List of sports team names and symbols derived from Greek and Roman antiquity
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Names[edit]
After Greek antiquity[edit]
Teams in Greece[edit]
- Aias Salamina F.C. after Ajax of Salamis
- Aiolikos F.C. after Aeolians
- Apollon Kalamarias F.C., Apollon Patras, Apollon Smyrni F.C. after Apollo
- Aris Thessaloniki F.C. after Ares
- Kolossos Rodou BC after Colossus of Rhodes
- Diagoras F.C. after Olympic boxer Diagoras of Rhodes
- Ergotelis F.C. after Olympic runner Ergoteles of Himera
- Ionikos F.C. after Ionia
- G.S. Iraklis Thessaloniki and Iraklis Patras after Heracles
- Irodotos F.C. team in Nea Alikarnassos, Crete after Herodotus of Halicarnassus
- Odysseas Anagennisi F.C. after Odysseus
- Olympiakos meaning Olympic in Greek,(see Ancient Olympic Games). Name of various teams including Olympiada Patras and Olympia Larissa BC.
- Panionios after Panionium
- Vyzas F.C. after Byzas
- Thrasyvoulos F.C. after Thrasybulus
Teams in Cyprus[edit]
- Achilleas after Achilles
- Apollon Limassol
- Aris Limassol F.C. after Ares
- Chalkanoras Idaliou after Chalcanor, Achaean king and founder of Idalion city[1]
- Ermis Aradippou after Hermes
- Olympiakos Nicosia
- Onisilos Sotira after Onesilus, ancient Cypriot leader in Ionian Revolt
- Proteas EKA AEL after Proteus, mythology.
Teams in The Netherlands[edit]
- AFC Ajax after Ajax (See also Ajax (disambiguation) for other teams)
- Heracles Almelo after the Greek hero Heracles
- Sparta Rotterdam after the Greek city-state Sparta
- Xerxes Rotterdam after the Persian emperor Xerxes I
- Achilles '29 after the Greek hero Achilles
- SBV Excelsior after the Latin word excelsior
- Fortuna Sittard after the Roman goddess Fortuna (Tyche in Greek mythology)
Teams in the Czech Republic[edit]
Various sports clubs in Prague, the Czech Republic, have been named after Greek city-state Sparta:
- AC Sparta Prague – football club
- AC Sparta Prague – floorball club
- BC Sparta Prague – basketball club
- HC Sparta Prague – ice hockey club
- OK Sparta Prague – foot orienteering club
- RC Sparta Prague – rugby club
- SK Sparta Krč – football club
- TK Sparta Prague – dancesport club
Italy[edit]
- Atalanta B.C. Italian football club, after Greek heroine Atalanta.
- Hellas Verona F.C.In 1903 the club was named Hellas (the ancient Greek word for Greece), at the request of a professor of Classics.[citation needed]
England[edit]
- Blackburn Olympic F.C., English football team founded in 1878 and dissolved in 1889
- Blyth Spartans A.F.C., English football team founded in 1899
- Huddersfield Atalanta Ladies F.C., English football team named after the heroine Atalanta
- Hull Ionians, English rugby team after Ionians
- Manchester Spartans, American football club founded in 1983
English association football leagues[edit]
- Aetolian League defunct (after Aetolian League)
- Athenian League defunct
- Corinthian League defunct
- Delphian League defunct
- Isthmian League after Isthmian Games
- Spartan League defunct
Others[edit]
- Atlas Lacrosse Club after Atlas (mythology) - Lacrosse team in the Premier Lacrosse League
- Akilles Porvoo after Achilles - Finnish sports club from Porvoo.
- A.S.D. Akragas Calcio. In 1952, by renaming to Akragas, rather than using the Italianized version of the name (Agrigento), the club paid homage to the city's Magna Graecia roots.[2]
- F.C. Atlas and Club Atlético Atlas soccer teams in Latin America, after Atlas (mythology)
- KK Helios Domžale and FC Helios Kharkiv after Helios the Sun-god.
- Hércules CF (Spanish team) and Hércules (Salvadoran team) after Hercules and Heracles.
- Hermes Club (the late 19th-century cyclist club of Chicago depicted Hermes on a gold disc the size of a quarter).[3]
- Hermes F.C., Scottish soccer team.
- Hermes Ladies' Hockey Club, an Irish field hockey club.
- Hermes Volley Oostende, Belgian volleyball team.
