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The Olympic Games (Template:Lang-grc) were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states of Ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. Historical records indicate that they began in 776 BC in Olympia. They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule, until the emperor Theodosius I suppressed them in 394 AD as part of the campaign to impose Christianity as the state religion of Rome. The games were held every four years, or olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies.
During the celebration of the games, an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their countries to the games in safety. The prizes for the victors were olive leaf wreaths or crowns. The games became a political tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rivals. Politicians would announce political alliances at the games, and in times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory. The games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations and artistic competitions. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Sculptors and poets would congregate each olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons.
The ancient Olympics had fewer events than the modern games, and only freeborn Greek men were allowed to participate, although a woman Bilistiche is also mentioned as a winning chariot owner. As long as they met the entrance criteria, athletes from any city-state and Macedon were allowed to participate, although the Hellanodikai, the officials in charge, allowed king Alexander I to participate in the games only after he had proven his Greek ancestry. The games were always held at Olympia rather than alternating to different locations as is the tradition with the modern Olympic Games. Victors at the Olympics were honored, and their feats chronicled for future generations.
History
The games were held to be one of the two central rituals in Ancient Greece, the other being the much older religious festival, the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The games started in Olympia, Greece, in a sanctuary site for the Greek deities near the towns of Elis and Pisa (both in Elis on the peninsula of Peloponnesos). The first games began as an annual foot race of young women in competition for the position of the priestess for the goddess, Hera and a second race was instituted for a consort for the priestess who would participate in the religious traditions at the temple.
The Heraea Games, the first recorded competition for women in the Olympic Stadium, were held as early as the sixth century BC. It originally consisted of foot races only, as did the competition for males. Some texts, including Pausanias's Description of Greece, c. AD 175, state that Hippodameia gathered a group known as the "Sixteen Women" and made them administrators of the Heraea Games, out of gratitude for her marriage to Pelops. Other texts related to the Elis and Pisa conflict indicate that the "Sixteen Women" were peacemakers from Pisa and Elis and, because of their political competence, became administrators of the Heraea. Being the consort of Hera in Classical Greek mythology, Zeus was the father of the deities in the pantheon of that era. The Sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia housed a 13-metre-high (43 ft) statue in ivory and gold of Zeus that had been sculpted by Phidias circa 445 BC. This statue was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. By the time of the Classical Greek culture, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the games were restricted to male participants.
The historian Ephorus, who lived in the fourth century BC, is one potential candidate for establishing the use of Olympiads to count years, although credit for codifying this particular epoch usually falls to Hippias of Elis, to Eratosthenes, or even to Timaeus, whom Eratosthenes may have imitated. The Olympic Games were held at four-year intervals, and later, the ancient historians' method of counting the years even referred to these games, using the term Olympiad for the period between two games. Previously, the local dating systems of the Greek states were used (they continued to be used by everyone except the historians), which led to confusion when trying to determine dates. For example, Diodorus states that there was a solar eclipse in the third year of the 113th Olympiad, which must be the eclipse of 316 BC. This gives a date of (mid-summer) 765 BC for the first year of the first Olympiad. Nevertheless, there is disagreement among scholars as to when the games began.
The only competition held then was, according to the later Greek traveller Pausanias who wrote in 175 AD., the stadion race, a race over about 190 metres (620 ft), measured after the feet of Hercules. The word stadium is derived from this foot race.
The Greek tradition of athletic nudity (gymnos) was introduced in 720 BC, either by the Spartans or by the Megarian Orsippus, and this was adopted early in the Olympics as well.
Several groups fought over control of the sanctuary at Olympia, and hence the games, for prestige and political advantage. Pausanias later writes that in 668 BC, Pheidon of Argos was commissioned by the town of Pisa to capture the sanctuary from the town of Elis, which he did and then personally controlled the games for that year. The next year, Elis regained control.
The Olympic Games were part of the Panhellenic Games, four separate games held at two- or four-year intervals, but arranged so that there was at least one set of games every year. The Olympic Games were more important and more prestigious than the Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Games.
The games were in decline for many years but continued past 385 AD, by which time flooding and earth quakes had damaged the buildings and invasions by barbarians had reached Olympia. In 394 Theodosius I banned all pagan festivals, but archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held.
Culture
The ancient Olympics were as much a religious festival as an athletic event. The games were held in honor of the Greek god Zeus, and on the middle day of the games, 100 oxen would be sacrificed to him. Over time Olympia, site of the games, became a central spot for the worship of the head of the Greek pantheon and a temple, built by the Greek architect Libon was erected on the mountaintop. The temple was one of the largest Doric temples in Greece. The sculptor Pheidias created a statue of the god made of gold and ivory. It stood 42 feet (13 m) tall. It was placed on a throne in the temple. The statue became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. As the historian Strabo put it,
"... the glory of the temple persisted ... on account both of the festal assembly and of the Olympian Games, in which the prize was a crown and which were regarded as sacred, the greatest games in the world. The temple was adorned by its numerous offerings, which were dedicated there from all parts of Greece."
