Cynisca

Cynisca, a wealthy woman, was the daughter of the Spartan ruler Archidamus and the sister of Agis II, who succeeded her father. She was among the first women to breed horses and the first to gain an Olympic victory.

At the beginning of the fourth century BC, when the owner of the horses and the racing driver no longer needed to be the same person, the races opened to women. Cynisca’s horses won the fourhorse chariot race and two other victories. Her name was inscribed on the victor lists.

She erected a memorial of bronze horses at Olympia to celebrate her victory, as well a statue of herself in Elis sculpted by Apelles.