Books, Arts & Manners: Bad Sport

JOHN Stuart Mill once wrote that the most important battle, as far as the English world was concerned, took place not at Hastings in 1066 but at Marathon in 490 b.c. Although I may be prejudiced, I agree with JSM that the battle of Marathon was all-important because that is where the forces of light, logic, and civilization turned back the forces of darkness and barbarism. The forces of light were, naturally, the ten thousand Athenians under Miltiades. The black hats were the thirty thousand Persians. Once the Athenians had made mincemeat of their opponents, Miltiades ordered his best runner, Pheidippides, to Athens. An anxious populace was waiting for news. In case of a Persian victory, the city would be burned and the populace would head for the hills. Pheidippides did not jog that day. He ran full tilt, and dropped dead as he entered the city gates and pronounced victory.

I’m not sure the marathon ever became part of the ancient Olympic games. Nor am I certain it was Pheidippides who did the running. After all, he was a general, and generals usually send soldiers to perform such tasks. What I am sure of is that Pheidippides’ devotion to duty was commemorated by the modern Olympic fathers, as well it should be. Sport at the turn of this century was not exactly conducted in the spirit of today. Cheating nowadays is viewed as outsmarting one’s opponent. In the good old days, when manners meant more than money, sportsmen were taught the glorification of the ancient Greek ideal, which is a general, harmonious expansion of all the powers that make the beauty and worth of human nature.

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JOHN Stuart Mill once wrote that the most important battle, as far as the English world was concerned, took place not at Hastings in 1066 but at Marathon in 490 b.c. Although I may be prejudiced, I agree with JSM that the battle of Marathon was all-important because that is where the forces of light, logic, and civilization turned back the forces of darkness and barbarism. The forces of light were, naturally, the ten thousand Athenians under Miltiades. The black hats were the thirty thousand Persians. Once the Athenians had made mincemeat of their opponents, Miltiades ordered his best runner, Pheidippides, to Athens. An anxious populace was waiting for news. In case of a Persian victory, the city would be burned and the populace would head for the hills. Pheidippides did not jog that day. He ran full tilt, and dropped dead as he entered the city gates and pronounced victory.

I’m not sure the marathon ever became part of the ancient Olympic games. Nor am I certain it was Pheidippides who did the running. After all, he was a general, and generals usually send soldiers to perform such tasks. What I am sure of is that Pheidippides’ devotion to duty was commemorated by the modern Olympic fathers, as well it should be. Sport at the turn of this century was not exactly conducted in the spirit of today. Cheating nowadays is viewed as outsmarting one’s opponent. In the good old days, when manners meant more than money, sportsmen were taught the glorification of the ancient Greek ideal, which is a general, harmonious expansion of all the powers that make the beauty and worth of human nature.