Introduction
The Olympics of Ancient Greece were much different from the Olympics we know today.
When we think of an Olympic athlete it is one who has proven himself not only to be a champion in his own country, but one of world-class skill. This idea contrasts with the Ancient Olympic athlete who could only be a free man that spoke Greek. Furthermore, there were fewer events in the games of old. There wasn't any water polo, ping pong, or any other games that strayed from the basic contests. Another way the games of Ancient Greece differ from the modern games is that the ancient games were always held in the same city of Olympia. That is much different from today, as the games are held in a different country every time and nations compete for the honor of holding the games in their country years in advance. Two things do remain constant though, the games are still held every four years and winning athletes are treated like gods. (Perseus)
Contests
Running Events
Stadion, Diaulos, Dolichos
The stadion was the first of the running events added in 776 B.C. It was the featured, and
most prestigous event of the olympic games and, therefore, was held at the end of the program. The race was held at the altis, beginning at the balbis, or starting line. The runners would sprint one length, or stade, and finish at the Altar of Zeus. The distance covered was approximately 600 ancient feet, or 200 meters.
Following the stadion, the addition of two longer distance races, the diaulos and dolichos
were added in 724 B.C. and 720 B.C., respectively. The diaulos was twice the length of the stadion, or two stade, in which 22 competitors ran in two lanes, side by side. The name diaulos actually means "Two barraled flu...
... middle of paper ...
...played and it's job was to keep rhythm while the competitors were running towards the pit.
Wrestling
At Pale(wrestling), to win the competitor must throw his opponent to the ground three times.
To be counted as a fall the competitor's back, shoulders, or hip must hit the ground. Another way is if your opponent raises his right hand with the index finger pointed.
Works Cited
Miller, Stephen. Greek Sports From Ancient Sources. University of California Press.
Berkely and Los Angeles, California. ©1991.
Perseus Project: Ancient Olympic Events. http://olympics.tufts.edu/sports.htm.
Poliakoff, Michael. Combat Sports in the Ancient World. Yale University Press.
New Haven and London. ©1987.
Swaddling, Judith. The Ancient Olympic Games. Austin, Texas. ©1980
Young, David C. The Olympic Myth of Greek Amateur Athletics. Chicago ©1984.
Since 776 BCE, the Olympics have been a way for people of different cultures to come together and compete in friendly competition. In 1892 the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, although it had been over a thousand years since the last game it still had brought together an assortment of different religions and ethnic groups together. Many factors shaping the Olympic Games reflect the changes that have taken place in our world since the last game in 393 CE in Greece such changes include woman’s suffrage, global economy, world wars, and proving competency.
Athletic events at this time were also closely related to the religious beliefs and practices of the Greek citizens. Each competition was devoted to a specific pagan god. For example, the patron of the Olympics was Zeus. The Greeks believed that the physical strength and ability of athletes was a direct gift from the gods (http://www.meiaconcerto.com/olympic/olympia/ideal_o.php, September 27, 2004). Therefore, each athlete competed not only in honor of his city-state, but also in honor of the gods.
The Penn Museum site on the Olympic Games in Greece presents a well-organized home page that entices the viewer in. It compares, in the first few sentences you see, the similarities between the ancient Olympics and today’s Olympics. As a reader, I am already enticed to learn more because of the comparisons made, it feels relatable and relevant to me. It is organized into five sections, the games, the athletes, the women, the politics, and the commercialism. Bentley and Ziegler present information on the Olympic Games very differently. The information is a small paragraph within the books chapter on Greece; it does not go into any real detail but rather offers an idea of what the Olympic Games were. The paragraph simply states that the Olympics started in 776 BCE as a part of the PanHellenic festivals; it gives a short list of some events, and says that winners were heroes and it happened every four years. In contrast, the website has many details and small interesting tidbits of information that make the viewer want to read more. The first section, the games, focuses on where the games took place and some common misconceptions about the Olympics in regards to the marathon, nudity, and the Olympic flame. The next section, the athletes, discusses the athletes and amateur vs. professionals and prizes, and rewards. I learned that in anc...
The ancient Olympic Games originated in Greece in 776 BC and were started as a mark of respect to the Greek gods. But the ancient Olympic Games ceased in 393 AD, because the roman emperor Theodosius decreed that the ancient Olympic Games were a pagan cult. The modern Olympic Games started again in 1894 and continue to this day.
rhythmic pounding surges the ears and the airwaves of the arena. It comes from the athlete's
The Olympic Games have been around for many centuries. They are interesting and thrilling to watch. However they're have been many changes since the first ever Olympic Games.
Modern Day Olympics are a huge tradition that sweeps the screens of televisions across the world. Competitors take the arena with uniforms that dawn their countries colors and designs that are meant to resemble their designated flag. For months the news is centered around the games; the preparation, the athletes, and of course the competition. Countries aren 't obsessed, they are inspired and full of pride seeing athletes from their country compete and show their incredible skill. This tradition dates back to ancient Greece where the games began. Tony Perrottet writes about the traditions of the ancient game in his book The Naked Olympics.
