Editing Cynisca (section)

== Cultural context ==
[[File:Quadriga, Charioteer and Hoplite.jpg|thumb|A depiction of an ancient Greek four-horse chariot, {{Circa|530-520}} BC|210x210px]]
While most women in the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] world were kept in seclusion and forbidden to pursue athletic activities such as riding or hunting, Spartan women of the elite [[spartiate]] class{{NoteTag|Though full citizenry, i.e. spartiate class, was restricted to men, 'spartiate' is used here as shorthand for elite women of adjacent status.}} were trained to excel in sports. The greater freedom that spartiate women experienced in terms of athletic pursuits was largely due to the fact that they were able to dedicate significant amounts of time to their training, since the [[Helots|helot]] system, whereby the majority of the population was kept in slavery, relieved them of the typical household duties that most other Greek women were expected to attend to.<ref>P. Christesen. "Athletics and Social Order in Sparta in the Classical Period." ''Classical Antiquity'', vol. 31, no. 2, 2012, pp. 193–255.</ref> High levels of female athleticism were encouraged in Sparta because as a society, they believed that strong women would produce strong children and supply the army with powerful soldiers.<ref>Xenophone, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, 1.4</ref>

Despite the greater level of social freedom that spartiate women enjoyed, participation in [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]] remained almost entirely restricted to men. There is debate about whether women were even allowed to attend the games as spectators. Several passages from Pausanias shed light on this issue, as he suggests that ''parthenai'' (young, unmarried women) were allowed to attend the Olympics as spectators, but ''gynaikes'' (married women) were barred from entering.<ref>Pausanias, 5.6.7; 5.13.10; 6.20.9</ref> In terms of competing in the Olympic games, women were only allowed to enter the equestrian events, not by participating themselves, but rather by owning and training the horses.

However, while it was rare for women to compete against men in athletic games, as Cynisca did, there is evidence to suggest that separate athletic competitions existed for women in the Greek world.<ref name=":1">Matthew Dillon. "Did Parthenoi Attend the Olympic Games? Girls and Women Competing, Spectating, and Carrying out Cult Roles at Greek Religious Festivals." ''Hermes'', vol. 128, no. 4, 2000, pp. 457–480.</ref> The existence of these competitions is supported by Pausanias' mention of a number of bronze statues dedicated by victorious female runners (mostly Spartan) at the temple of Hera at Elis,<ref name=":03"/> as well as several stone inscriptions that have been uncovered.<ref name=":1" />