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Olympia was a cult site in the Northwestern Peloponnesus near Ellis. Even in Archaic times the site included a temple of Hera and of Zeus, as well as the Stadium. The land around the site was unproductive and could not be used for agriculture. Early Greece developed as a number of citystates and it is plain that Olympia was a neutral and international site that served them all. The athletic contests that were held there were part of a larger goal of providing a neutral place where influential citizens could meet and settle differences or communicate on matters of politics and trade. Other events were also held that emphasized the religious nature of the activities. It is certain that the athletes felt that their contribution was religious in nature.
Hesiod Theogony (ll. 429) Good is she(Hecate) also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents.
Pausanias, 5.7.1, states: "As for the Olympic games, the most learned antiquaries of Elis say that Cronus was the first king of heaven, and that in his honor a temple was built in Olympia by the men of that age, who were named the Golden Race. When Zeus was born, Rhea entrusted the guardianship of her son to the Dactyls of Ida, who are the same as those called Curetes. They came from Cretan Ida--Heracles, Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius and Idas. [7] Heracles, being the eldest, matched his brothers, as a game, in a running-race, and crowned the winner with a branch of wild olive, of which they had such a copious supply that they slept on heaps of its leaves while still green. It is said to have been introduced into Greece by Heracles from the land of the Hyperboreans, men living beyond the home of the North Wind. [8]"
In the book "Epilegomena to the Study of Greek Religion" by Jane Ellen Harrison there is a chapter on the ancient Olympic games by F. M. Cornford. He thinks the origin of the Olympic games is much older than what was thought by Pausanius. And he thinks women were very important in the founding of the Olympics. Before the events described by Pausanius the calendar was set by the moon. There was a need to select a moon-bride because in the early times women were more important for religious ceremonies. Originally Cornford felt this was an annual affair. It was decided to use a footrace to determine who would become the moon-bride. After a while, as the sun became more important, it was decided to use a similar foot race to choose a sun-bridgegroom for the moon-bride. He believes that the Olympic festival was originally similar to the Laconian Karnia. That festival was held annually but every four years an especially spendid festival was held. The young man who won was decked out in garlands and a skin so as to be the 'muming representative of the daimon' who embodied the luck of the year.
Girls running in the Herarea to determine the Moon-maiden.
The Herarea was the first to separate off from this ancient festival. "This festival was held every fourth year. A college called the Sixteen Women wove a robe for Hera and held the games. The race was run between virgin girls who ran in order of age, the youngest first and the eldest last. The course was what is now the olympic stadium less about one-sixth of its length. To the winner was given a crown of olives and a share of the cow sacrificed to Hera. The winners were able to dedicate statues of themselves. The girl-runner in the vatican is probably one of these. On a stump beside the girl is a palm branch, a symbol of victory. There is also a Spartan statue of a girl running. On that statue the hairs are left hanging down, while her tunic reaches a little above the knee and her right shoulder is bare, as far as the breast. When the Olympics were founded its dates had to accomodate the dates of the Herarea.
This development relates to Hera and hero. A hera is a feminine hero. The Herarea selects the girl hera who is worthy to receive the hero that is selected by the Olympics. The Olympics started as a form of hero worship that provides a hero of both sexes. The union of these was thought to provide the most beneficial cosmic result. That Hera was queen of the heavens seems to suggest that marriage has cosmic implications. In the early days of the Olympics both the hero and his bride were selected by a footrace. Later other events were added and the bride was isolated from the hero in her own festival. Herakles is often mentioned as starting the olympics but he is just an example of a hero. Pelops also serves as an example of the hero while his bride, Hippodamia, is an example of the hera or moon-maiden. Hera became the bride of the ultimate hero Zeus. And so the Olympics became a religious festival for Zeus.
The Olympics were held in Olympia in the northwest Peloponessus in southern Greece from 776 BCE until they were prohibited by the Romans in 394 AD. They consisted of a chariot race, a boxing match, wrestling, a footrace, a sword duel, and archery. The archeological investigation of Olympia stimulated the modern Olympic games which began in Athens in 1896. All the buildings in ancient Olympia were for religious worship or for athletic games.
Mainly men participated, because it was a religious festival for men. Proper women were not allowed as spectators. It was said that women who were caught would be thrown off a cliff. But no one ever was. Even so there were women who participated. Of course many of the men were followed by their female companions, the hetaerae. Other men did not want to cross their wives so they snuck them in. Finally there were the women who actually competed. In the 3rd Century Cynisca, the daughter of the King of Sparta, won several victories in the chariot races. Other women followed her. She bred her own horses and was the first woman in recorded history to do so. Eurylon, also of Sparta, followed her and won a victory in the two horse chariot race.
The women had their own festivals which sometimes excluded the men. Though women did not often participate in races, they often part;icipated in dancing. The women were not as literate as the men so their activities are not as well recorded.
