NIKEPHOROS 25, 2012, 209–220 Public Honours for Panhellenic Sporting Victors in Democratic Athens David M. Pritchard University of Queensland Democratic Athens gave citizens who were Panhellenic victors for life free public dining and free front-row seats at its own games. These honours were otherwise only given to victorious generals and its other significant benefactors. The surprising granting of them to sporting victors requires careful explanation. The Panhellenic victory of one of its citizens gave a city of no importance rare international prominence and one which was a regional power proof of its superiority over its rivals. The only other way which it had to raise its standing was to defeat a rival in battle. Thus the classical Athenians judged a Panhellenic victor worthy of their highest honours, as he had raised their standing without the need for them to take the field. The treatment of Panhellenic victors by democratic Athens requires careful explanation. This city gave citizens who were victorious at the Olympics or one of the other three Panhellenic games for life free public dining and free front-row seats at its own local games. These honours were otherwise only given to victorious generals and other significant benefactors. Leslie Kurke argued that the granting of such honours to Panhellenic victors was part of the so-called economy of kudos, which, she believed, was a magical power which a sportsman gained forever in his victory. For Kurke a city honoured a victor as generously as it did because of his willingness to use his kudos in support of its military campaigns and other risky ventures. But in the last several years her theory has been largely refuted. Kudos was not a power which a victor had forever. It was the fleeting aid which a deity had given him during his agōn or contest. Alternative explanations making better sense of the evidence can be advanced for the roles of victors in the ventures which Kurke highlighted. The extraordinary honours which classical Athens gave a Panhellenic victor can instead be explained in terms of his victory’s political value. Thomas Heine Nielsen has put beyond doubt that each Panhellenic sportsman com- peted as a representative of his polis. Thus the Olympic victory of one of its citizens gave a city of no importance rare international promin- ence and one which was a regional power proof of its superiority over its rivals. The only other way which it had to raise its standing was to defeat a rival in battle. Like other Greek cities, then, classical Athens judged a Panhellenic victor worthy of its highest honours, because he had raised its standing without the need for it to take the field.