“Rhodian princess, how did you enter? / It is an ancient custom here to expel women from here.” / “I have a nephew, Eucleos, / three brothers, son, father, Olympic athletes; / you must let me, Hellanodikai, / and to behold the beautiful / bodies, where is the field of Heracles? / They are fighting men, magnificent souls. / I am not like other women; / over time, my sun will be imagined / with the inexhaustible privilege of virility. / He glorifies it in written form / on a shining marble floor.” / “Golden Hymn, of the immortal Pindar.”

The author of this sonnet was Lorentsos Mavilēs, a Greek politician from Ithaca who lived between the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, alternating his participation in several wars with the creation of chess problems and poetry.

In this case, the verses are dedicated to a woman who sneaked in disguised as a man among the trainers at the palestra of Olympia to see her son compete in the pankration and, when he won, ran to congratulate him so enthusiastically that she lost her clothes in the run, revealing her sex, which led to the rule that trainers should attend naked, like the athletes. Her name was Kallipateira, also known as Pherenike of Rhodes.

She was not just any woman but of royal blood, which undoubtedly influenced the fact that she was not sentenced to death for her imposture, as was customary, along with the fact that she was the mother, sister, and daughter of Olympic champions. She was born around 396 BC in Ialysos (modern Trianda or Ialisos), one of the three cities on the island of Rhodes, her father being King Diagoras, and her grandparents Damagetus and Aristomenes of Messenia. Diagoras was not only the monarch but also a multi-champion in the four great Panhellenic sporting games of antiquity, namely the Olympic, Nemean, Isthmian, and Pythian Games.

Ruins of the palestra of Olympia, the venue for the pankration where Kallipateira sneaked in
Ruins of the palestra of Olympia, the venue for the pankration where Kallipateira sneaked in. Credit: Kosmas Karachles / Wikimedia Commons

Diagoras’ specialty was pugilism (ancient boxing), in which he won twice in Olympia, twice in Nemea, four times at the Isthmus of Corinth, and at least once in Delphi, the venues of the aforementioned games, earning the title of periodonikes; it is no surprise that today there is a soccer club named after him (apart from the Rhodes airport) and that the famous poet Pindar dedicated to him the seventh of his Olympian Odes:

Lord, cover with glory / he who won the great victory / in Olympia, brave boxer.
Esteem and reverence / among his own and foreign people / give him your omnipotence; / He who follows the path opposed to arrogance, / Energetic and modest, / and the rare examples / always his norms are, O Muse! Do not forget / that the good Kallianax, / famous in combat, / is his grandson, and of the noble Eratidae. / Rhodes is in celebration. Let its joy / not be disturbed by a fickle wind.

Diagoras of Rhodes fathered a family of champion athletes. Besides teaching them the same sporting and virtuous behavior he had shown in competition, he personally trained his three sons, whom he named Damagetos, Akousilaos, and Dorieus. They all became Olympic champions in different specialties (pankration and pugilism), and several times, so they were immortalized in sculpture alongside their father.

In one of their Olympic victories, they paid tribute to their father by carrying him on their shoulders before the cheers of the spectators, one of whom shouted: You can die now, Diagoras, for do not expect to ascend to Olympus! And, indeed, the elderly Diagoras passed away at that moment, satisfied.

But Diagoras also had a daughter, Kallipateira (or Pherenike), whom he trained from childhood just like her brothers. This was not usual in Ancient Greece except in Sparta… and in Rhodes, which had politically approached the former after disassociating itself from the Delian League, and where the sporting tradition had produced great champions; there were even several dynasties—wealthy ones, of course—that were particularly outstanding in this regard.

However, practicing was one thing and being able to participate was another, something forbidden except in the Herean Games, specifically for women, although they were allowed to do so as trainers, as we saw in the article dedicated to the Spartan Cynisca.