The developments that took place in Greek sport between Homeric times and the 5th century BC included: Athletic contests established as important events even before the Trojan war, by the time of Homer the olympics were established. Within the next 250 years other athletic events were established and the performing in the nude was established. At first only running was included but as time went on other events are established.
The words to the oath the athletes had to take.
The ceremonies began with the official oath that was taken by the athletes at the altar of Horkios Zeus, in the Bouleuterion, swearing that they would compete with honour and respect the rules.
Submission: On one page you did not know the olympic oath, and since I had to use it and found it out I will tell you. It is, "In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the true spirt of sportmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our taems."
Other special ceremonies take place during these olympics?
Olympia, the site of the men's olympics, provided an opportunity for female athletes. Every four years the Sixteen Women and other married women organized The Heraea Games for maiden competitors. Pausanias indicates these games consisted of footraces, and the maidens competed against other maidens of the same age. The maiden athletes competed in the Olympic stadium but it was shortened for them by about one-sixth of its length The Heraea Games did not have the prestige of the men's Olympic competition, but the Greeks still regarded them as a serious athletic event. The victors were well honored. Pausanias says "To the winning maidens they give crowns of olive and a portion of the cow sacrificed to Hera. They may also dedicate statues with their names inscribed on them" (Pausanias, 5.16.3).
The Ancient Greeks had many religious festivals for only one sex. They liked to thinks that men and women had different roles in life and that they were not meant to compete. The fact that the men performed naked was not a reason. Except for chariot racing and running the events for the men were pretty irrelevant for women. The question is why they were not able to do equestrian events in their own festival. eventually women did participate in the chariot races with the men.
The time of Classical Greece was a time of radical change in society but it was not a time when women gained any rights. What they got was a system of law in which they received some protection, but only in reference to the rights of their husbands or other male relatives. Women were able to participate in sports because it was a practice in the past. Society at this time was very much bound by tradition and ritual. What as different about the Greeks was that their rituals seemed so much more productive that those of other societies. Women did obtain a release from the taboos of other societies.Though they secluded themselves they obtained freedom from rituals that restricted their lives and activities in other societies.
Pictures of the ancient olive wreath that was worn by the victors?
Answer: Click on each of the following links:
Some of the more famous athletes during the archaic and classical periods:
Rules for the events of the ancient olympics?
Answer: Chariot Races - The owners of the horses were declared the winners.
There were judges who had the power to punish rule breakers. In the following images the figure with the long stick may be a judge. He is ready to administer punishment as soon a a rule is broken.
Boxing was a combat event in which competitors wore leather straps to protect their hands. They fought without a break until one gave in or could not go on. The gloves were more to protect the hands of the boxer than to protect the opponent. Boxing was added in the 23rd Olympiad in 688 BCE.
"Pyx" is the Greek word for boxing.
Theogenes (about 480 BCE):
The ancient historians slipped up and called Theogenes' father Timosthenes instead of Timoxenus. The statue of Theogenes at Thasos fell on an enemy, was cast into the sea and recovered by fishermen and restored to alleviate a famine. As a result he was worshipped as a hero. Theogenes is said to have won 1300 of 1400 times in the olympics and in other similar contests as a boxer and a pancratiast. He even won once in the long race at Phthia. He wanted to win a prize in the homeland of Achilles, the swiftest of heroes. Theogenes was unbeaten in boxing for nearly 22 years. This information is from the book by Golden.
Pictures of leather thongs used for ancient greek boxing:
Answer:
Rules of ancient Greece's boxing:
: There seem to have been few rules. Boxing allowed contestants to wrap their hands to protect them but they got no breaks. The victory was declared when one contestant could do nothing more.
Ancient boxers wore nothing for clothes. The ancient Athletes performed in the nude.
pictures of a man and woman boxer.
The Olympic program included the 200 m foot race and the 400 m foot race, and the long footrace.
Women had their own festival where they competed in foot races.
The first Olympics was a footrace run in 776 BCE.
Pausanias, Description of Greece, 5.16.1 "Every fourth year there is woven for Hera a robe by the Sixteen women, and the same also hold games called Heraea. The games consist of foot-races for maidens. These are not all of the same age. The first to run are the youngest; after them come the next in age, and the last to run are the oldest of the maidens. They run in the following way: [3] their hair hangs down, a tunic reaches to a little above the knee, and they bare the right shoulder as far as the breast. These too have the Olympic stadium reserved for their games, but the course of the stadium is shortened for them by about one-sixth of its length. To the winning maidens they give crowns of olive and a portion of the cow sacrificed to Hera. They may also dedicate statues with their names inscribed upon them. Those who administer to the Sixteen are, like the presidents of the games, married women. [4] The games of the maidens too are traced back to ancient times;..."
Pictures:
A chariot is a two-wheeled cart drawn by one or more horses. The driver stands in the cart. Chariots were made out of wood, leather, bone, ivory, bronze, copper, or iron. Chariots were a street vehicle, but they raced them in special stadiums called a hippodrome.
