Tryphosa of Tralles and Delphi
In 45 AD Tryphosa of Tralles (a greek city in Asia Minor, near the actual Aydın, Turkey), a middle-distance runner (stadiadromos), daughter of Hermesianax was the first girl to successively win the stadion of the Pythian games under the presidency of Antigonos and Kleomachidas.
She won the same course of the Isthmian games under president Iuventius Proclus.
the Stadium of Delphi
Although athletic competitions for girls definitely existed in the Roman period, we find only rarely inscriptions for female athletes. At Delphi some fragments came to light in 1894 and were pieced together in 1909 by the Ecole Francaise d’Athenes, (Fouille de Delphes, no. 1823, Paris, 1929, ).
The inscription, thought to be from the first century A.D., inform us about Tryphosa and her sister Hedea. The later won the “race in armor” at the Isthmian Games, with Cornelius Pulcher as judge, and the single-course race at the Nemean Games with Antigonus. Hedea’s chariot won the chariot race course in Sicyon, with Menoites as judge, and she won the children’s lyre contest at the Augustan Games in Athens, with Nusius son of Philinus as judge.
Girls practicing sport. The “Bikini girls” mosaic, Villa del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy
In Ancient Greece and Rome male athletes were real professionals. Women in Ancient Greece were extremely discouraged to participate in sports and extreme laws were in effect to stop women from attending the Olympics. They could only take care of the expenses for the preparation of a chariot (for the chariot-race of the games). In Roman times athletics for girls – read rich girls – could be nothing more than a hobby, as long as they were unmarried.
support us - buy the map!
The reconstruction poster map of Delphi,
by the Archaeological Guide of Greece
Poster size: 85X56cm / 34X22in
Designed and produced for a convenient and handy use in site and at home, it will assist you to visualize the Sanctuary of Apollo, where theOracle of Delphi was, the Ancient Theater, the Stadion, the Gymnasion of Delphi and the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia.
price: 20€
