Olympic Games Show Archaeologies of the Greek Past
Posted at Dec 09/2007 06:30PM:
Posted at Dec 10/2007 09:12PM:
The only event at the first games was the stade, a 210 yard long race. Stade is also the origin of the English word stadium. Later on more events were added, as you may have guessed as we have all seen modern day Olympic games. Next came the diaulos, somewhat like a 400 meter race and later a dolichos, which consisted of longer races that ranged from 1,500 to 5,000 meters. Soon after came wrestling and the introduction of the pentathlon, a five event competition consisting of the long jump, discus throw, footrace, wrestling and javelin throw. The Olympic games continued to grow as the number of events increased and the festival went from 1 day to 5 days and so on. The last day was a day of celebration and devotion to Zeus. The Olympic games grew to include: boxing, pancratium (no hold bared fighting), chariot and horse races that took place in the hippodrome just south of the stadium. The competitions were restricted to only freeborn Greeks. They took place in Olympia’s stadium and hippodrome. As time went on and Greece became more successful on a global stand new buildings were built in Olmypia in support of the games or in relationship with them. However, some things did not change with time, athletes still participated in the nude, which baffles scholars of the modern day. Although many game to participate in the games, no women or non-Greek speaking peoples were allowed to participate. Women could enter their horses or chariots in the chariot races, but that was their largest part in the games. This did mean that they shared in victory if they won, and many did. Furthermore, athletes trained for these events rigorously for years and years for only a wreath or garland if they won. The real prize was the title that came with winning and social status you were perceived with. In addition, the games continued to occur every four years. Countries stopped waging wars to observe the games, that is how important they were. One day you are fighting against a nation for land and wealth, and you stop that to participate in the games against them in a civilized manner. Olympia being a sanctuary helped because it became extremely wealthy and seen as an extremely important religious staple in the ancient world. Many countries competed and fought over Olympia for the political influence and wealth associated with the city and the games.
Posted at Dec 10/2007 09:19PM:
Unfortunately, the games became doomed when Greece succumbed to Rome in the 2nd century AD. The Romans never participated in the games, but realized their importance and kept them around for that reason. However, the Romans viewed the games as public affairs and an opportunity for festival. A more spectator favored outlook you could say. The Greeks focused mainly on the competitors taking place in the games, and held the games as the highest competitions amongst men at the time. The games were a place where heroes were born and men tested themselves beyond imagination. As Roman influence continued to grow with time, the Olympic Games were done away with. Emperor Theodosius I banned the games in 393 AD in order to promote Christianity. He deemed the games equivalent to paganism and had them done away with. But the Olympic Games and what they represented were too strong to be kept down. It took a long time, but in the mid 1800’s the Greek Revival Movement helped spawn the idea to bring the Olympic Games back. Long story short, the Olympics are back and better than ever. There is an impressive amount of competitions ranging from ski shooting to the original footraces held at Olympia 3000 years earlier. The competition is open to all people, and is seen as one of the highest honors an athlete can ever achieve; being chosen by your country to represent your people on the biggest stage in the world. The games have been split into the summer and winter, which are held every 4 years starting two years apart (summer Olympics, 2 years later winter, 2 years later summer, etc…). The Olympic Games have evolved into a healthy stage for the highest level of competition. The Games promote peace and healthy competition among other values. They have been extremely successful in their return and are a universally unifying event all people can be apart of and enjoy.
