Ancient+Olympics


 * The Historic Games **
 * By: Kelly **

The first recorded Olympic Game was dated back around 776 B.C. Olympic Games brought almost every city-state in Greece to come together and share each other’s talents. Greeks invented these athletic contests to honor their gods. Where and when was the first Olympics held? How long were the Olympics? What was the most popular event or unusual? Who were some famous athletes? Who was eligible to compete? Why couldn’t woman compete in the Olympics? You will find out all these answers in this paper. The Olympics seemed to have begun before 776 B.C. They believe the first Olympics were held at Olympia. Greek nationals from all over Greece would come and compete. The first day of the Olympics was devoted to religious sacrifices. Every athlete went to Zeus’s sanctuary and sacrificed one pig and a black ram to Pelops. At the temple of Hera, they had an eternal flame of fire that was never to be lit out. On the second day, the games would begin or more like game. At that time, there was only 1 athletic competition and it was a running race. You would sprint a 170 meter long track and the first one to cross the finish line first would win. The men would run naked because they believed they could run faster if they were “free of clothes.” Eventually the games would expand and become more popular (Carr).

As the games became more and more popular, the Greeks decided to make the Olympics last longer and add more games. Now they decided to have the Olympics take place in 4 different places; Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea. They called the games in Olympia; the Olympic Games they called the games in Delphi; the Pythian Games, the games in Corinth were called; the Isthmian Games and the games in Nemea were called; the Nemean Games. The Pythian Games were in honor of Apollo and these games were held every four years. The Isthmian Games were held in honor of Poseidon and were held every two years. The Nemean games were held in honor of Zeus and were held every two years. Each location had a different Athlon, or prize to award to the winner. Crowns of bay-leaves were given to the winner in the Pythian Games. A crown of celery-leaves would be awarded to the champion in the Isthmian and Nemean Games. And last but not least, the winner of an Olympian event would receive an olive wreath (Martin). In 700 B.C, they added wrestling and the pentathlon. The pentathlon means five events. The first four events were running, javelin, discus and jumping. A Javelin event is throwing a large spear to a faraway target and a discus was throwing a heavy bronze ball as far as you could. Most of the competitors in the games were fairly rich because they had to afford a trainer. Wrestling became a very popular sport. The first wrestler to every win 6 matches at Olympia was Milo of Crotona. By this time, the games took up five days, two for religious ceremonies and three for the events, people began coming from faraway cities and the games got richer, so they started to give money as prizes instead of wreaths(Faliro).

One really interesting event that was held at the Olympics was Chariot Racing. Chariot Racing was when a man was pulled on a two-wheeled cart drawn by one or more horses. The chariots were made out of wood, leather, bone, ivory, bronze, copper or iron. This event became part of the Olympics in 680 B.C and became very popular. Only rich people could afford these horses, chariots and to pay the rider. If the rider was to win, the prize would be given to the owner of the horse(s), not the rider. A four horse chariot race was called a quadriga race. This was a very spectacular event and was definitely a status of wealth for the owners. All Chariot Races were held in domes called Hippodromes (Gardiner).

Some very famous athletes that competed were Milo of Crotona, Lichas of Sparta, Theogenes of Thasos and Astylus. Lichas was a Spartan who was banded from the Olympics. He then entered his chariot horse and changed his name. When his rider and horse won he ran onto the arena and was discovered. The judges sentenced him to be flogged, or beaten very badly. Astylus was a runner who won three Olympic victories. Theogenes of Thasos was a boxer who won 1300 titles in the course of 22 years! He became a very popular boxer (Green). 

Who was eligible to compete in the Olympics? Not everyone in Ancient Greece was allowed to compete. Only men, who were Greek nationals, free citizens and not criminals. Also they had to be chosen to represent their city-state. If someone was to violate those rules, they would be sentenced to prison or even to death (Woff). They took these games very seriously. Once you were selected to be a part of the games, there were more rules. They had to have trained for no more than ten months, have a trainer and arrive to the games one month before they started (so they can practice and train together). When the men arrive one month before the games  , they were to eat together and sleep together. The men were to follow very strict rules (Green). 

Women were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. They were not even allowed to watch or attend the games. If a woman was caught disguised as a man or trying to enter, she would be punished and sentenced to death. A separate women’s festival, the Heraia, was held in honor of Hera, Zeus’s wife. Like the Olympics, the Heraia was held every 4 years but, the only event they had was a foot race. Only women were allowed to compete in this event. Unlike men, who competed in the nude, the women would wear a short dress called chiton. The women would sacrifice a cow to Heraia. Whoever won the race, she would eat part of the cow she sacrificed and Hera would gain her strength. The winner would also receive an olive branch (Lahanas).

The Olympics dated back to before 776 B.C, and to imagine that now in the 21st century, we are using their simple idea to share talents and come together as one nation and celebrate each countries aptitude towards athletic contests. The Olympic Games has brought peace and ability towards our world.

WORKS CITED 1. "Ancient Greece - Olympic Games." //Ancient Greece - History, Mythology, Art, War, Culture, Society, and Architecture.// University Press Inc., 2008. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. .

2. Carr, Karen. "Greek Olympic Games - History for Kids!" //Kidipede - History for Kids - Homework Help for Middle School//. Portland University State Press., 1998. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. .

3. Faliro, Paleo. "The Olympics Games Greece - History of the Olympics." //Greece Hotels Greece Travel Guide Greek Islands Hotels Greece Holidays//. All Around Greece, 2002. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://www.aroundgreece.com/ancient-greece-history/olympic-games-greece.php>.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">4. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Gardiner, Norman//. The Journal of Hellenic Studies//, Vol. 25, pp. 263-293, 2004

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">5. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Green, E. Linda//. The Classical Journal//, Vol. 13, No. 4. pp. 267-271, February 2007

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">6. Lahanas, Michael. "Ancient Greek Olympic Games." //Hellenica, Information about Greece and Cyprus, Michael Lahanas//. 2006. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://mlahanas.de/Greeks/Olympic.htm>.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">7. Martin, Philip. "The Ancient Greek Olympics." //Ancient Greece for Kids//. 12 Mar. 2009. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://greece.mrdonn.org/olympics.html>.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">8. Woff, Richard. "Ancient Greek Olympics and Women." //Greek Olympics//. Oxford University Press, Sept. 2000. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <http://www.fjkluth.com/olympic.html>.