Acanthus the Lacedaemonian ( grc, Ἄκανθος
), was the victor in two footrace events, the
diaulos () and
dolichos (), in the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
of 720 BC. He was also, according to some accounts, the first who ran naked in these games. Other accounts ascribe this to
Orsippus Orsippus ( grc-gre, Ὄρσιππος) was a Greek runner from Megara who was famed as the first to run the footrace naked at the Olympic Games and "first of all Greeks to be crowned victor naked."Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may r ...
the Megarian.
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...
says that the
Lacedaemonian
Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...
s were the first who contended naked in gymnastic games, although he does not mention Acanthus by name.
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...
, i. 6.
References
Sources
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8th-century BC Spartans
Ancient Spartan athletes
Ancient Olympic competitors
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