Gymnasium (ancient Greece)
The gymnasium in Ancient Greece functioned as a training facility for male competitors in public games. It was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Ancient Greek term gymnós meaning "naked". Athletes competed nude, a practice said to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body, and to be a tribute to the gods. Gymnasia and palestrae (wrestling schools) were under the protection and patronage of Heracles, Hermes and, in Athens, Theseus.[1] The whole education of a Greek boy was divided into four parts: grammar, music, the art of drawing or painting, and gymnastics. [2] [3]
Many relationships between Greek "boylovers" and their beloveds were either begun, or fostered by, contacts between adult males and peri-pubescent or pubescent youths meeting at the gymnasiums.
