Greek Hippic Contests

Abstract

Hippic contests constituted a surprisingly complex and contested semiotic system. This essay examines the hierarchies that structured this system to show how hippic contests gave visible form to various values and hierarchies that underpinned the larger social order. Equestrian contests as a whole were privileged over gymnastic contests; certain equestrian events were privileged over others (chariot over horse, four-horse over two-horse, stallion over mare, horse over mule); and the owner and the horse were privileged over the driver. In each case, however, it is also possible to trace challenges to these hierarchies, so that hippic contests should be thought of not so much as a vehicle for affirming a certain social order than as a particularly visible locus of ideological struggle.