Sex in Ancient Greece
The Nudity of Greek Athletes

It is often speculated about why Greek athletes competed in the nude. Was their nudity because one could run faster when covered only in oil or was it a tradition perpetuating an initiation rite? Was this practice a protection against harm or merely a declaration of power and energy (Golden 68)? Perhaps their nudity is proof of what Eva Keuls calls “male genital narcissism” (Keuls 67). Whatever the reason, the nakedness of the competing athletes gave the Greek gymnasium its very name as the Greek word gymnos means nude.

Naturally, this nudity must have been conducive in enhancing sexual desire and activities. The ancient Greeks held the beauty of male body in high regard and the athletic games were wonderful occasions to “delight at the sight of a body in good shape.” The poet Simonides admits that the next best thing to being healthy is to be “handsome.” The atmosphere at the gymnasium would have been erotically charged. The gymnasium was the place where male bonding happened in the most comprehensive sense. It was there where older men would initiate the adolescent boys in the purest of love relationships. Older, wiser men would mentor young, evenly oiled athletes into the secrets of love.

Unmarried women could attend the Olympic Games and unmarried girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen, called parthenois, could even participate in foot-races (Paus.5.16.2-4). Delphi, Corinth, Nemea and especially Sparta were more liberal than Athens in regards to women's athletic training and competitions as Spartan girls were trained side by side with the boys. According to Propertius, there was a “gymnasium for virgins where the girls may be admired quite naked as they wrestle amongst the men”. This custom facilitated finding husbands and the training helped them to become physically strong mothers who would later give birth to strong, healthy babies (Golden 122).