Except for time devoted to letters and music, the education of young men was solely conducted in the gymnasium, where provisions were made not only for physical pedagogy but for instruction in morals and ethics. Physical training and maintenance of health and strength were the chief parts of children's earlier education. Accordingly, the gymnasium became connected with education on the one hand and medicine on the other. This development arose through recognition by the Greeks of the strong relation between athletics, education and health.
The ancient Greek gymnasium soon became a place for more than exercise and training. The same purpose is frequently attributed to the tradition of oiling the body, a custom so costly that it required significant public and private subsidies (the practice was the largest expense in gymnasia). While the origins of physical exercise regimes cannot be pinpointed, the practice of exercising in the nude had its beginnings in the 7th century BC. Solon made several laws on the subject according to Galen these were reduced to a workable system of management in the time of Cleisthenes (late 6th century and early 5th century BC). The regulation of the Athenian gymnasium is attributed by Pausanias (i. A victory in the great religious festivals was counted an honour for the whole state. Training of competitors for the greater contests was a huge matter of public concern and special buildings were provided by the state for such use, with management entrusted to public officials. The victor in religious athletic contests, though he gained no material prize other than a wreath, was rewarded with the honour and respect of his fellow citizens.
The free and active Greek lifestyle (spent to a great extent in the open air) reinforced the attachment to such sports and after a period of time the contests became a prominent element in Greek culture. The contests took place in honour of heroes and gods, sometimes forming part of a periodic festival or the funeral rites of a deceased chief. The athletic contests for which the gymnasium supplied the means of training and competition formed part of the social and spiritual life of the Greeks from very early on.
The original iterations of gymnasia were large open areas at city outskirts, not enclosed structures. The palaestra was the part of the gymnasium devoted to wrestling, boxing and ball games.Ī hermaic sculpture of an old man, thought to be the master of a gymnasium. The English noun gymnast, first recorded in 1594, is formed from the Greek γυμναστής ( gymnastēs), but in Greek this word means " trainer" not " athlete". Historically, the gymnasium was used for exercise, communal bathing, and scholarly and philosophical pursuits. The verb had this meaning because one undressed for exercise. "bodily exercises" and generally "school", which in turn is derived from the common Greek adjective γυμνός ( gymnos) meaning "naked", by way of the related verb γυμνάζω ( gymnazo), whose meaning is "to train naked", "train in gymnastic exercise", generally "to train, to exercise".
The word gymnasium is the latinisation of the Greek noun γυμνάσιον ( gymnasion), "gymnastic school", in pl.