Olympic Games in Ancient Greece

The very first Olympic games were held in Olympia, Greece, in the year 776 BC and they were stopped in 393 AD. In the beginning, the games were conducted for participants from various cities of Ancient Greece. It was one of the important ceremonial rituals that were held at that time. The games where held in the sanctuary of Olympia and not on Mount Olympus, where Greek gods were assumed to dwell, and hence, the name Olympic was derived. Otherwise it would have been Olympian games.

There are many stories about how the Olympic games originated. One of the stories is that Heracles, the well-known hero of that time had won a race in Olympia, after which he declared that the race would be held every four years. According to another myth, the king of Olympia, Pelops defeated Oenomaus to marry his daughter, Hippodamia. For this his former lover, Poseidon, helped him. In the beginning funeral sacrifices were offered to Pelops, but now there is no sacrifice, only offerings, at every Olympic games. While another story claims that king of Elis, Iphitos sought the help of Pythis, who was the Oracle at Delphi, to protect his kingdom from war and foreign invasion. Pythis ordered him to please the gods by holding games in honor of them. Others say that Zeus started it after he defeated Titans Cronus, the leader of a very powerful race of deities.

The sanctuary of Zeus where the first Olympic games were staged has a twelve-meter tall gold and ivory statue of Zeus, the father of all the Greek Gods. This status was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. The only game that was held in the beginning was Stadion or Stade race. It was an ancient two hundred yard foot race, which was considered to be of great supremacy, and the winner was given great respect and large amount of money. Participants had to pass five stakes, divisions in the racetrack, and there was no time limit for the race. Who ever reached the end line first was declared as the winner. Two stade, four hundred meter long, race was started in 724 BC, in the fourteen Olympic games, and was known as the Diaulos.

The racetrack was made out of clay and sand. Hoplitodromos was the last running game added to the Olympics. In that, the athletes were made to wear Armour, carry shied and wear helmet. This was to demonstrate the military capacities and the Armour made it vulnerable to trip and fall. Other games that were added later on were wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, chariot racing, long jump, discus thro and javelin throw. The Spartans or the Megarian Orsippus started the tradition of athelitic nudity in 720 BC. As many people fought for the authority of the sanctuary hence it was considered a matter of prestige to conduct the games.

At first, slaves and women were not allowed as spectators or participants. Only free men were allowed to participate in the Olympics. They came from all the states of Greece and when the word started spreading, people started coming from as far as the Mediterranean and the Black sea. Participants had to file their name in the list and had to meet certain standards to qualify for the games. Only youth were allowed to participate and every participant had to take an oath that he had been in training for the past ten months, before the statue of Zeus.

The Heraea Games were started for women and featured foot games like races, just like for men. It was started in the Olympic stadium, was administrated by a group of sixteen women gathered by Hippodameia. All the games, including Olympic Games, which was the most famous, were a subordinate of Panhellenic games. The interval between each game was two to four years, but at least one game was held once in four years. Historian, Ephorus, named the time period between two Olympic games as Olympiad.

Theodosius I or his grandson, Theodosius II ended the tradition of the Olympic games in 435 AD, when they wanted to establish Christianity as a state religion. An earthquake also destroyed the sanctuary of Olympia in the sixth century AD.

Heroes of the Ancient Olympic Games

The ancient Olympics were an event where participants from all over Greece and as far as the Mediterranean participated. It started in 776 BC. Married women and slaves were banned from participating and watching the Olympics in ancient Greece. Only free young males had the right to be a part of the Olympic games, despite their social status. Many famous personalities participated and supported the games. This was a very prestigious event and the winner was awarded with an Olive Wreath, also known as Kotinos and big celebrations in their home place. They were awarded by large sum of money and poets used to write poems to signify their talents.

The king of Macedonia and son of Amyndas, Alexander I; the general from Megara, Orsippos; philosopher Plato; philosopher Socrates; philosopher Pythagoras; philosopher Aristotle; philosopher Democritus; the member of the royal family from Rhodes, Diagoras; the father of medicine, Hippocrates; shepherd Polymnistor, are some of the well-known athletes of ancient Greece.

Goddess of fertility and Priestess of Demeter were honored during the games and was given a seating position just next to the stadium altar. Only married women were not allowed to be spectators or participants at the Olympic games. But unwed women were allowed to watch the events. Whoever dared to break the rules was thrown from the top of the cliff.

Women were finally given a chance to participate in the Herean Games, which was conducted to honor the wife of Zeus, Hera. It started with foot races initially. Hippodameia made an administrators' committee consisting of sixteen women. The sixteen females were considered to be peacemakers from Elis and Pisa.

