Transcript How To Use This Lesson

How To Use This Lesson
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In this lesson we will be exploring the
first Olympics in Ancient Greece.
With the help of his charioteer, Myrtilos, Prince
Pelops was a prince who sought the hand of
Pelops came up with a plan to beat Oinomaos.
Hippodamia, the daughter of King Oinomaos.
Together they secretly replaced the bronze
Oinomaos challenged Pelops to a chariot race. He
linchpins of the King's chariot with linchpins made
announced that if Pelops won he would win the hand
of wax.
of his daughter in marriage. However, if he lost
Pelops would be beheaded, and his head would be
used to adorn the king’s palace.
The race began, but just as Oinomaos was about to
overtake Pelops, the wax melted, the wheels fell off
his chariot, and Oinomaos was thrown to his death.
Pelops married Hippodamia and held the first games in
the shadow of Mount Olympus to celebrate his victory.
They had to be free men (not slaves) and
After
a great
athletics festival, in
be
able that
to speak
Greek.
honour of the Greek gods Zeus and Hera,
Every
athlete
took anevery
oath in
front
of the
was held
at Olympia
four
years.
statue
of Zeus
that
they had
Men came
fromsaying
all over
Greece
to been in
training
for 10 months.
compete.
The games were celebrated every four years
for more than a thousand years, until people
converted to Christianity and the games
were banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius
in 393 AD, who saw them as pagan.
A flame was lit by the sun and kept
burning until the end of the Games.
Nowadays the Olympic flame is lit at the
site of Olympia by women wearing ancientstyle robes using a curved mirror.
The
Spartans:
The
Athenians:
The athletes represented city states
They
strived
to the
wintheir
at
allarchrivals,
costs,
by the
lying, cheating,
They
knew that
from
across
Greek
empire.
whatever
it took,
as they
get
Spartans,
wouldas
dolong
anything
to didn’t
win, but
caught.
It was
important
to beat
citizens of
Athenians
would
never stoop
tothe
such
Athens,
even if they didn’t win, so they plotted
behaviour.
The twowith
biggest
rivalscity-states
were theto sabotage
secretly
other Greek
any
Athenian and
chance
ofSpartans.
victory.
Athenians
the
Athenians were shining examples of all that is
fine and noble, clever, creative and courteous.
They would cheer only for their fellow Spartans
at each event.
Athletes in the ancient Olympic Games
took part in the nude.
The word ‘gymnasium’ comes from the
Greek word ‘gymnos’ meaning nude. The
exact meaning of ‘gymnasium’ is ‘school
for naked exercise’!
After the games, the athletes cleaned
themselves by rubbing oils over their
bodies and scraping off the mix of oil,
sweat and dirt with a strigil.
As time went on women
Women were not
were able to compete in
allowed to compete in
the Heraean games
the games, and only
which were held in
priestesses were
honour of Zeus’s wife
permitted to watch
Hera.
them, because the
gameswere
wereheld
dedicated
They
in the
to the God
Zeus,before
father
Olympic
stadium
of Gods
men.
the
men’sand
games.
… as well as boxing and chariot racing….
When the Olympic
Games first
started there was
just one event,
the stadion, a
sprint measuring
192 metres, the
length of the
stadium.
Later
they introduced the pentathlon, a
combination of five events: discus,
javelin, jumping, running and wrestling…
…. and pankration, which was a gruelling
combination of boxing and wrestling.
Only biting and gouging an opponent's
eyes, nose, or mouth with fingernails
were disallowed. Other brutal moves,
such as kicking an opponent in the belly,
which are against the rules in modern
sports, were perfectly legal.
The Marathon was not an Olympic
event in ancient times.
In 490 BCE, Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, ran
from Marathon to Athens (about 25 miles) to
tell the Athenians that they had won a battle
against the invading Persians.
Unfortunately the journey was very hilly and
rocky, and Pheidippides arrived in Athens with
bleeding feet, completely exhausted. He just
managed to tell the Athenians the good news
before he fell to the ground dead.
In 1896, at the first modern Olympic
Games, a race of approximately the
same length was held in commemoration
of Pheidippides.
At the ancient Olympics a wreath of
olive branches was placed on the
winner's head. The olive tree was the
sacred tree of Athens.
Medal winners were given olive wreaths in the Olympic
games of 2004, which were held in Athens, Greece.
Milo of Croton – an Olympic
celebrity
Milo, six times Olympic wrestling champion,
enjoyed demonstrating his strength. He would
hold a pomegranate in his hand and ask people
to try to take it away from him. Even though
he was holding it tight, he never damaged the
fruit.
Sometimes, he would stand on a greased iron
disk and challenge others to push him off it.
Another of his favourite tricks was tying a
cord around his forehead, holding his breath,
Who
is destined
to become
a celebrity
and breaking
the cord
with his bulging
forehead
veins. Olympic games of 2012?
in
the London
Glossary
• dedicated – devoted, committed
• pagan – someone who believes in an
ancient religion (or no religion)
• sacred – holy
• Commemorate – honour, celebrate
• Brawn – muscle, strength.
Activities to complete this lesson include:
• Grecian art.
• Dialogue between
an Athenian and a
Spartan
• Debate – Is brain
better than brawn?
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