Acknowledgments

Greek moral philosophy was born in the gyms of Athens. This book, likewise, is the product of multiple conversations at the Rollins College gym. Several student athletes, over multiple terms, took Philosophy at the Gym as a humanities course, puzzling through works of Plato and Aristotle while sitting on the floor of the campus yoga studio. In the weight room next door, a group of regulars provided what became a welcome spiritual exercise of elaborate between-set conversations: Brock Barfield, Yasha Carroll, Jack Dillard, Michael Dulman, Christopher Hebeler, Evans Hedges, Alon Hersch, Daniel Mock, R. T. Rogers, Jessica Smith, and Denis Terzic. Since 2020, I have pursued my work in pre-college philosophy by becoming a full-time middle school teacher. My Latin students at Friends Academy, Dartmouth, MA, have brought good humor and bold ideas as we worked out what a Greek philosophy class can look like in middle school. Meanwhile, my colleagues John Borowicz, Putnam Murdock, and Michael Williams daily illustrate the importance of athletics and the arts in moral development.

My approach to Greek philosophy is indebted to my own teachers. I was introduced to the Greek language by runner, musician, and classicist Z. Philip Ambrose. I was a student in Jacques Bailly’s seminar on Plato, Christopher Shields’s on Aristotle, and Tad Brennan’s on the Hellenistic schools. I participated in reading groups led by Scott MacDonald, William Mann, and Gareth Matthews. I served as teacher’s assistant for Gail Fine’s survey of ancient philosophy and Courtney Ann Roby’s of ancient medicine. And my fondness for skepticism was sharpened and refined through my dissertation work with Charles Brittain.

My editor, Bethany Wasik, provided extensive guidance as progressive drafts “bulked up” through engaging with the scholarly literature, and then “cut” by relegating most of that engagement to the notes. Along the way, Alexander Earl, Mollie Jones, Ronald Polansky, and Michael Vazquez provided helpful feedback on individual chapters. Michael Austin and an anonymous reviewer provided useful and supportive feedback on the whole. Verity Platt, chair of classics at Cornell University, provided the appointment as visiting researcher that allowed me to complete the process of writing this book.

Two people have been part of this book from the start. Heather Reid has brought ancient athletics and philosophy back into dialogue within the scholarly community. She has also been a great support to me, from the start of the course to the completion of the book, as an editor, colleague, and friend. Jack Austin, finally, has been a tireless proofreader and a patient partner as our loft doubled as a not terribly tidy research library during quarantine.

To all these people I give heartfelt thanks. I am fortunate to belong to so many wonderful communities.