The first written accounts of the Olympic Games date from 776 BC, although it is sure that these Games were not the first ones to be held. The Games, like all Greek Games, were an intrinsic part of a religious festival held in honor of Zeus (supreme among the gods) in Olympia, a worshipping place for the Greek gods near the town of Elis. Here the Greeks erected statues and built temples dedicated to Zeus. The greatest shrine was an ivory and gold statue of Zeus created by the Greek sculptor Phidias. The beauty of the statue was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The Olympic Games were held in four-year intervals, and later the Greek method of counting the years even referred to these Games, using the term Olympiad for the period between two Games. The Games took place during the first full moon after the summer solstice.
When it was time for the games, the rulers of Elis sent out messengers all over Greece and to the Greek colonies around the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. They declared a truce throughout the Greek world for a month. No matter who you had a war with, you had to stop the war and let their athletes and performers go through your city-state safely to get to the Olympic Games.
According to Hippias of Elis, who compiled a list of Olympic victors c.400 BC, at first the only Olympic event was the stadion race, a race over about 190 meters, measured after the feet of Hercules. The word stadium is derived from this foot race. This was the only event until 724 BC, when a two-stadium race was added.
Over the years, other events were added: boxing, wrestling, pankration (combination of boxing and wrestling), horse and chariot racing, several other running events (the hippios, dolichos, and hoplitodromos), as well as a pentathlon, consisting of wrestling, running, long jump, javelin throw and discus throw (the latter three were not separate events). The addition of these events meant the festival grew from 1 day to 5 days, 3 of which were used for competition. The other 2 days were dedicated to religious rituals.
Only freeborn male Greek citizens not accused of murder or sacrilege were eligible to participate. Training began as early as one year before the games in the athlete's home city. A month before the games, the athletes were the obligated to move to Elis or Olympia for their final training. It was here that the athletes were taught the rules of fair play and honorable competition.
Athletes usually competed nude. They originally wore shorts but, according to one ancient writer, Pausanias, a competitor deliberately lost his shorts so that he could run more freely during the race in 720 BC, and clothing was then abolished.
Spectators also abided by strict rules. Only free men not convicted of any sacrileges could attend. Women were not allowed to watch the games, but that had nothing to do with the nudity of the male athletes. Rather, it was because Olympia was dedicated to Zeus and was therefore a sacred area for men. Punishment for breaking the rules was an automatic death sentence by being thrown off Mt. Typeo.
The first day of the games began with sacrifices to the gods, for the games were meant as religious tributes. At the great altar of Zeus, the athletes vowed that they were eligible to participate in the games and that they would obey the Olympic rules while competing. Judges, trainers, and even the athlete's parents all had to make a similar vow.
On the final fifth day, there was a banquet for all of the participants, consisting of 100 oxen that had been sacrificed to Zeus on the first day. It started with a procession to the Temple of Zeus, referred to by the Greeks as the Altis, where each winner received his wreath of live branches from olives. Then crowds showered them with flowers.
The victors of the Olympic games were hailed as heroes. Statues were built in their honor around the magnificent Temple of Zeus and the stadium of Olympia. Parades with chariots, songs, and poems written in their honor were given in their hometowns. Other special privileges awarded to the athletes were choice seats at all public spectacles; statues carved in their image were placed in prominent locations in the city, and they were also exempt from paying taxes. Cash rewards were common. In some Greek cities, part of a wall was torn and victorious athlete was led in though the opening. This ritual signified that any city with strong citizens had no need to defend itself with a wall from its enemies.
In 146 BC, the Romans gained control of Greece and, therefore, of the Olympic games. In 85 BC, the Roman general Sulla plundered the sanctuary to finance his campaign against Mithridates. Sulla also moved the 175th Olympiad (80 BC) to Rome.
The ancient Olympic Games were abandoned in AD 394 by the Roman emperor Theodosius I, who considered the Games to be a savage celebration.
Centuries of earthquakes and floods buried Olympia and the Temple of Zeus until 1870 when German excavations unearthed the beauty and magnificent statues of the classical Greek Games. These archeological findings in the sacred ground of Olympia fascinated French historian and educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin so much that he was inspired to conceive the idea of reviving the modern Olympic Games. On June 23, 1894, speaking at the Sorbonne in Paris to a gathering of international sports leaders from nine nations proposed that the ancient Games be revived on an international scale. The idea was enthusiastically received and the Modern Olympics, as we know them, were born. |
