Transcript File

The Greeks and the
Ancient Olympic Games
776 (1,000) B.C.E. – 394 A
The Greeks (A little background)
• The Minoan civilization controlled the Aegean sea
and the lands it touched for 1,600 years.
• About 1,400 B.C.E. the Mycenaean people
became the dominant culture in that same
region.
• Some two hundred years later, they attacked and
destroyed Troy.
• As the Dorian people gradually conquered
Mycenaean controlled lands, the region entered
what is now known as the “Dark Ages” or the
Homeric Age of Greek history.
Homeric Age
1,200 B.C.E. – 700 B.C.E.
• The earliest
documented literature
is the work of a blind
Greek writer.
• The Iliad and The
Odyssey (~850 B.C.E.)
provide a very revealing
window into the lives,
believes and culture of
the early Greeks.
Homeric Age
1,200 B.C.E. – 700 B.C.E.
• In the Iliad, Homer
provides the earliest
known account of sport
competition as he
describes the “funeral
games” initiated by
Achilles in memory of
his warrior friend,
Patroclus.
Classical Humanism
• Greek gods thought of as ideal humans
– Anthropomorphic
– Depicted as having magnificent bodies
(Zeus, Apollo, Athena, etc.)
• Greeks wanted to resemble their gods
– Sought to train and develop the body
The Early Athenian Period
776 B..C..E.. – 480 B..C..E
• The Ancient Greek’s emphasis on the
importance of a strong and fit body is best
demonstrated by the Ancient Olympic games.
• What started as a stadion race in 776 B.C.
(single course sprint event) evolved by 520
B.C. into several running, combat, and
combined events spread over five days of
Olympic competition.
The Spartan Period
• The Spartans were a small
(5,000 – 9,000) yet
dominant military force
for several centuries.
• As many as a quarter
million helots (slaves)
maintained the Spartan
economy, while Spartan
males devoted their life
(age 7 – 50) to military
training and service.
The Spartan Period
•
In war time and during the
peaceful Olympic Games,
the Spartans best
represented the “All for
one, and one for all”
concept.
• The purpose of their
existence was to serve and
protect Sparta.
• In 480 BCE King Leonidas,
and his 300 royal guards,
fought Xerxes, King of
Persia, at Thermopylae to
the last man.
Ancient Olympics
• What may have originated as a religious
tribute to Zeus around 1,000 B.C.E. in the
small town of Olympia on Mt. Olympus, later
became the celebration of the ancient
Olympic Games.
Greek Sport
• First known record of ancient Olympic Games
(776 B.C.E)
– Originated from Funeral
• Games in honor of the deceased and the
worship of their Gods.
– Climate in Greece allowed for physical
activity year round
Who could compete?
• Male citizens of one of
the many Greek city
states with no criminal
record and who swore
they had trained for at
least ten months prior
competition were
eligible to compete in
the Ancient Olympic
Games.
Who controlled the Games?
• From the very beginning,
the city of Elis (30 miles
to the north) and the
small neighboring town of
Pisa were engaged in
disputes over the control
of the Sanctuary of Zeus
at Olympia
• Those who controlled the
Games had prestige,
economic advantages
and, most importantly,
political influence.
Paxa Olympica- Olympic Truce
• The Olympic Games’ organizer city-state of Elis
instituted Paxa Olympica to protect against military
incursions which interrupted the Games.
• Every four years, special heralds from Elis were sent
out to all corners of the Greek world to announce the
approaching Olympic festival and games.
• Along with this news, they would announce the
Olympic Truce, which protected athletes, visitors,
spectators and official embassies who came to the
festival from becoming involved in local conflicts.
Politics and the Ancient Olympics
• In 665 BC, according to Pausanias (a 2nd century
AD Greek traveler), Pheidon, the powerful tyrant
of Argos was asked by the town of Pisa to capture
the Sanctuary of Zeus from the city-state of Elis.
• Pheidon, with his army well-trained hoplites
(armed soldiers), marched across the
Peloponnesos, secured the Sanctuary for the
town of Pisa, and personally presided over the
conduct of the games.