Back in ancient Greece is where the ancient Olympics originated. It was primarily a part of a religious festival in honor of Zeus the father of Greek Gods and Goddesses. The Olympics where held at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, which is in Western Peloponnesos. From 776 BC, the games took place at Olympia every 4 years for almost 12 centuries. In 776 BC the only event was the Stadion Race that was a foot race 600 feet long, Koroibos, a cook from Elis, won it. Additional athletic events were gradually added until; by the 5th century BC it was a 5-day program that consisted of three foot races, the pentathlon, boxing, wrestling, pankration, and the hoplitodromos.
Firstly, the Ancient Greek civilization started the Olympics in order to honor their god Greek god Zeus. It was held in Olympia, Greece and started in 776 BC and ended in 393 AD because it was banned. One of the original events that they had included a 200m race, something that we still do today all around the world, and not only in the Olympics. There are many other events that
Athletic competition is a very popular form of entertainment. People from around the world enjoy watching many different types of sporting events. Today, talented athletes are celebrated and compensated very well. Athletes in ancient Greece were also valued, appreciated, and made famous by their athletic feats. Sports in ancient Greece were of a different nature than sports today. There were few team sports and the glory of a victory was focused on a single athlete. Today, there are many team sports that have become extremely popular. This is the major difference between sporting events in modern time and in ancient Greece. However, athletes in both time periods have made lasting impressions society.
Professor Chris Pelling of UCL wrote The Ancient Olympics. In addition, the author is a member of the UCL Department of Greek and Latin. In this article, the author describe and explain how sports were more than a competition in the ancient Greece. His hypothesis was that sports were a way to get honor and power instead of just competing. It represents more than a simple crown of leaves and olive-branch at the Olympics. It gave power, fame and honor to the athlete and their home city. In addition, they were awarded with many material rewards such as money, and women. For instance, the primary method employed in this research consisted
The Pentathlon was the name for the five events in Greek gymnastics: running, jumping, wrestling, discus throwing, and javelin throwing which began with the 18th Olympiad. In the wrestling event, wrestlers were anointed with oil, dusted with powder, and forbidden to bite or gouge one another. Wrestling was looked upon as a weapon-free military exercise. Since there was no weapons wrestlers that competed used their weight and strength as an advantage especially since there were no weight categories. The Javelin was thrown in the same form back in ancient times as it is thrown today. The first recorded Olympic Games had one event, a race, called the stade which is a measure of the distance of the length of the track. By 724 B.C. a two-length race was added and by 700 B.C. there were longer distance races. By 720 B.C., men participated naked, except in the foot race in armor that weighed between fifty to sixty pounds. The outfit included a helmet, greaves, and a shield that helped young men build speed and stamina in preparation for war. The Pentathlon included three running events such as the Stade, the Diaulos, and the Dolichos. The Stade was a 200 yard foot race, was the first and only Olympic event for 13 Games. The dolichos was a variable length foot race averaging twenty stades or four thousand yards for the fifteenth Olympiad. The Diaulos was a four hundred yard foot race that was instituted for the next Olympic Games. The discus was considered by ancient Greeks, an event of rhythm, precision, and finesse of a competitor to throw the discus was as important as his strength. The discus was made of stone, iron, bronze, or lead, and was shaped like a flying saucer. The Sizes were different for the boys' division, since the boys were not expected to throw the same weighted discus as the men. The athletes who competed in the jump event used lead or stone jump weights called halteres shaped like telephone receivers to increase ...
The Ancient Olympics were huge in introducing sports and events that we now play. The sports that were played in the Ancient Olympics consisted of boxing, chariot racing, riding, pentathlon, discus, javelin, jump, running, and wrestling. All those sport would have never been played without the Greeks introducing them. These sports have become very popular and a lot of people play them. For example wrestling can be played at very young ages and all the way through high school. Another example is running, jumping, javelin, and discus which are all played in high school and some even in elementary.
The first Olympic games at Olympia were held in 776 BC. According to Hippias of Elis, who compiled a list of Olympic victors c.400 BC, the only event held at the first Olympics was the stadion footrace. Scholars have speculated that the games in 776 BC were not the first games, but rather the first games held after they were organized into festivals held every four years as a result of a peace agreement between the city-states Greece.
Athletics were of immense importance to the Greeks. The first Olympic Games were made up of only foot races and later through the centuries expanded to include wrestling, javelin hurling, discus throwing, boxing, jumping, chariot racing, horse riding, the pankration and the pentathlon. The period of competition gradually expanded to five days and the festivals to one month. The foot races included four types of racing. The stadion was the oldest event in which runners sprinted for 192 meters or 1 strade. The 2-strade race was 384 meters and long distance running ranged from 1,344 to 4,608 meters (7-24 strades). Ancient Greece also had a 2-4 strade race by athletes in 50-60 pound...