# Have human societies always had celebrities? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-human-societies-always-had-celebrities/978957 "2023-01-28T19:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-human-societies-always-had-celebrities/978957/21 "2023-02-05T22:04:14Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I found this bit of reading which might shed some light on your question Awesome! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-human-societies-always-had-celebrities/978957/22 "2023-02-05T22:44:18Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > And when did acting/singing/performing becoming the most obvious and direct route to fame? Other than those who are celebrities due to being a ruler, I think this has always been the case due to the nature of entertaining. Entertainers, even in the days before radio, TV, and the internet, have the advantage that their professional activities are not limited to interacting with one person at a time. A doctor can only treat one patient at a time. A plumber can only unclog one toilet at a time. An accountant can only do one persons taxes at a time, and so on. Entertainers, however, could entertain live crowds in the tens of thousands even in the old days, and can now reach billions thanks to the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-human-societies-always-had-celebrities/978957/23 "2023-02-06T02:17:56Z")
Furthermore, entertainers are often portraying characters that audiences feel strongly about, in exciting and memorable situations. Even if your plumber is absolutely the greatest artist with a pipe wrench who ever lived, you are not likely to feel as captivated and emotionally involved by watching them tinker with your plumbing as you are by watching Tosca stab Scarpia, or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-human-societies-always-had-celebrities/978957/24 "2023-02-06T22:55:04Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Other than those who are celebrities due to being a ruler, I think this has always been the case due to the nature of entertaining. Probably also athletes, in addition to actors/singers. Though you might be considering them a sort of entertainer. And of course, the sport(s) the athletes are competing in would vary across time and space. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-human-societies-always-had-celebrities/978957/25 "2023-02-07T09:08:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Probably also athletes, Olympic/Panhellenic athletes, certainly. I mean, you don’t _[raise statues](https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias6A.html)_ to nobodies. Well, I guess the nobodies could have raised the statues with their own money, but Pausanias certainly seemed to know who they were, and all the hot gossip about them. And several known sculptors [apparently specialized in athlete portrait statues](http://www.fhw.gr/olympics/ancient/en/207b.html), so it was a thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-human-societies-always-had-celebrities/978957.md?page=1)