Artistic expression was a major part of the games. Sculptors, poets and other artisans would come to the games to display their works in what became an artistic competition. Sculptors created works like Myron's Diskobolos or Discus Thrower. Their aim was to highlight natural human movement and the shape of muscles and the body. Poets would be commissioned to write prose in honor of the Olympic victors. These poems, known as Epinicians, were passed on from generation to generation and many of them have lasted far longer than any other honor made for the same purpose. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, one of the founders of the modern Olympic Games, wanted to fully imitate the ancient Olympics in every way. Included in his vision was to feature an artistic competition modeled on the ancient Olympics and held every four years, during the celebration of the Olympic Games. His desire came to fruition at the Olympics held in Athens in 1896.
Politics
Power in ancient Greece became centered around the city-state in the 8th century BC. The city-state was a population center organized into a self-contained political entity. These city-states often lived in close proximity to each other, which created competition for limited resources. Though conflict between the city-states was ubiquitous, it was also in their self-interest to engage in trade, military alliances and cultural interaction. The city-states had a dichotomous relationship with each other: On one hand, they relied on their neighbors for political and military alliances, while on the other they competed fiercely with those same neighbors for vital resources. The Olympic Games were established in this political context and served as a venue for representatives of the city-states to peacefully compete against each other.
In the first 200 years of the games' existence, they only had regional religious importance. Only Greeks in proximity to the mountain competed in these early games. This is evidenced by the dominance of Peloponnesian athletes in the victors' rolls. The spread of Greek colonies in the 5th and 6th centuries BC is repeatedly linked to successful Olympic athletes. For example, Pausanias recounts that Cyrene was founded c. 630 BC by settlers from Thera with Spartan support. The support Sparta gave was primarily the loan of three-time Olympic champion Chionis. The appeal of settling with an Olympic champion helped to populate the colonies and maintain cultural and political ties with the city-states near Olympia. Thus, Hellenistic culture and the games spread while the primacy of Olympia persisted.
The games faced a serious challenge during the Peloponnesian War, which primarily pitted Athens against Sparta, but, in reality, touched nearly every Hellenistic city-state. The Olympics were used during this time to announce alliances and offer sacrifices to the gods for victory.
During the Olympic Games, a truce, or ekecheiria was observed. Three runners, known as spondophoroi were sent from Elis to the participant cities at each set of games to announce the beginning of the truce. During this period, armies were forbidden from entering Olympia, wars were suspended, and legal disputes and the use of the death penalty were forbidden. The truce was primarily designed to allow athletes and visitors to travel safely to the games and was, for the most part, observed. Thucydides wrote of a situation when the Spartans were forbidden from attending the games, and the violators of the truce were fined 2,000 minae for assaulting the city of Lepreum during the period of the ekecheiria. The Spartans disputed the fine and claimed that the truce had not yet taken hold.
While a martial truce was observed by all participating city-states, no such reprieve from conflict existed in the political arena. The Olympic Games evolved the most influential athletic and cultural stage in ancient Greece, and arguably in the ancient world. As such the games became a vehicle for city-states to promote themselves. The result was political intrigue and controversy. For example, Pausanias, a Greek historian, explains the situation of the athlete Sotades,
"Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans."
Famous athletes
- from Sparta
- Cynisca of Sparta (owner of a four-horse chariot) (first woman to be listed as an Olympic victor)
- from Rhodes:
- Diagoras of Rhodes (boxing 79th Olympiad, 464 BC) and his sons Akusilaos and Damagetos (boxing and pankration)
- Leonidas of Rhodes (running: stadion, diaulos and hoplitodromos)
- from Croton:
- Astylos of Croton (running: stadion, diaulos and hoplitodromos)
- Milo of Croton (wrestling)
- Stanliobos of Croton (stadion)
- Timasitheos of Croton (wrestling)
- from other cities:
- Koroibos of Elis (stadion, the very first Olympic champion)
- Orsippus of Megara (running: diaulos)
- Theagenes of Thasos (boxer, pankratiast and runner)
- non-Greek:
- Tiberius (steerer of a four-horse chariot)
- Nero (steerer of a ten-horse chariot)
- Varastades, Prince and future King of Armenia, last known Ancient Olympic victor (boxing) during the 291st Olympic Games in the 4th century
Olympic festivals in other places
Main article: Ancient Olympics in various placesAthletic festivals under the name of "Olympic games", named in imitation of the original festival at Olympia, were established over time in various places all over the Greek world. Some of these are only known to us by inscriptions and coins; but others, as the Olympic festival at Antioch, obtained great celebrity. After these Olympic festivals had been established in several places, the great Olympic festival itself was sometimes designated in inscriptions by the addition of Pisa.
Ancient Olympic Games in literature
- The Olympian: A Tale of Ancient Hellas by E.S. Kraay, ISBN 1439201676.