The ancient Olympic Games were a sporting event held every four years at the sacred site of Olympia, in the western Peloponnese, in honour of Zeus, the supreme god of the Greek religion. The games, held from 776 BCE to 393 CE, involved participants and spectators from all over Greece and even beyond. The Olympic Games were the most important cultural event in ancient Greece and they ran for 293 consecutive Olympiads. So important were the Games in the ancient world that they were even used as a basis for the calendar. Sporting events were originally associated with funeral rituals, particularly those of heroes and the fallen in battle, for example, the games for Patroklos in Homer's Iliad. At Olympia, in particular, some mythological accounts credit Zeus with beginning the Games to celebrate his victory over Kronos whilst other accounts state the hero Pelops began them in honour of Oinomaos. In any case, sport, a healthy body and the competitive spirit were a large part of Greek education and so it is hardly surprising that organised athletic competitions would at some point be created, as they had been in the earlier Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. Sport, a healthy body & the competitive spirit were a large part of Greek education. The first Olympics were held from 776 BCE at the first full moon after the summer solstice (around the middle of July) in honour of Zeus. The winner of the first and only event, the stadion foot-race was Koroibos of Elis and from then on every victor was recorded and each Olympiad named after them, thus giving us the first accurate chronology of the ancient Greek world. An Olympiad was not only the name of the event itself but also of the period between games. During a three-month pan-Hellenic truce, athletes and as many as 40,000 spectators came from all over Greece to participate in the Games at Olympia. Later, other games would be organised at other sacred sites such as Delphi, Isthmia and Nemea but the Olympian Games would remain the most prestigious. The Games started with a procession which went from the host town of Elis to Olympia, led by the Hellanodikai (judges) and on arrival at Olympia all athletes and officials swore an oath to follow the established rules of the competitions and to compete with honour and respect. The most important religious ceremony of the event was the sacrifice of 100 oxen, known as the hecatomb, at the altar of Zeus, carried out when the sporting events were over. Heralds (spondophoroi) were sent from Elis to advertise the coming of the Games across Greece. Spectators came from not only the Greek mainland but also the islands, Ionia and Magna Graecia. To facilitate the movement of spectators and athletes and in respect of the religious importance of the Games a sacred truce (ekecheiria) was called across Greece. Initially, the truce was for one month but in later centuries it was extended to three. No wars were permitted, no arms could be carried in the territory of Elis and no hindrance was to be given to any spectator, athlete or theoriai - (the official missions representing particular cities) travelling to the games from wherever they came from and whichever territory they had to cross. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! The site of Olympia must have been positively buzzing during a Games with mass crowds of excited spectators staying in make-shift camp sites (only later was accommodation provided for the visitors) and admiring the masses of fine statues and buildings at the site. Food vendors, craftsmen, musicians, poets and philosophers took full advantage of the crowds to publicise their wares or ideas. Just how many spectators attended each Games is unknown but we do know that around 45,000 spectators consisting of men, slaves and foreigners sat and watched from the embankments of the stadium which hosted the main events. Spectators actively participated in the events through their boisterous support of the athletes and after each event they showered flowers and laurel leaves on the victors. Stadium Entrance, Olympia Women were not permitted to participate in or watch the events although young girls were allowed in the crowd. There was a single exception to this rule, the priestess of Demeter Chamyne. A famous breach of the men only rule was the case of Kallipateira. She had trained her son Peisirodos and when he won his race his mother, celebrating a little too exuberantly in the crowd, loosened her clothes and revealed her sex. She escaped the prescribed punishment of the death penalty because she came from a family of great Olympic victors but from then on all trainers had to be naked - like the athletes - to avoid such an occurrence in the future. The AthletesWho of men today has been adorned with so many petals and myrtles and crowns of rose thanks to his victory in the Games? Simonides' ode to Astylos Athletes trained under the watchful eye of a professional trainer (gymnastes) or physical trainer (paidotribes) who knew how to best develop particular muscles, the best diet and the correct amount of exercises to be done. Trainers were often thanked by their more successful athletes by the dedication of a statue of them at the site. Athletes also had an aleiptes who rubbed them down with oil and massaged them both before exercising and after. The athletes competed naked, probably for complete freedom of movement. Events were open to all free Greek males and the list of victors illustrates just how pan-Hellenic the Games were with athletes coming from all parts of Greece and in Roman times the no-foreigner rule for athletes was relaxed. Victors were those who beat all other competitors. There are practically no records of times and distances achieved by victorious athletes as these were simply not considered important, the idea was to be first amongst the best, not to beat records. The Stadion FootraceFor the first 12 Olympics the stadion foot-race was the only event and it remained the most prestigious event throughout the history of the Games. The race was ran over one length (a stadion) of the stadium track, 600 ancient feet or 192 m and preliminary heats were held with heat winners going into the final. Athletes were grouped by lot and in the interest of fairness this was also the way pairings were matched in the other events. The eventual winner of the stadion would even give his name to that particular Games and so be remembered for all time. Other Sporting EventsOver time other events were added to the Games to bring the total programme to 18 events spread over five days:
