Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/365

 GYMNASTICS 351 lyceum, where Aristotle taught; and the cynosarges. A gymnasium is described by Vitruvius, which is believed to have been at Naples, and which illustrates the general con- struction of gymnasia in Greece and Italy. It consisted of four porticos placed in a square 1,200 ft. in circumference ; three of them ar- ranged with seats for philosophical and rhetori- cal conversation, while the fourth, a double portico, contained a large hall in the centre .and rooms for the bath, anointing, and other purposes. In the winter gymnastic exercises were carried on in the shelter of the portico, And there were also sheltered and covered walks for study. The laws of Solon regulated the use of the gymnasium with great strictness, and a gymnasiarch or governor of the gymna- sium was appointed with power to remove any teacher, philosopher, or sophist whom he thought injurious to the youth. The teacher of gymnastics was expected to know the phys- iological effect of the different exercises, and to assign to each pupil such as were suitable for him. The gymnasia were dedicated to Apollo, the god of physicians, because of their relation to health and disease. In Germany the gymnasia occupy a middle place between elementary schools and the universities. The sics, mathematics, physics, and German lit- iture are taught in them. iTMNASTICS (Gr. -yv/nvaariK^ gymnastic art), tern of exercises which develop and in- >rate the body, particularly the muscular 3m. If properly directed, gymnastics will enlarge and strengthen the various muscles of the trunk, neck, arms, and legs, will expand the chest so as to facilitate the play of the lungs, will render the joints supple, and will impart to the person grace, ease, and steadi- ness of carriage, combined with strength, elas- ticity, and quickness of movement ; but an in- judicious mode of exercise will frequently con- firm and aggravate those physical imperfections for which a remedy is sought, by developing the muscular system unequally. Though ath- letic feats were at first performed by each in- dividual according to his own notions, and were encouraged among the youth as com- bining amusement with exercise, they were at length reduced to a system, which in Greece formed a prominent feature in the state regu- lations for education; and as the nature of the warlike weapons rendered the develop- ment of physical force a subject of the highest military importance, athletic sports were con- tinued during manhood. Public games were also consecrated to the gods, and were con- ducted with the greatest ceremony. The ear- liest mention we can find of gymnastic sports is in Homer's Iliad, book ii., where the Greeks are described as contending at javelin throw- ing and quoits ; and again in book xxiii., when Achilles instituted games in honor of Patro- clus, and distributed prizes to the victors for boxing, wrestling, throwing the quoit, char- iot racing, &c. Plato tells us that just before 383 VOL. vm. 23 the time of Hippocrates gymnastics were made a part of medical study, as being suitable to counteract the effects of indolence and luxu- rious feeding, and that at length they became a state matter, reduced to a system and super- intended by state officers. The first public gymnasia were built by the Lacedaemonians. These were imitated at Athens ; where, in the walks belonging to one of them called the Academia, Plato instructed his pupils, and in another, named the Lyceum, Aristotle taught. At Athens a chief officer (yvfivaaiapxye) super- intended the whole establishment ; the j-wrr&p- xm superintended only the most athletic exer- cises; medical officers were in attendance, whose duty it was to prescribe the kind and extent of the exercise ; the natSoTpipw assisted and instructed the pupils, who commenced with easy exercises, from which they were gradually advanced to the more violent, till they reached the highest degree of agility and strength. Baths were attached to the gym- nasia ; the system most recommended was to take first a hot bath, and then to plunge imme- diately into cold water. Plato and Aristotle considered that no republic could be deem- ed perfect in which gymnasia, as part of the national establishments, were neglected. The Spartans were the most rigid in exacting for the youth a gymnastic training ; even the girls were expected to be good gymnasts, and no young woman could be married till she had publicly exhibited her proficiency in various exercises. Honorable rewards and civic dis- tinctions were publicly bestowed on the vic- tors in the games; the rewards were styled d$la, wherefore those who contended for them were termed <z0/l^rat, or athletes. The exercises for the pupils in the gymnasia consisted of a sort of tumbling, and war dances; running, much recommended for both sexes; leaping, and sometimes springing from the knees having weights attached to the body; retaining the equilibrium while jumping on slippery skins full of wine, the feet being naked; wrestling for the throw, or to keep the other undermost after the throw ; boxing, confined nearly exclu- sively to the military and athletes. The boxer either held the hands open, or he clenched brazen or stone spheres, or wore the ccestus or leathern band studded with metal knobs bound round his hands and wrists ; there was also a mixed practice of boxing and wrestling called TrayKpartov. The pitching of the quoit was much practised ; a variation of the quoit was found in the dfofipef, not unlike a dumb-bell, which was thrown by one to another, who caught it and then pitched it to a third, and so on ; it was also adopted in extension motions, and was held in the hand with the arm ex- tended. Javelin throwing was practised by both sexes; also throwing the bar. Riding, ^ driving, swimming, rowing, swinging, climb-' ing ropes, standing erect for a long time in one position, holding the breath, shouting, shooting the arrow, &c., were also taught.