• But Pisa's control of the Sanctuary was brief: by
the next year Elis had regained control.
http://www.upenn.edu/museum/Olympics/olympicpolitics.html
Example:
• Perhaps the most notable example of a military incident occurring during
the ancient Olympic Games was in 364 BC. In that year, Elis had again lost
control of the Sanctuary of Zeus to the neighboring town of Pisa which
was directing the festival and the Olympic Games. Elis chose precisely this
time to attack the Sanctuary of Zeus. Xenophon, a contemporary 4th
century historian, gives us a firsthand account of the situation:
The horse race had been completed, as well as the events of the pentathlon
which were held in the dromos. The finalists of the pentathlon who had
qualified for the wrestling event were competing in the space between the
dromos and the altar...
The attacking Eleans pursued the allied enemy... The allied forces fought from
the roofs of the porticos... while the Eleans defended themselves from
ground level.
Hellenica
•
http://www.upenn.edu/museum/Olympics/olympicpolitics.html
Ancient Olympics: Rules
• Chariot Races
– The owners of the
horses were declared the
winners.
• Wrestling
– No weight limits
• Boxing
– No weight limits
Ancient Olympics: Rules
• Pankration
– No weight limits;
punching, kicking,
choking, finger breaking,
and blows to the genitals
were allowed; only biting
and eye gouging were
prohibited
Ancient Olympics: Rules
• Foot races
– False starting in a
race brought whipping;
longer races required the
runner to make an 180
degree turn around a post.
• Hoplitodromos
– a footrace requiring
the runners to wear
helmets, greaves, and a
shield.
Ancient Olympics: Rules
• Javelin - When throwing
for distance the javelin
had to fall within an
area defined on three
sides, and the throw
was invalid if it fell
outside this area.
Ancient Olympics: Rules
General Rules
• Lying, bribing, and cheating
were heavily fined
• The Olympic Games'
organizer city-state of Elis
instituted Paxa Olympica
(Olympic Truce) to protect
against military incursions
• Free Greek citizens could
participate except women,
slaves, and the very young
http://www.fjkluth.com/olympic.html
Ancient Olympics: Rules
• Once admitted participants could not resign
or withdraw
• Any athlete who was left over without an
opponent had the right to compete with the
winner of the second round (“bye”)
• Those who had committed crimes or had
robbed a temple (criminals) were also
excluded from the games
http://www.fjkluth.com/olympic.html
From Ancient to Modern Olympics
• The first known record of
the Ancient Olympic
Games traces back to 776
B.C.
• Koromikos, a cook from
the city of Ellis, won the
stadium race (600 feet).
• By 393AD, the time
Emperor Theodosius II
abolished the pagan
Greek Olympics, over 290
Olympic Games had been
held.
The Olympic Flame
• The idea of the Olympic Torch/ Flame was
first inaugurated at the 1932 Olympic Games
in Los Angeles.
• The design of the L.A. coliseum included a
facility for a large flame.
• The modern Olympic torch relay was first
instituted at the 1936 Nazi Olympic Games in
Berlin.
The Olympic Oath
•
"In the name of all
competitors, I promise that we
shall take part in these
Olympic Games, respecting
and abiding by the rules that
govern them, in the true spirit
of sportsmanship, for the glory
of sport and the honour of our
teams.“ (Baron de Coubertin)
• In 1920 at the Antwerp
Olympic Games, Belgian
fencer Victor Boin became the
first athlete ever to take the
Olympic Oath on behalf of all
athletes.
Was the Marathon race an Ancient
Olympic event?
• The marathon was NOT an event of the
ancient Olympic games.
• The marathon is a modern event that was
first introduced in the Modern Olympic Games
of 1896 in Athens, a race from Marathon
northeast of Athens to the Olympic Stadium, a
distance of 40 kilometers (25 miles).
The Origins of Modern Olympics’
Marathon Race
• The race
commemorates the run
of Pheidippides, an
ancient "day-runner"
who carried the news of
the Persian landing at
Marathon to Sparta (a
distance of 147.2 miles)
in order to enlist help
for the battle..
The Origins of Modern Olympics’
Marathon Race
• According to the fifth
century B.C. ancient
Greek historian
Herodotus, Pheidippides
delivered the news to the
Spartans the next day.
• He then ran back to
Athens with the Spartan's
reply - which was that
due to observances they
could not leave Sparta
until the full moon.
The Origins of Modern Olympics’
Marathon Race
•
The Athenians decided not
to wait and attacked the
Persians at Marathon.
• Pheidippides ran 25 miles
back to Athens from
Marathon to deliver the
news of a Greek victory.
• In less than one week he
ran 300+ miles on a very
rough terrain with hardly
any rest.
• Upon his arrival to Athens
he declared “Nike!”
(Victory!) and died.