Among the well-known athletes, Milon was a very versatile athlete. He was the pupil of philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras. He was from Kroton, South Italy. He had won six Wreaths in Olympic Wrestling, which still remains one of a kind victory till this date. His first victory was in the youth wrestling event and the rest five were in the men-wrestling event. He won ten championships in the Isthmian games, nine championships in the Nemean games and seven championships in the Pythain games. He even won in many of the other events.

Also born in Kroton, South Italy, Astylos had won six victory Olive Wreaths in a total of three Olympic games. He was very good at the Stade race and Diaulos race. He represented Kroton in the first Olympic and he won in that, for which the residents of Kroton honored him. After that, he took part in two of the Olympics as a citizen of Syracuse. The Krotons disgraced him by tearing down his statue and replacing his house with a prison.

Leonidas won four times consecutively at the Olympiads. He was from Phodes and was the most well known runner. He was a champion in Stade race, Armour race and Dialous race. In all, he won twelve Olympics Wreaths. He was a great hero for the people.

The first woman known to be a winner at the Olympics was Kyniska of Sparta. She was the daughter of King Archidamos. In the 96th and the 97th Olympic games, she also won the horse chariot race.

Melankomas was from Karia and was a winner in the Olympic boxing championship. He was a very hard working athlete. He used to do vigorous training by fighting for two days continuously with out lowering his hands. He was known for his swift moves and he used to win without even getting a single blow from his opponent.

Games in the Ancient Olympics

The Olympics were initially a one-day event until 684 BC, after which it became a three-day event. Again, after the fifth century BC, it became a five-day event. During the Ancient Olympics, any type of game related to running was given importance. The very first game in the Olympiad was the "Stade race", a sprint of about 190 meters.

The "Pentathlon", unlike the modern pentathlon, was an event consisting of five competitions, namely "Stadion" or short foot race, Long Jump, Wrestling, Javelin Throw and Discus Throw. All five of them were considered beneficial for wars also and the training for them was part of the military practice. The athletes who used to compete in the pentathlon were considered to be very skillful. Except Wrestling, the rest four were held at the Stadion or the stadium.

The Stade or Stadion race was an old foot race about 180 meters to 200 meter long. The place it was conducted was known as Stadion; from which the English word stadium was derived. It was very big and at a time about twenty athletes could run. On the blow of the trumpet, the runner stood in the standing position with their arms stretched out, unlike today's runners who take the crouch position when about to start. Officials used to stand at the start and at the end to see to it that there were no false starts or any kind of cheating. In the case of a tie, there used to be a re-run. Any runner who broke the rules was punished. The winner of the Stadion race was the champion of the whole Olympic games.

The Diaulos race consisted of two Stades and was four hundred meter long. The Dolichos race consisted of seven to twenty four Stades. The other running events were Hippios and Hoplitodromos.

Athletes of Javelin Throw, instead of holding the shaft of the Javelin itself, used leather strap called Amentum. Javelin was a spear like rod usually made out of metal and wood. In Discus Throw, the Discus was made of stone, iron, bronze or lead. This game is like the modern freestyle Discus Throw. Five throws were allowed to the Discus and Javelin Throw athletes and the longest one was counted.

In the Long Jump, the participant to launch him or her and to increase the range of jump used weights called halters. The weights were held till the end of the jump and at the end they were ejected backwards. The jumps consisted of five different leaps, which is more similar to the modern triple jump. Here, too, the participants were given five attempts and the longest jump was considered.

The Wrestling Ring was a sand pit and was held outside the Temple of Zeus. It was a game of great military importance as it was combated without weapons. The winner was declared when the opponent admits defeat.

The boxers initially wrapped Himantes or soft straps, made out of Ox Hide, around their fingers, knuckles, and wrists to be able to give a firm punch. Later on the straps became hard which caused major injuries. The Sphairai were similar to Himantes and had pads inside to protect the knuckles, but on the outside they were really hard. After that Oxys were used which had many thick leather bands wrapped around the hand and forearms. The leather braces covered the complete hand so as to give a stronger punch.

The old form of martial arts was known as Pankration and was started in the Olympics of 648 BC. The word Pankration was derived from two other words, pan and kratos. Pan meant all and kratos meant strength. It was a combination of boxing and wrestling. At that time, this was one of the hardest sports. Philosopher Plato had won this game twice.

The Equestrian events consisted of chariot and horse races and were conducted in a flat and large open space, called Hippodrome. In both of them, there was great danger to both the driver and the horse, because there was a big probability of getting injured, which might even lead to death. The winner of these events was rewarded with a slave woman and a Cauldron (a big vessel).