Competition Rules & JudgesAthletes had to arrive at Olympia one month before the Games for training and, further, they had to declare that they had been in training for at least ten months. Non-Greeks, slaves, murderers, those convicted of defiling temples and all those who had not respected the truce were excluded from participating. Indeed, cities could be included in the latter category, for example, Sparta in 420 BCE. The Hellanodikai Judges had the power to disqualify & fine athletes for any infringement of the rules. The events were supervised by trained judges from Elis, the Hellanodikai (or agonothetai) who also had various assistants such as the alytai (police officers). For the first 49 Olympics there was only one judge but he was joined by others to reach a peak of twelve, distributed amongst the various events. Originally, the office was hereditary and for life but later judges were selected from Elis by lot. The Hellanodikai had the power to disqualify and fine athletes for any infringement of the rules and, wearing their purple cloaks, they were given special seats of honour in the stadium. The decisions of the Hellanodikai could never be revoked but the judges were themselves subject to judgment from a council of elders and should an athlete successfully appeal, the judge concerned could be fined. Rules were very rarely broken and when they were penalties were imposed ranging from exclusion and fines to flogging. Fines were paid both to the sanctuary and the wronged athlete. If an offender did not pay the fine then the city he represented had to or else be excluded from the next Games. Revenue from fines was in part used to erect statues of Zeus known as zanes and a number of the bases of these statues can still be seen at the site today. Olympic PrizesThe Hellanodikai also gave out the victory crown (kotinos) of wild olive leaves and an olive branch cut from the sacred tree (Kallistephanos) to each event winner. The olive was significant because the trees of Olympia were believed to have been originally planted by Hercules. Another prize could be a red woollen ribbon which was worn on the upper arm or around the head, especially for chariot racers as it was the horse owner who actually received the olive crown. Victors were welcomed back to their hometowns as heroes after the Games. Typically entering the city in a procession where they rode a four-horse chariot, the victors had huge banquets held in their honour and they could receive additional benefits such as exemption from tax and invitations to join the political elite. Cities also received prestige from victories at the Games and for this reason they sometimes offered financial incentives for athletes such as Solon's 500 drachmas prize (a substantial sum considering one sheep cost one drachma at the time). However, the real prize for athletes was glory, fame and, in a very real sense, historical immortality. This was achieved through renown whilst still alive but was perpetuated after death via victor's lists, personal statues and victory odes written in the victor's honour. Famous OlympiansThere were many great athletes who won fame and glory in multiple Games. Kroton from southern Italy won three consecutive stadion races from 488 to 480 BCE. Phanas of Pellene managed to win three events in the Olympics of 521 BCE - the stadion, diaulos and the race in armour. Leonidas of Rhodes went even better and managed to win all three events in four consecutive Olympics between 164 and 152 BCE. A feat almost matched by Hermogenes of Xanthos, known as 'the horse' who won eight running events over three Olympics between 81 and 89 CE. Milon of Kroton won the wrestling competition five times from 532 to 516 BCE and the runner Astylos of Kroton won six crowns across the three Olympics of 488, 484 and 480 BCE. Finally, Herodoros of Megara won an incredible ten consecutive trumpet competitions from 328 to 292 BCE. The Games and their prestige also attracted famous competitors from outside the sporting world. The great Athenian general and statesman Alcibiades won three chariot races in 416 BCE. Philip II of Macedon won the horse race in 356 BCE and repeated his winning streak in the chariot races of the 352 and 348 BCE Games. Also, Roman emperor Nero famously won every event he entered in 65 CE. These powerful political leaders even sought to milk the prestige of their successes at Olympia by minting coins to commemorate their victories. The first woman to win the crown of victory was Kyniska in 392 BCE. Although women were not permitted to compete, they could own horses and it was the owner who won the olive crown prize. Many other women went on to emulate Kyniska and Spartan women, in particular, enjoyed a high reputation in the equestrian events at Olympia. End of the GamesThe Games continued through the Hellenistic period with more buildings added to the site, greater comforts offered for the spectators and an increase in the professionalism and event specialisation of the athletes. In Roman times, although there were some changes to tradition such as Sulla's moving of the 80 BCE Games to Rome, the Games continued to be popular and their prestige increased under hellenophile emperors such as Hadrian. However, it was Emperor Theodosios who finally decreed that all cult practices, including Games, be stopped and the final Olympics was held in 393 CE after a run of 293 Olympics over more than a millennium.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Become a Member DonateSubmitted by Mark Cartwright, published on 13 March 2018. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
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Which of the following was a requirement for participation in the ancient Olympic Games
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