- Michigan State Spartans, after Sparta
- Various teams named after Olympia and Olympics, see Olympia, Olimpia, Olympique, Olympic, Olimpik and Olympians. Historical clubs, founded before 1910, are: Blackburn Olympic F.C. founded in 1878 and dissolved in 1889, Olympique de Marseille (1899) and Olympique Lyonnais (1950) and El-Olympi, Egyptian soccer team (1905).
- Olimpo de Bahía Blanca (Argentine sports club) after Olympus
- Portsmouth Spartans, NFL team founded in 1928
- Sparta Danish track and field club, Ħamrun Spartans F.C. in Malta, (soccer teams); Sparta, Finnish Handball club from Helsinki. Various teams named or nicknamed after Spartans, especially in USA, see List of sports teams named Spartans
- Titans, various teams in USA, Canada, UK and Australia, see List of sports teams nicknamed Titans.
- Toronto Argonauts, Canadian Football League team
- Sports teams named Trojans in USA, Canada and UK.
- Urania Genève Sport Swiss sports club founded in 1896 (after the muse Urania)
- Salem Spartans, a cricket team of Tamil Nadu Premier League
After Roman antiquity[edit]
- A.S.D. Albalonga (Italian soccer team) after Alba Longa
- FC Dacia Chişinău and CS Dacia Mioveni (Moldovan and Romanian teams) after Dacia
- Ottawa Senators (Canadian National Hockey League team) The club logo is the head of a Roman general, a member of the Senate of the Roman Republic
- Romulus F.C. (English soccer team) after Romulus
- Spartak (the Slavic name of Spartacus) was a popular name of various teams, originated during the Soviet and Socialist era, including Hungarian team Nyíregyháza Spartacus. Teams outside the Socialist world, named after Spartacus are: Spartak (Cape Verde), Greek Spartakos Ovrya F.C., English G.S.A. Sports F.C. and Swedish Spartacus Rugby Club.
Teams with Latin names[edit]
- Albirex Niigata The Japanese soccer team name is made from combining the star Albireo and the Latin word Rex meaning 'king'. In 1997, due to copyright issues, the team name was changed from Albireo Niigata to the current Albirex Niigata.
- Juventus (iuventūs, youth) (Italian soccer team)
- Toshiba Brave Lupus (lupus, wolf) (Japanese rugby team)
Symbols[edit]
- Aquila, the Roman military sign of eagle is the emblem of the Italian soccer team S.S. Lazio. Lazio's colours of white and sky blue were also inspired by the national emblem of Greece, due to the fact that Lazio is a mixed sports club this was chosen in recognition of the fact that the Ancient Olympic Games and along with it the sporting tradition in Europe is linked to Greece.[4]
- Capitoline Wolf, emblem of the Italian soccer teams A.S. Roma and A.C. Siena.
- Democritus the philosopher is depicted on the logo of the Greek soccer team Skoda Xanthi F.C.
- Epirote League's name in the coins (Apeirotan, of Epirotes) is written on the logo of the Greek soccer team PAS Giannina F.C.
- Hermes's winged sandal is depicted on the logo of Hermes Volley Oostende.
- The Lighthouse of Alexandria is depicted on the emblem of the Alexandrian soccer team El-Olympi, Egypt.
- An athlete wearing a laurel wreath (kotinos) is the emblem of Olympiacos CFP. The mascot of the team is a lion, named Thryleon,[5] evoking a historical name of Piraeus (Porto leone) after Piraeus Lion.
- A legionary with Roman helmet is depicted on the logos of Binghamton Senators and Ottawa Senators, ice hockey teams (North America)
- A gladiator is depicted on the logos of Colchester Gladiators (American football) team and Atlanta Gladiators, ice hockey team.
- Titormus the wrestler is the emblem of the Greek soccer team Panetolikos F.C.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Ancient Greece: from the Mycenaean palaces to the age of Homer By Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy, Irene S. Lemos Page 322 ISBN 0-7486-1889-9 (2006)
- ^ "Libri. Presentata la storia ilustrata dell'Unione Sportiva Akragas". Akragas.net. 7 October 2007.
- ^ The Chicago Sports Reader: 100 Years of Sports in the Windy City By Steven A. Riess, Gerald R. Gems Page 86 ISBN 0-252-03281-0
- ^ "Lazio". AlbionRoad.com. 2007-06-24. Archived from the original on 2016-02-24.
- ^ "Tokyo Gate7". Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2009-09-23.