European Festival of Ancient Greece

We're thrilled, proud and grateful to announce the latest partnership with the university of Bari allowing it’s students to have the opportunity to gain some credits participating as volunteers to our international educational event ✨🏛️🇬🇷
The opportunity is extended as well to other European private and public universities students 🥳🦉

🇬🇷🧿European Festival of Ancient Greece: an educational and cultural journey celebrating beauty and universal values.

The 17th edition of the international educational project AGON has just concluded—an event filled with emotion and discovery, hosted amid the timeless charm of Ancient Greece, cradle of civilization and of the great human ideals.

Once again this year, the experience offered young participants a unique opportunity to live culture as an encounter, dialogue, and personal growth. A journey through art, knowledge, and genuine relationships that invited everyone to rediscover the power of beauty and shared well-being.

“AGON is not just an educational project,” says Valentino Berton, President of the European Festival of Ancient Greece. “It’s a way to explore the world through art, emotion, and beauty—to learn that culture is a bridge connecting people, making them more aware and free.”

During the festival, participants took part in readings, lectures, film screenings, art workshops, theatrical and musical performances, as well as moments of play and discussion. These activities, inspired by Mediterranean cultures, demonstrated how knowledge can become a living experience and how tradition can be a source of renewal.

Young people from all over Italy and various European countries shared intense days of creativity, discovery, and friendship. They experienced firsthand the importance of values such as respect, responsibility, inclusion, freedom, and authenticity—principles that today, more than ever, form the foundation of an open and supportive community.

The experience in Greece became a true tribute to our origins, opening minds and hearts to a civilization that has shaped the entire world and offering moments of deep emotion and connection.

The European Festival of Ancient Greece extends its heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to making this edition possible and reaffirms its commitment to promoting projects that unite education, art, and universal values—working together to build a more human and conscious future.

🇮🇹European Festival of Ancient Greece: un viaggio educativo e culturale nel segno della bellezza e dei valori universali
Si è appena conclusa, tra emozioni e scoperte, la 17ª edizione del progetto educativo internazionale AGON, ospitata nel fascino intramontabile dell’antica Grecia, culla della civiltà e dei grandi ideali umani.
Anche quest’anno, l’esperienza ha offerto ai giovani partecipanti un’occasione unica per vivere la cultura come incontro, dialogo e crescita personale. Un percorso fatto di arte, conoscenza e relazioni autentiche, che ha invitato ciascuno a riscoprire la forza della bellezza e del benessere condiviso.

“AGON non è solo un progetto educativo,” afferma Valentino Berton, Presidente dello European Festival of Ancient Greece. “È un modo per conoscere il mondo attraverso l’arte, le emozioni e la bellezza, per imparare che la cultura è un ponte che unisce le persone e le rende più consapevoli e libere.”

Durante il festival, i partecipanti hanno preso parte a letture, conferenze, proiezioni, laboratori artistici, performance teatrali e musicali e a momenti di gioco e confronto. Attività che, ispirandosi alle culture del Mediterraneo, hanno mostrato come la conoscenza possa diventare esperienza viva, e la tradizione fonte di rinnovamento.

Ragazze e ragazzi
da tutta Italia e da Paesi europei hanno condiviso giorni intensi di creatività, scoperta e amicizia. Hanno sperimentato sul campo l’importanza di valori come il rispetto, la responsabilità, l’inclusione, la libertà e l’autenticità — principi che oggi più che mai rappresentano la base di una comunità aperta e solidale.

L’esperienza in Grecia si è trasformata in un vero e proprio omaggio alle nostre origini, proiettandoci mente e cuore in una civiltà che ha plasmato l’intero globo, e regalando momenti di profonda emozione e connessione.

Lo European Festival of Ancient Greece ringrazia con gratitudine tutti coloro che hanno contribuito a rendere possibile questa edizione e rinnova l’impegno a continuare a promuovere progetti che uniscano educazione, arte e valori universali, per costruire insieme un futuro più umano e consapevole.

