<P> The regulation of the Athenian gymnasium is attributed by Pausanias (i . 39 . 3) to Theseus . Solon made several laws on the subject; according to Galen these were reduced to a workable system of management in the time of Cleisthenes (late 6th century and early 5th century BC). While the origins of physical exercise regimes cannot be pinpointed, the practice of exercising in the nude had its beginnings in the 7th century BC . The same purpose is frequently attributed to the tradition of oiling the body, a custom so costly that it required significant public and private subsidies (the practice was the largest expense in gymnasia). </P> <P> The ancient Greek gymnasium soon became a place for more than exercise . This development arose through recognition by the Greeks of the strong relation between athletics, education and health . Accordingly, the gymnasium became connected with education on the one hand and medicine on the other . Physical training and maintenance of health and strength were the chief parts of children's earlier education . Except for time devoted to letters and music, the education of young men was solely conducted in the gymnasium, where provisions were made not only for physical pedagogy but for instruction in morals and ethics . As pupils grew older, informal conversation and other forms of social activity took the place of institutional, systematic discipline . Since the gymnasia were favorite resorts of youth, they were frequented by teachers, especially philosophers . Philosophers and sophists frequently assembled to hold talks and lectures in the gymnasia; thus the institution became a resort for those interested in less structured intellectual pursuits in addition to those using the place for training in physical exercises . </P> <P> In Athens there were three great public gymnasia: the Academy, the Lyceum and the Cynosarges, each of which was dedicated to a deity whose statue adorned the structure . Each of the three was rendered famous by association with a celebrated school of philosophy . Antisthenes founded a school at the Cynosarges, from which some say the name Cynic derives; Plato founded a school that gathered at the Academy, after which the school was named, making the gymnasium famous for hundreds of years; and at the Lyceum, Aristotle founded the Peripatetic school . </P> <P> Plato considered gymnastics to be an important part of education (see Republic iii. and parts of Laws) and according to him it was the sophist Prodicus who first pointed out the connection between gymnastics and health . Having found gymnastic exercises beneficial to his own weak constitution, Prodicus formulated a method that became generally accepted and was subsequently improved by Hippocrates . Galen also put great stress on the proper and frequent use of gymnastics . Throughout other ancient Greek medical writings special exercises are prescribed as cures for specific diseases, showing the extent to which the Greeks considered health and fitness connected . The same connection is commonly suggested by experts today . </P>

The school of gymnastics is called in athens as