Spartacus, gladiators and gods

For  those of you who watch the Movie Network, chances are you have stumbled upon the T.V. series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. This series is based upon Roman slaves turned gladiators who are forced to fight in the name of their town to show the political power, as was discussed in class. These gladiatorial events were fought till the death, and although the series may not be completely historically accurate (noting the extreme use of the F-bomb that I highly doubt would be around at that time) this was in fact one of the earliest forms of sport, used to show the power of the individual as well as the state. These individuals were seen, as the title of the series implies, as gods of the arena, and there is a large religious undertone of the series as frequent references are made to the gods, such as when Lentulus Batiatus, the trainer and trader of the gladiators, says to a slave, “Even the lowest man can rise above the heavens.” 

This quote struck me as incredibly suggestive, recalling the story of Christ who although was not “the lowest man”, was sent to earth by his father as a carpenter to save his people and show them the path to heaven. Similarly, a type of redemptive power is given to athletes, to save their team from being the loser. This is the redemptive aspect that is placed within these men who were to fight in the name of their state, and is also seen in the captain of many sports teams now, as they are to lead their fans to the power of being number one in their respectful league. Fans place their trust and hope in these teams in order that they lead the team to victory.

The same overall theme can be seen in sport as has been around for thousands of years, and it is possible to draw parallels to Christianity, but as was mentioned in class, should this relationship not be seen with scrutiny as so many athletes are hurt and some face self-sacrifice (in terms of injury most often) in the name of winning their team and city the recognition of being the best? For hockey fans, this violence may be an attractive aspect, as was in the Roman games, but there no longer needs to be this bloodshed and hurt to individuals in order to show their power.

The fact of the matter remains that there are far too many risks involved in sports that individuals face just for the sake of their team. Heck, I enjoy a good glove dropping fight, but it is really not a necessary element of hockey. Furthermore, seeing as violence is present in some, and in by no means am I suggesting that it is present in all sports, I mean lets all watch golf and we can see that everyone is pretty respectful of one another, perhaps Christianity should look upon sports more critically because too much may be at stake for individuals.