Event Information:
🦉 Event: European Festival of Ancient Greece – AGON
📌 Location: Argos, Corinth, Nemea, Delphi, Olympia and Athens
🌀 Dates: 20-27 October 2025
✨ Participants: Students and teachers from various European countries

🤼‍♂️This week we celebrate the “European Week of Sport”⛹🏽‍♂️

🇬🇷 The Greeks identified the agón as a fundamental principle of their paidéia. Some of these principles inspired ancient agonal philosophy and these principles can be still found not just in current sports education, but in general education as well, seen both as means to pursue knowledge and virtue through commitment and effort, and as actions that presume the transmission of values for socialization aimed at the development of democratic relationships, conflict management and the construction of a better and peaceful society. (From an essay by Emanuele Isidori)

Through the Agon educational project, our book 📖 “The Values of AGON” and many other linked activities, we aim to promote values such as integration, inclusion, respect, equality and responsibility among the younger generations.

Here some pictures of the Ancient Olympia stadium race and winner celebration attended by the European students participating at AGON project.
Sharing values, emotions, and well-being.

Stay tuned for upcoming news about our next scheduled festivals.😳

Kosmos - The greek cultural routes ✨

Echoes of harmony: an educational path through the ancient Kosmos What is the world made of? How does it work? Is it alive, or is it a machine? For over two thousand years, these questions have stirred the human mind: drawing poets, philosophers, mathematicians, mystics, and scientists into the shared quest to understand the cosmos. In ancient Greece, the word cos

📣 We are extremely excited and honored to announce that in the month of December 2024 a memorandum of understanding related to the “third mission” has been signed ✍️ between the University of Rome “Foro Italico” and the “ETS European Festival of Ancient Greece APS”.

We believe this is just the beginning of a collaboration that aims to build bridges between cultures, promoting research, education and heritage enhancement through sports and intercultural dialogue, with a view to shared and sustainable growth.”

We thank, for believing in such a collaboration, the director of the department of sport, humanities and health sciences, in the person of the Professor Massimo SACCHETTI and Professor Emanuele ISIDORI responsible for the international relations.

The journey is about to begin ✌️
Educate to beauty is our aim 😉

🎉 A new publication is now available!

📚 Le emozioni intelligenti. Pratiche di cura dell’io (Emotional Intelligence. Practices of Self-Care) has just been released!

This collective, multidisciplinary, and profoundly human volume explores emotional intelligence as a key to navigating the complexity of our time.

👁🗨 In an era shaped by the fusion of human and machine, the natural and the artificial, this book aims to restore the foundational role of emotions—as embodied, relational, pedagogical, and transformative knowledge.

✨ From psychology to philosophy, education to sports, mindfulness to clinical hypnosis, the essays in this collection show how caring for the self begins with emotional awareness, where vulnerability becomes a strength and relationships become generative spaces.

💡 Key topics include:

The C.U.R.A. model for emotional intelligence
Hypnosis as a pathway to emotional healing
Mindscape and ecopsychology
Emotional education in schools and sports
Humanity and artificial intelligence: an ontological challenge

🧠 Because emotions are not obstacles to rationality, but the very condition for deep, meaningful thought.

📖 "Emotional Intelligence. Practices of Self-Care" is an invitation to rediscover feeling as a form of knowledge, and care as an ethical and educational practice.

👥 Edited by: Maristella Trombetta, Daniela Poggiolini, Emanuele Isidori

Featuring contributions from an international team of researchers and therapists.

👉 Curious to explore more? The full volume is available for free download at the link below:

🔗 https://zenodo.org/records/15543671

➡ Read it if you believe that educating the heart is the first step toward a more humane future.

Here we are again!!🥳
Tic toc, tic toc...⏱️
Living again the greek 🇬🇷 dream!!💭

Students and their teachers from Italy, Holland and France together are going to experience the emotions of the educational path AGON.

Many educational activities are awaiting us. A journey to discover our origins. A journey in the marvelous Ancient Greece 🏛️ who will allow us to meet new friends, to approach to many artistic experiences and develop new competences.

The journey is about to begin!!
Wishing everyone a wonderful experience at European Festival of Ancient Greece!!

See you soon!! ✌️

Download the brand new e-book 📖!!
https://bit.ly/bookopensource

Hi there, after the publication of the English and Spanish version of the book “The values of Agon”, we are thrilled to announce the publication of the Italian version of the book “The Woman in Sport: Identities, Practices, and Cultures”.

This work was originated from the Italian edition of the conference held on October 17th, 2024, in Bari and online, organized by our association in collaboration with the University of Bari and the university of Rome (Foro Italico).

It brings together a diverse range of scholarly contributions to explore the intersection of gender, identity, and sport, offering historical, sociological, pedagogical, and ethical perspectives on women’s roles and representations in sports.

You can download for free the Italian version of the e-book to the following link or scanning the QR code from the poster.

