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Gambling in ancient Greece
Ancient Greek culture gave rise to the Olympic ideal, but together with the cult of competition, she knew the "game of luck." Gambling practices stretched from children's "bones" to betting on the outcomes of sports and animal fights. The Greeks had two principles: agonism (competitiveness as valor) and tühe (blind luck). This formed a special "economy of excitement" - with household rates, moral criticism of philosophers and periodic attempts by the authorities to limit the hobby.
1) Excitement tools: from astragalus to cubes
Astragaloi (αστράγαλοι) - "bones," usually sheep/goat legs, later - bronze/bone/clay analogues. They played, guessed and argued on small bets. Astragalus have four stable facets with different "value," so combinations and dexterity of the throw were important.
Cubes (κύβοι) - already equal bones with dots; pure chance play, popular in cities and ports. Around the cubes there was also a reputation of "dangerous excitement," for which they were fined in places.
Rules and rates. There was no universal "European" system of rules: different policies are different habits. They put on obols and drachmas, food/wine, jewelry, sometimes on a service or "honor of victory" in the company.
2) Where they played: symptoms, yards, ports
Simposius - a male feast with music and conversations - gave rise to competitive games: astragalus throws, mini-tournaments, sometimes betting on kottab outcomes (wine hitting the target).
Yards and streets - young men and children practiced with astragalas; the very fact of the game did not always mean money, but adults easily added a bet.
Ports and markets are an environment of mercenaries, sailors and merchants, where cubes were especially loved for their simplicity and "quick" bet.
3) Sports betting: From Olympia to cockfighting
The Pan-Hellenic Games (Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, Nemean) inspired informal bets between spectators: the athlete's victory, the result of the treadmill, the outcome of the pankration.
City competitions (local agons) gave reasons to "support their own" - the patriotism of the policy turned betting into a social ritual.
Cockfighting (ἀλεκτρωμαχία) is a popular sight in Athens: betting on birds combined excitement and "pedagogy of courage" (as it was sometimes justified).
Horse and chariot. Among the aristocracy and horse breeders, there were behind-the-scenes bets on dressage, running and a wheelman/horse couple - from clan honor to money.
4) Myths, gods and luck
Origin of games. The Greeks liked to explain crafts and fun through myth: Palamede was credited as the "inventor" of dice games (next to writing and counting), although this is a legend.
Gods of fortune. Above the throw - Tyuhe (luck), Hermes (dexterity, cunning), Athena (skill and calculation). Belief in the favor of the deity legitimized the risk.
Astragalomancy. The same astragaloi were used for fortune-telling: the combination that fell out was interpreted as a sign for a solution - from family to campaign.
5) Mores and laws: prohibitions that "did not interfere with play"
Moral criticism. Philosophers and playwrights reproached excitement: it scatters the mind, ruins the house, replaces aretē (valor) with blind luck.
Legal background. In a number of policies, a public game for money was considered reprehensible: fines, expulsion from decent places, restrictions on holidays (except for ceremonial games).
Practice. Despite the prohibitions, the custom is stronger than the letter: in simposia, private houses and ports, the game continued. The authorities basically crushed scandalous forms - fraud, debts, hooliganism.
6) Social geography of excitement
Aristocrats are competitive "in a big way" (horses, chariots), but playing dice was also part of leisure.
Citizens-citizens - cubes and astragaloi in everyday life; bet "hands" on sports, cockfighting.
Tags and slave servants - played cheap formats; sometimes the bet is food, wine or a small coin.
Women - on vase paintings, girls are often depicted with astragalas: play gymnastics of fingers and dexterity; money excitement for women was less common and more condemned.
7) Technique and "metagame": how they won
Astragaloi encouraged agility: an experienced player knew how to "put" a bone with the right edge more often than a beginner.
Cubes - "pure random"? Not really. There were sharpened bones, "heated" before the throw, hidden substitutions. Deception was considered a disgrace, but met.
Symbolism of throws. The names of successful/unsuccessful combinations, amulets, whispering of short formulas - all this created a ritual around risk.
8) Betting economics: Scope and implications
Bet sizes were usually small: a few obols/obols, drachma - already "tangible."
Debts and feuds are the main social risk: the loser could become addicted, lay things down, spoil relations in the company.
Holidays (Διονύσια, etc.) weakened the norms - bets on games and competitions were perceived more condescendingly as part of the "revelry of the holiday."
9) Excitement and sport: ideal and reality
The ideal of the agon is victory through training, valor and honor (reward - a wreath, glory, sometimes - material benefits from the policy).
The reality of the viewer - any struggle causes a desire to "put." Bets between citizens did not cancel the ideal, but gave the holiday a nerve and a "exchange rate for good luck."
10) Legacy: What went from the Greeks
Language and terms: "cubia," "astragalus"; from Greek practices to the Hellenistic world and Rome.
Material culture: finds of astragales and cubes, scenes on vases and terracotta, scenes with players - all this confirms the mass character of the phenomenon.
The idea of balance: play as entertainment and measure as virtue - a thought that antiquity conveyed to Europe.
Mini-glossary
Astragalus - "bone" from the ankle bone of the animal; used in games and divination.
Cubes are equal bones with dots; symbol of "pure chance."
Agon - competition (sports, poetry, music).
Tühe - luck, fortune.
Simposius is a feast with music and conversations, the core of male urban culture.
Alectromachia - cockfighting, a popular spectacle with a bet.
Conclusion: excitement in ancient Greece was both a game of skill and chance. Astragaloi demanded agility, cubes beckoned with a "clean chance," sports holidays fueled bets. Laws tried to keep the measure, philosophers - to tame passion, but everyday life invariably returned the Greeks to throwing the dice and arguing about the winner - as a small but tenacious part of their world.