Modern statue of Diagoras in Rhodes
Modern statue of Diagoras in Rhodes. Credit: Notafly2 / Wikimedia Commons

Therefore, Kallipateira must have led the usual life of any other woman of her time. Although we are unaware of the details of her biography, we know she married another victorious athlete, Callianax, and they had two sons, Pisidorus and Euclees, who continued the family tradition.

Pindar says that Euclees (whom he calls Euclon) was not a son but a nephew; in any case, he was such a good boxer that a statue was erected for him in Olympia, commissioned to two of the most important sculptors of the time, Naucydes and the famous Polyclitus. As for Pisidorus, he was not yet an adult when his mother presented him at the Olympic Games in a children’s pankration event around 404 B.C.

By then, Kallipateira was already a widow, and not wanting to miss her son’s participation, she went to the palestra (the venue for wrestling competitions) disguised in a male tunic and took a seat in the area designated for trainers. That constituted a serious crime, at least for married women, punishable by death; the sentence was carried out by throwing the guilty party off the same spot where criminals were generally executed: the cliffs of Typaeon, a rocky hill near Makrisia and Scillus (where there was also a sacred spring fed by the Alpheus River), cities in the region of Elis, in the northwest part of the Peloponnese.

That elevation is identified today with a hill that locals call Arnokataracho, although Kallipateira hoped not to have to suffer the dire experience of falling from there. However, Pisidorus emerged victorious in the pankration, and his mother was so excited that she jumped from the stands to run in his direction and hug him, as other enthusiastic spectators were doing. Unfortunately for her, when she jumped over the barrier her tunic got caught, and she lost it, thus losing her disguise and revealing her true sex.

Plan of Olympia. The Temple of Zeus is the orange building in the center, and there were dozens of statues of champions around it. The palestra is the square yellow building on the left, number 21
Plan of Olympia. The Temple of Zeus is the orange building in the center, and there were dozens of statues of champions around it. The palestra is the square yellow building on the left, number 21. Credit: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

One can imagine the commotion that erupted among the entirely male audience when they realized the deception. A major scandal that, however, was exceptionally going to go unpunished. This was due to her dual status as a member of royalty and a member of Diagoras’ family, so popular and beloved; she was, remember, the daughter, sister, wife, mother, and even aunt of champions. Consequently, the fatal fate that awaited her was commuted.

However, lawmakers were not willing to let something like this happen again, and to prevent it in the future, they decreed that, henceforth, trainers had to attend competitions in the same way as their pupils: without clothing. This episode is recounted by authors such as Philostratus and Claudius Aelian, but especially by the geographer and historian Pausanias, in the 2nd century A.D.:

It is a law of Elis to throw from [Mount Typaeon] any woman caught present at the Olympic Games, or even on the other side of the Alpheus, on days forbidden to women. However, they say they have caught none except Callipateira alone; some, however, give the lady the name Pherenice, not Callipateira. She, being a widow, disguised herself exactly like a gymnastics trainer and brought her son to compete at Olympia. Pisidorus, as her son was called, was victorious, and Callipateira, while jumping over the area enclosing the trainers, exposed herself. Then her sex was discovered, but she was let go unpunished out of respect for her father, her brothers, and her son, all of whom had been victorious at Olympia. But a law was passed that required future trainers to strip before entering the arena.

It should be added, as an epilogue, that Pisidorus also received his statue in Olympia, and Pausanias himself claimed to have seen it. It was in the Altis (which was originally a grove dedicated to Zeus but from the 5th century B.C. became the site where the fabulous Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Temple of Hera, the Metroon, the Pelopion, the Philippeion, and the Olympic complex were built); next to his mother.


This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on September 3, 2024: Calipatira, la mujer que se coló en los Juegos Olímpicos disfrazada de hombre y vivió para contarlo

SOURCES

Pausanias, Descripción de Grecia

Lorentsos Mavilēs, Poems

Filóstrato, Gimnástico

Claudio Eliano, Historias curiosas

Píndaro, Odas: Olímpicas, Píticas, Nemeas, Ístmicas

Fernando García Romero, El deporte femenino en la Antigua Grecia

Wikipedia, Ferenice de Rodas


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