The Olympic Games (Greek: Ολυμπιακοί αγώνες, "Olympiakoi Agones") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The first Olympics is traditionally dated to 776 BC.[citation needed] They continued to be celebrated when Greece came underRoman 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,[2] although a woman, Bilistiche, is also mentioned as a winning chariot owner. As long as they met the entrance criteria, athletes from any Greek city-state and kingdom were allowed to participate, although theHellanodikai, the officials in charge, allowed king Alexander I to participate in the games only after he had proven his Greek ancestry.[3][4] The games were always held at Olympia rather than alternating to different locations as is the tradition with the modern Olympic Games.[5] Victors at the Olympics were honored, and their feats chronicled for future generations.
Origins[edit]
To the Greeks, it was important to root the Olympic Games in mythology.[6] During the time of the ancient games their origins were attributed to the gods, and competing legends persisted as to who actually was responsible for the genesis of the games.[7] These origin traditions have become nearly impossible to untangle, yet a chronology and patterns have arisen that help people understand the story behind the games.[8]
The earliest myths regarding the origin of the games are recounted by the Greek historian, Pausanias. According to the story, the dactyl Herakles (not to be confused with the son of Zeus) and four of his brothers, Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius and Idas, raced at Olympia to entertain the newborn Zeus. He crowned the victor with an olive tree wreath (which thus became a peace symbol), which also explains the four year interval, bringing the games around every fifth year (counting inclusively).[9][10] The other Olympian gods (so named because they lived permanently on Mount Olympus) would also engage in wrestling, jumping and running contests.[11]
Another myth of the origin of the games is the story of Pelops, a local Olympian hero. The story of Pelops begins with Oenomaus, the king of Pisa, Greece, who had a beautiful daughter named Hippodamia. According to an oracle, the king would be killed by her husband. Therefore, he decreed that any young man who wanted to marry his daughter was required to drive away with her in his chariot, and Oenomaus would follow in another chariot and spear the suitor if he caught up with them. Now, the king's chariot horses were a present from the god Poseidon and were therefore supernaturally fast. Pelops was a very handsome young man and the king's daughter fell in love with him. Before the race, she persuaded her father's charioteer Myrtilus to replace the bronze axle pins of the king's chariot with wax ones. Naturally, during the race the wax melted and the king fell from his chariot and was killed. At the same time the king's palace was struck by lightning and reduced to ashes, save for one wooden pillar that was revered in the Altis for centuries, and stood near what was to be the site of the temple of Zeus. Pelops was proclaimed the winner and married Hippodamia. After his victory, Pelops organized chariot races as thanksgiving to the gods and as funeral games in honor of King Oenomaus, in order to be purified of his death. It was from this funeral race held at Olympia that the beginnings of the Olympic Games were inspired. Pelops became a great king, a local hero, and gave his name to the Peloponnese.
One other myth, this one occurring after the aforementioned myth, is attributed to Pindar. He claims the festival at Olympia involved Herakles, the son of Zeus. The story goes that after completing his labors, Herakles established an athletic festival to honor his father.
The games of previous millennia were discontinued and then revived by Lycurgus of Sparta, Iphitos of Elis, and Cleisthenes of Pisa at the behest of the Oracle of Delphi who claimed that the people had strayed from the gods, which had caused a plague and constant war. Restoration of the games would end the plague, usher in a time of peace, and signal a return to a more traditional lifestyle.[12] The patterns that emerge from these myths are that the Greeks believed the games had their roots in religion, that athletic competition was tied to worship of the gods, and the revival of the ancient games was intended to bring peace, harmony and a return to the origins of Greek life.[13]
Since these myths were documented by historians like Pausanias, who lived during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the 160s nbsp;AD, it is likely that these stories are more fable than fact. It was often supposed that the origins of many aspects of the Olympics date to funeral games of the Mycenean period and later.[14]Alternatively, the games were thought to derive from some kind of vegetation magic or from initiation ceremonies. The most recent theory traces the origins of the games to large game hunting and related animal ceremonialism.[15]
| Event | Athlete | Winner | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foot Race | Runner | Runner | When this race was run once across the field it was called a Stade. The race was called a diaulos when running once across the field and then back to the starting point. Another race was called a Hippicos when the runners ran four Stades in a row. |
| Chariot Race | Rider | The Owner | It was possible for the winner to be a woman in official games from early on. This was likely because she was not physically competing, she was just the owner of the chariot. Women, like many athletes of their time, typically came from well known and wealthy families. |
| Discus | Thrower | Thrower | The thrower had restriction on his method of throwing, and could only throw directly in front of himself. The thrower, like most athletes, had to practice his positioning and was required to position his body in order to properly throw the discus |
| Jumping | Jumper | Jumper | The athlete would wear weights to toss his body forward. These were leather bands tied to their arms with weights attached to them. The jumper was required to land with both feet close together and could not land on all fours. |
| Running with Armor | Runner | Runner | Was called a Hoplite. Consisted of men running in some pieces of armor. These were typically a helmet or shield, not too much or the runner would be weighed down. This event can be seen as an indication to the games being connected to war. |