http://thesyndrome.com News and Politics from a Progressive Perspective Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:58:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 en http://www.archaeology.eu.com/weblog/2008_11_01_archaeologyeu_archive.html#5634028710970981793 http://www.archaeology.eu.com/weblog/2008_11_01_archaeologyeu_archive.html#5634028710970981793#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:51:00 +0000 admin tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185618.post-5634028710970981793 A Spartan princess Cynisca broke the mould by winning a four horse chariot race in 396 BCE. English classicist, Paul Cartledge, introduces us to Cynisca of Sparta and offers us an insight to why she can be considered the first Greek female Olympic winner.

Cynisca sounds like a childhood nickname, because it means (female) puppy (little bitch...!). But it almost certainly wasn't that, as we know of adult males called by the masculine equivalent, Cyniscus. Our Cynisca in any case was anything but puppyish in adult life; and she was no one_s poodle. Born at Sparta probably some time round about 440 BC, she became the first woman ever to win a victory in the Olympic Games, a feat which she repeated remarkably enough at the immediately succeeding Games. Yet unlike the male victors, she did not have to compete physically in person, as we shall see.

Read the rest of this article...]]> http://www.archaeology.eu.com/weblog/2008_11_01_archaeologyeu_archive.html#5634028710970981793/feed/ http://thesyndrome.com/2008/03/21/beijing-admits-tibet-violence-has-spread-into-china/ http://thesyndrome.com/2008/03/21/beijing-admits-tibet-violence-has-spread-into-china/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:33:42 +0000 admin http://thesyndrome.com/2008/03/21/beijing-admits-tibet-violence-has-spread-into-china/ http://thesyndrome.com/2008/03/21/beijing-admits-tibet-violence-has-spread-into-china/feed/