Terracotta Figurine of Greek Women With a Ball
source: Wikimedia Commons
author: Marie-Lan Nguyen
Description
A photograph shows a Greek terracotta sculpture of two women standing next to each other. One of them is resting her arm on the other’s shoulder, and holds a ball in the same hand.
Date
Artifact: 3rd century BC
Photo: 2006
Information
This 3rd century BC terracotta figurine, discovered in Corinth, depicts two women with a ball. The size of the ball matches that of those used for episkyros and harpastum, Greek and Roman ball games, respectively. There are no known accounts of women playing either of these games, as they are recorded as being quite violent. It is possible these two women are intended to be depicted watching a match, standing by with a spare ball.
At the time of photograph, this figurine was housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Related Articles
Greek Episkyros | Roman Harpastum | History of Ball Sports
[raw_html_snippet id=”bib”]
Crowther, N. B. (2007). Sport in ancient times. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Harris, H. A. (1972). Sport in Greece and Rome. Cornell University Press.
[raw_html_snippet id=”endbib”]