Greek Myths & Mythology - The Story Of Kalipateira

Kalipateira was the daughter of Olympian Diagoras the Rhodian, and according to Greek mythology she also became the first woman to enter a sports field to watch the ancient Olympic Games. In ancient Greece, laws prohibited women from entering and monitoring athletic competitions. The laws were so strict that if caught then there would be punishment by death. Kalipateira, who was the wife and sister of several olympic medalists wanted to admire her son Peisirrodo, who was participating in the events that day, so she disguised herself as a man and entered the stadium to watch the match. When her son won the title she jumped into the field, her disguise fell to the ground, and her nude body revealed that she was a woman. This shocked and dismayed everyone but she was not punished because her family had too many Olympian champions (father, husband, brother, sister, son and nephew). It was instead decided that as of that day all athletes and spectators of all the Olympian events would thus participate in the nude.