Wishing you a good reading!!
European Festival of Ancient Greece 🇬🇷

Dear friends, members and supporters,
we are thrilled to announce the release of the english and spanish version of the book 📖:
“THE VALUE OF AGON”
SPORT, LAW, AND EDUCATION IN ANCIENT GREECE

A book by Emanuele Isidori
Prefaces by: Gennaro Terracciano, Valentino Berton
With essays by:
Antonio Sánchez-Pato
Francisco Javier López Frías
Heather L. Reid

The text is a scholarly product connected as well to the educational initiative “Agon” an annual Festival celebrating and honoring the human and cultural legacy through events held in Greece at venues famous for ancient athletic and artistic contests. This initiative promotes a deeper understanding and appreciation of Olympic values such as integration, inclusivity, democracy, respect, equality, responsibility, and individual centrality.

You will be shortly able to download the online version or to acquire a copy via our organization.

Stay tuned
European Festival of Ancient Greece 🇬🇷❤️

***************

CONTENTS

Preface I
Gennaro Terracciano
Preface II
Valentino Berton

The value of agon
-Introduction
-Ancient Greek sport and its cultural-historical context;
-Greek sporting agones: between culture and society;
-Analysis of the norms and rules of sporting agones;
-Conclusions: Greek sport, a legal model for conflict management;
-References.
Emanuele Isidori

-The Greek agon as an educational and pedagogical model against violence
Antonio Sánchez-Pato

-Agon and democracy: a sport philosophical viewpoint
Francisco Javier López Frías

-The heroic agon: sport and moral education in ancient ethics
Heather L. Reid

************

AUTHORS
-Emanuele Isidori
Emanuele Isidori is a full Professor of General and Social Pedagogy at the University of Rome Foro Italico, where he
directs the laboratory of Pedagogy and teaches sports pedagogy, ethics, and the philosophy of sport and Olympic education. He has authored numerous publications in various languages on topics related to the human sciences of sport. Emanuele collaborates and is a member of the scientific committee of Agon, the European Festival of Ancient Greece.

-Antonio Sánchez-Pato
Antonio Sánchez-Pato is a professor and researcher in the fields of Sports Science and Sports Philosophy, boasting an
extensive academic career at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) and UCAM. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Sports Science, and earned his doctorate from the University of A Coruña. He is also a National Athletics Coach certified by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation. Throughout his career, he has been the principal investigator on numerous projects and has actively participated in international conferences, lectures, and seminars. An author of a broad array of scholarly works, including scientific articles, book chapters, and complete books, Sánchez Pato has received accolades such as the European Athletics Innovation Award. He has held various academic leadership positions such as Chair of Sports Philosophy, Dean, and Director of several graduate programs. His research focuses on values education, violence in sports, and dual careers, spearheading key initiatives such as the Areté and Nìke research groups.

-Francisco Javier López Frías
Francisco Javier López Frías is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Bioethics at Penn State University in the USA. His research focuses on sports ethics and human enhancement, but he also has a deep interest in political philosophy, normative102 ethics, and applied ethics. He earned his doctorate cm laude in Philosophy, Ethics, and Democracy from the University of Valencia in 2014. Additionally, López Frías is affiliated with the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at his university and collaborates with the Rock Ethics Institute. His specializations include the ethics of doping, the use of human enhancement technologies in sports, and normative theories of sport.

-Heather L. Reid
Heather L. Reid is Scholar in Residence at Exedra Mediterranean Center in Siracusa, Sicily, and Professor Emerita at
Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. She is a 2015 Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, 2018-2020 Fellow of Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington DC, and 2019 Fulbright Scholar at the University of Naples Federico II. She is past president and recipient of the distinguished service and distinguished scholar awards of the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport. Her books include Olympic Philosophy (2020), Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport (2012), Athletics and Philosophy in the Ancient World: Contests of Virtue (2011), and The Philosophical Athlete (2002, 2nd ed. 2019).

PREFACES BY
-Gennaro Terracciano
Full Professor in Administrative and Public Law
Center for the Study of Law and Ethics
University of Rome Foro Italico

-Valentino Berton
President of the European Festival of Ancient Greece, NPO

This book was supported by:
EUROPEAN FESTIVAL OF ANCIENT GREECE NPO AND “FORO ITALICO” UNIVERSITY OF ROME.

PUBLISHED BY SETTE CITTA’
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright owner.