See also
- Pindar
- Epinikion
- Heraea Games
- Olympic Games
- Nemean Games
- Isthmian Games
- Panathenaic Games
- Olympic Games ceremony
- Archaeological Museum of Olympia
- Ludi, the Roman games influenced by Greek traditions
- New Testament athletic metaphors
- Prizes
Notes
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
- David Sansone, Ancient Greek civilization, Wiley-Blackwell, 2003, p.32
- Robert Malcolm Errington, A history of Macedonia, University of California Press, 1990, p.3
- Joseph Roisman, Ian Worthington, A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p.16
- ^ "The Ancient Olympics". The Perseus Project. Tufts University. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - "The Ancient Olympic Games". HickokSports. 2005-02-04. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Pausanias: v. 16. 2
- Pindar: Pythian Odes ix
- Plutarch, Numa Pompilius 1.4
- Dionysius, 1.74-1-3. Little remains of Eratosthenes' Chronographiae, but its academic influence is clearly demonstrated here in the Roman Antiquities by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
- Denis Feeney in Caesar's Calendar: Ancient Time and the Beginnings of History. (Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 2007), 84.
- "The Athletics of the Ancient Olympics: A Summary and Research Tool" by Kotynski, p.3 (Quote used with permission). For the calculation of the date, see Kotynski footnote 6.
- See, for example, Alfred Mallwitz's article "Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia" p.101 in which he argues that the games may not have started until about 704 BC. Hugh Lee, on the other hand, in his article "The 'First' Olympic Games of 776 B.C.E" p.112, follows an ancient source that claims that there were twenty-seven Olympiads before the first one was recorded in 776. There are no records of Olympic victors extant from earlier than the fifth century BC.
- N.Yalouris.1976.The Olympic Games-through the ages.Print
- David C. Young (15 April 2008). A Brief History of the Olympic Games. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 135–. ISBN 978-0-470-77775-6. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- Tony Perrottet (8 June 2004). The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 190–. ISBN 978-1-58836-382-4. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- Stanton, 2000, pp.3–4
- Stanton, 2000, p. 17
- Hansen, 2006, p. 9
- Hansen, 2006, pp.9–10
- Hansen, 2006, p.10
- Hansen, 2006, p.114
- Raschke, 1988, p. 23
- Spivey, 2005, p.172
- Spivey, 2005, pp.182–183
- Lendering, Jona. "Peloponnesian War". Livius, Articles on Ancient History. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Thucydides (431 BC). The History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 5. Translated by Richard Crawley. The Internet Classics Archive. ISBN 0-525-26035-8. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Swaddling, 1999, p.11
- Strassler & Hanson, 1996, pp.332–333
- Kyle, 2007, p. 8
- Tiberius, AD 1 or earlier – cf. Ehrenberg & Jones, Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Augustus and Tiberius p. 73 (n.78)
- 369 according to Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece by Nigel Wilson, 2006, Routledge (UK) or 385 according to Classical Weekly by Classical Association of the Atlantic States
- William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1875 – ancientlibrary.com
References
- Hansen, Mogens Herman (2006). Polis, an Introduction to the Ancient Greek City-State. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-920849-2. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- Hanson, Victor Davis; Strassler, Robert B. (1996). The Landmark Thucydides. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-9087-3. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- Kotynski, Edward J. The Athletics of the Ancient Olympics: A Summary and Research Tool. 2006. (Archived 2009-10-25); new link
- Kyle, Donald G. (2007). Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-22970-4. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- Mallowitz, Alfred. Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia. Raschke 79–109.
- Miller, Stephen. "The Date of Olympic Festivals". Mitteilungen: Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung. Vol. 90 (1975): 215–237.
- Raschke, Wendy J., ed. (1988). The Archaeology of the Olympics: the Olympics and Other Festivals in Antiquity. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin University Press. ISBN 978-0-299-11334-6. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Spivey, Nigel (2005). The Ancient Olympics. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280433-2. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- Stanton, Richard (2000). The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions:The story of the Olympic art competitions of the 20th century. Victoria, Canada: Trafford. ISBN 1-55212-606-4. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- Swaddling, Judith (1999). The ancient Olympic Games. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-77751-5. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- Tufts – "Women and the Games"
- Ancient Olympics. Research by K. U. Leuven and Peking University
External links
- The Ancient Olympic Games virtual museum (requires registration)
- Olympiakoi Agones
- Ancient Olympics: General and detailed information
- The Ancient Olympics: A special exhibit
- The story of the Ancient Olympic Games
- Heraea Games
- The origin of the Olympics
- Olympia and Macedonia: Games,Gymnasia and Politics. Thomas F. Scanlon, professor of Classics, University of California
- List of Macedonian Olympic winners (in Greek)
- Webquest The ancient and modern Olympic Games
- Goddess Nike and the Olympic Games: Excellence, Glory and Strife
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