which agonism functions precisely within and is structured by <em>polis</em> society, even as the <em>polis</em> must negotiate constantly between the interests of collective and individual.</p> <p>The evidence of both athlete and <em>polis</em> commemorations of athletic victory suggests a dynamic tension between promoting the self and remaining, and identifying oneself as, a member of a community. When appropriately channeled into civic benefaction and mutual advantage, agonism enables the self-interest ofthe individual to function within and remain structured by the <em>polis</em>; when it is not channeled in this way, it creates conflict and <em>stasis</em>. Just as in the relationship of athlete and <em>polis</em>, so too the interaction of <em>poleis</em> with each other in the panhellenic sanctuary reveals a tension between the desires for self-promotion and membership in the collective. This creates for <em>poleis</em> an ambivalent dynamic of at once mutual striving and competitive distinction within a common landscape that brings local values, mythologies and heroes to the attention of a panheUenic audience.</p> <p>Rather than equating agonism strictly with conflict or commonality then, this study appreciates agonism as a fundamental aspect of Greek life that was both a product of and productive of rivalry and emulation at the level of athlete and <em>polis</em>, and <em>polis</em> and panhellenic community. The evidence of both athlete and <em>polis </em>monuments suggest that the realization of competition as peer rivalry and emulation allowed room for distinction as predicated on commonality and civic benefit, rather than individualism and egoism.</p>