Sports, entertainment, and the Classical world: Their usefulness to modern sports policy

Abstract

Doping has in recent years become a widespread issue throughout the sporting world. Despite the recent plethora of doping cases this is not a new issue, but one which may date to the ancient world including the Classical period. The problems associated with doping must be tackled in a new, more effective manner. This paper assesses positions on sports taken in the ancient world, specifically what was considered cheating or ‘doping’ — in order to determine if such approaches could be used as a remedy to eliminate / reduce modern doping. The paper will also assess whether such possible solutions could be integrated into anti-doping policy.