Search

Le cerceau et la petite balle sont à la fois des jeux et des sports d’origine grecque mais qui furent pratiqués dans l’empire gréco-romain. Antylle, un médecin grec pneumatique de l’époque impériale dont les textes sont principalement préservés dans les Collections médicales d›Oribase, a consacré un chapitre à chacun de ces jeux dans son traité Sur les remèdes. Ces passages peu connus et peu exploités donnent le point de vue d’un médecin sur ces sports. Dans le cas du cerceau, le témoignage d’Antylle gagne à être confronté avec les documents iconographiques qui représentent le jeu du cerceau, tandis que pour la petite balle, le texte du médecin pneumatique peut être mis en relation avec le traité contemporain de Galien Sur l’exercice de la petite balle. L’étude de ces deux chapitres permet ainsi de préciser les enjeux historiques et sociologiques de ces deux activités sportives. Elle permet aussi de questionner les règles de ces jeux oubliés. Elle vise enfin à montrer les vertus médicales et les bienfaits sur le corps et sur l’âme que les médecins assignent à ces deux activités. Hoop and small ball are both games and sports that have a Greek origin, but were still practiced in the Graeco-Roman empire. Antyllus, a Pneumatist physician of the imperial age whose texts were preserved by Oribasius in his Medical Collections, devoted one chapter on each game in his book On remedies. These passages, relatively unknown and unexploited, give the point of view of a physician on these sports. As far as the hoop is concerned, Antyllus’ testimony can be compared with iconographic documents which pictured the hoop game. For the ball game, the chapter of the Pneumatist physician can be considered in the light of a contemporary treatise by Galen, The exercise with the small ball. By studying Antyllus’ chapters together with these other evidence, the historical and sociological background of both sport activities can be pointed out as well as the rules of these forgotten games. This paper also aims to show the medical values and the benefits on both body and mind attributed by the physicians to these activities.

International audience; Ancient hoops, usually made of wood or metal, do not survive archaeologically, but literary and iconographic representations provide information regarding the materials used, ergonomics, as well as their symbolic and cultural values. Hoops were intimately associated with youth, especially male, and this paper aims at expanding the understanding of their collective, social and religious dimensions for boys and young men. In ancient Greece, the hoop was used in physical training at the palaestra and in the gymnasium. In Rome, it was associated with an idealized image of Greek athleticism and used in public spaces, such as the Campus Martius. These hoop based activities demonstrate the porosity of the boundaries between entertainment, performance, sport, and competition. The symbolic association of the hoop toy with the life passages of young men is expressed by metaphorical images. In Greek iconography, the hoop is the attribute of Ganymede, abducted by Zeus on Olympus, eternally young among the gods. The image of a mortal player in a funerary context thus transmits the hope of a form of immortality in a blessed afterlife. In Roman pictures, the hoop is transformed into the wheel of Tuchē, as a symbol of fate, or takes a cosmic dimension in the form of the zodiacal ring.

International audience