When discussing athletes and their competitions in ancient Greece, the ancient Olympic Games come to mind first. However, this richly illustrated book covers much more: the author vividly narrates the beginnings of ancient Greek sports in Crete and Mycenae. He provides source-based accounts of the panhellenic and local agones, describes the sporting disciplines in detail, and presents the most important sports venues of ancient Greece in text and images. Anecdotes about the lives and struggles of the competitors, as well as their supporters and families, illustrate the ancient sports world. Those who believe that corruption, match-fixing, spectator riots, alcohol bans, and stadium restrictions are phenomena of modern sports will discover surprising insights from ancient social and cultural history. A chapter on the relationship between athletics, art, and literature rounds off the work.