"Hear me, my lords and captains of Phaeacia!
By now we’ve had our fill of food well-shared
and the lyre too, our loyal friend at banquets.
Now out we go again and test ourselves in contests,
games of every kind – so our guest can tell his friends,
when he reaches home, how far we excel the world
at boxing, wrestling, jumping, speed of foot."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 8, lines 115-121. When Alcinous sees Odysseus crying at the bard’s song, he comes up with something to distract Odysseus from whatever is upsetting him. The king calls on everyone to go outside and play some sports. The proud Alcinous boasts about his people’s world-beating skills in boxing, wrestling and running.