Greece Horses in Ancient Greece

Horses were an integral part of life in ancient Greece;Other mythical beasts also had equine affinities. Most
they played an active role in warfare, in transportation,famous, of course, was the winged horse Pegasos,
and in the games which were such an important andwhich came from Corinth but was popular among
regular feature of Greek society. Athenian enthusiasmAthenian artists as well. Another flying equine was the
for the horse is expressed in numerous ways in thehippalektryon, a cross between a horse and a rooster.
Agora. Here the Athenian cavalry trained, not far fromTwo deities with a special interest in Athens, Athena
the hipparcheion, headquarters of its commandingand her uncle Poseidon, together served as protectors
officers. Here, too, some of the popular equestrianof horses and patrons of horsemanship and equestrian
events of the Panathenaic games were held, and theactivities. As such, they shared a cult on Kolonos
Panathenaic procession, with its huge contingent ofHippios (Horse Hill), which lay outside the city walls, not
cavalry riders, passed through on its way up to thefar from the Academy. Here was to be found an altar
Acropolis. Many civic buildings and temples wereof Poseidon Hippios and Athena Hippia. The patron
adorned with paintings and sculptures of riders andgod of horses and earthquakes, Poseidon was the
battle scenes showing cavalry. Honorary statues ofbrother of Zeus and god of the sea. He was
generals or statesmen on horseback and monumentsworshiped in this latter guise at the southernmost tip of
commemorating victories in the equestrian events ofAttica, at Cape Sounion, where he had a handsome
the games were set up in the Agora, and vases andmarble temple in the Doric order. In Athens itself, he
small objects decorated with pictures of horses wereshared a temple on the Acropolis with Athena, and he
sold in the marketplace in all periods. As with manywas depicted on the west pediment of the Parthenon.
other aspects of Athenian life, the Agora is anAccording to some traditions he was also the father
excellent place to develop and illustrate a picture ofof Theseus. His equine interests are the subject of a
horses and horsemanship in antiquity.chorus in Aristophanes' play The Knights: Dread
The horse is a relative latecomer to Greece, probablyPoseidon, the horseman's king, you who love the
introduced at the start of the Middle Bronze Age,brazen clash and neighing of warlike steeds. Pleased
around 2000 s.c. The first impression made byto watch where the purple-beaked trireme sweeps to
mounted riders must have been a vivid one, perhapsthe oars' long swing ... but especially where bright
giving rise to the legend of centaurs. Theseyouths racing in their chariots flash by.
creatures-half man, half horse-figure prominently inAthena, patron goddess of all Athens, was credited
both Greek mythology and art. Theseus, the nationalwith the invention of the bridle and the use of chariots:
hero of Athens, participated in a major battle betweenShe also revealed racing chariots and war-horses and
Greeks and centaurs that became a favorite themein this land first of all men the foster-child of the
for Athenian artists in both vase painting and sculpture.goddess [Erichthonios] yoked a fully equipped chariot
Theseus was also successful in repelling thewith the aid of the goddess and revealed to all the
Amazons, fierce warrior women who usually foughtcomplete art of horsemanship. (Aristeides,
from horseback. They are thought to have come fromPanathenaikos 43)
the steppes north of the Black Sea, where it is nowRemains of actual horses have been found in a rich
believed the horse was first domesticated, in the yearstholos tomb of the Late Bronze Age in Attica, at
around 4000 BC. Like the centaurs, the AmazonsMarathon; here two animals were carefully buried
were a recurring and popular subject in Greek artfacing each other in the entrance passageway
throughout the Archaic and Classical periods.(dromos) in the years around 1400 B.C.