Most think ideal male beauty took a huge leap forward with the ancient Greeks. Statues and art from hat time period display robustly muscular figures. Most seem Mesomorphic and very lean, especially when contrasted to the typical contemporary American. Our word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek term gymnos meaning naked. It actually translates into “place to be naked…for physical exercise.” Funny how we have lost the literal meaning of the word… but I digress.
Physical activity was not just stressed, it was really a way of life. Look at the task of taking a bath. One had to walk into town to either:
- (A) go to the local public bath house,
- (B) carry the water home or
- (C) go outside and bath in the Mediterranean.
All of these options require a certain amount of phyical energy just to wash one’s bum. It really gives one something to think about when one has a cold and just wants to get into a warm tub.
Dinner is another story. To get a chicken dinner required raising the chicken, chasing it to kill it, gathering the firewood to cook it, not to mention plucking the beast. Red meat was, and still is today, more of a luxury.
Geographically, Greece sit in an area that made it a territorial center of many ancient wars. The Greeks were known for their military savvy. History shows us also that most of the men were required to be in the military. Longevity and expectancy was to age 40.
Most travelers know by experience that Greece’s temperatures during the days are hot. In ancient times, it was not uncommon for people to where a chiton - a kind of short cloak (see left) and nothing else. The hot weather, constriction free clothing and casual social attitudes regarding nudity translated into art and culture. This reflection is what we see in museums today.
Take a look at Agesander’s sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons 200 BC. This amazing work sits at the Vatican and an early Roman copy resides at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. The references in this sculpture depicts the male form but also references a story. The statue represents Laocoön and his sons being eaten by serpents. Both the adult male and the younger children are not just toned but extremely muscular. One can see musculature that is as clear as any anatomy textbook. The V the of latissimus dorsi is clearly evident as well as the external obliques and rectus abdominis muscles. It is an amazing work of art carved from seven pieces of marble depicting amazing bodies. I speculate these bodies were more normal than out of the ordinary for the time. While there is a heightened stylization and extreme muscularity, my belief is these were more realist than stylized given the circumstances at the time. They would be a great contast to those of people who would model for work today. In short, there was no such thing as a desk job. One didn’t just nuke a meal. One didn’t just to to the gym to tighten the six pack. These were activities that come with the 20th century. Much like our gradual addition of height and stature. One used to never see someone over 6 foot tall. Now that height is very common given the luxury of so many nutrients in our food.
Unfortunately, the advent of the roman toga, and alas Christianity, that pinnacle of physicality would eventually be covered up. And with early Christianity, the viewing of the male form was all but obliterated… just hands and face.
One final thought: The diet. The most noticeable characteristic of the Mediterranean Diet is high consumption of fruits and vegetables, bread and other cereals, olive oil and fish. Red meat is an infrequent source of protein in the Mediterranean Diet. Compared to the typical American diet, this may seem almost exotic. Meals fashioned after the Mediterranean Diet have a distinctively rich flavor because of the common use of olive oil as the source of fat in preparation compared to the margarine and highly processed, hydrogenated vegetable oils used in the preparation of American meals. As fat has a higher calorie density than protein and carbohydrates, portion sizes also appear more modest when compared to the size of a meal Americans often expect to receive from a restaurant. The result is a nutrient rich diet, high in fiber, with a low glycemic index, which includes lean protein sources and high quality sources of fat.
Laocoön: Musei Vaticani, State of the Vatican City. Artists Agesander, Athenedoros and Polydorus Credit line Found in the Baths of Trajan, 1506
Discus Thrower, Roman marble copy of Greek bronze by Myron, c. 450 bc; in the National Roman Museum, Rome.
Headless statue of Hermes with traveller's cloak and caduceus. Marble, Roman copy from the 1st century CE after a bronze original of the 5th century BC. |Unspecified |Former Ludovisi Collection |Inv. 8583
Dave Saunders, Change Your Diet, and Eat the Mediterranean Way. Food Editorials.com
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