As long as there were chariots there were chariot races. They became part of the olympics in 680 BCE. Chariots were raced during the Trojan war and before.
In the ancient Olympics there was a 4-horse chariot race and a 2-horse chariot race.
A four hourse chariot race is called a quadriga race. This was the most spectacular event at the Olympics. This was an aristocratic event used to compete for status by wealthy patrons. These races were run in a Hippodrome.
Oemomaus was the kin of Pisa, son of Alxion and Harpina, and the husband of Sterope. He offered the hand of his duaghter Hippodamia to the victor in a chariotrace. He then raced the suitors and cut off the heads of all the suitors he defeated. Hippodamia loved Pelops and when Pelops came to race, she convinced Myrtilus, her father's charioteer to betray her father. Oenomaus was dragged to death by his own horses horses. Pelops deposed him and became king.
Pelops was the son of Tantalus and the founder of dynasty with a porpoise as totem. The Peloponesus is named for him. He was one of the first to hold games in honor of Zeus. A number of myths are associated with him, but the most relevant seems to be the one that involved a chariot race to win his wife. See: Pausanias, 5.8.1 and Index.
The four-horse chariot race was added in 680 BCE and the two-horse race was added in 408 BCE. A quadriga is a four-horse chariot. A biga is a two horse chariot. A biga is illustrated at: Click here
A quadriga is illustrated at: Click here
Chariot races were held at the Hippodrome in Olympia: Click here. The driver was selected by the owner of the horses but the driver had to be a man even though the owner of the horses was a woman.
Ancient chariot races were limited by the fact that on the course the racers were required to turn at a post. Under these circumstances even three would be a lot and a dozen would be silly.
The only event that women were allowed to enter in the olympics was the chariot races, and it is not clear whether they were allowed to drive. Nor is it clear what the drivers wore.
Films or pictures showing women driving in chariot races:
For a reference on chariot racing Click on the Menu Directory below and click on Bibliography. The book by Mark Golden has this information.
They wore in the Olympics very little. The Olympics were held in the heat of the summer. For safety men performed in the nude. Women wore a simple tunic. Nudity of men was a tradition that was maintained because the Greeks thought it made the sports safer. It also obviously reduced certain kinds of cheating. In the event of a conflict naked participants are easier to control because they had no weapons hidden in their clothes.
The judges wore clothes and the spectators wore clothes. At first the trainers wore clothes, but later they did not.
During the Heraea, the olympics for women, the women performed in tunics. The only event that women were allowed to enter in the olympics was the chariot races, and it is not clear whether they were allowed to drive. Nor is it clear what the drivers wore. Women in Sparta were encouraged to perform their athletics in the nude so they would attract a husband who would get them pregnant. The tradition is that they appeared nude at beauty contests such as the Judgement of Paris.
Athletes performed in the nude during the classical period for the last time.
The reason for performing in the nude is lost in myth, but it became customary. A number of good reasons can be given. But performing in the nude provided an identity for the Greeks since no one else did it.
The Greeks liked Athletic types of competition while other countries did not. The fact that they performed in the nude also served to identify the Greeks as a unique culture.
At first they did not perform in the nude, but later they decided that the men should perform in the nude. When the women performed at Olympia in the Heraea they wore a tunic.
The word gymnasium translates as a place where men exercise in the nude, so it does not indicate a specific facility. The fundamental structures used by Greek athletes in training were the practice rack, bath house, and wrestling school. Formal competition took place in a stadium, a great public arena, sited where the one constructed for the 1896 Olympics now stands. reference
The idea of the modern Olympics came from the archeological discoveries at Olympia during the 19th century, but the Olympics in ancient times was more local. The idea was to have a sports event that would substitute for war. It did not work because the worst wars ever were in the 20th century. But the world likes the idea of the Olympics, so we still have it. The ancient Greeks had torch races, which may have given the idea of lighting the torch at the modern olympics. In ancient times the winner light the torch on an altar.
The marathon race is named after a famous run duning the Persian wars to announce the victory at Marathon in 490 BCE. This was 286 years after the start of the ancient Olympics. The first marathon race was run in 1894 at the first modern olympic games.
The modern marathon race is based on the fact that Pheidippides, a professional messenger, ran from Athens to Marathon to join the battle there, then he ran back to Athens with the words "Greetings, we win!" and then dropped dead. The length of the marathon is the distance he ran from Marathon to Athens. Just before the battle he is supposed to have run to Sparta and back to Marathon to request the help of the Spartan army. There was no marathon in the ancient Olympics.
Citius,Altius,Fortius is Latin for "Faster,Higher,Braver". This might have related to the later olympics, but not the ancient Greek. Baron de Coubertin borrowed the motto from Father Henri Martin Dideon, the headmaster of Arcueil College in Paris. Father Dideon used the motto to describe the great achievements of the athletes at his school. Coubertin felt it could be used to describe the goals of great athletes all over the World. According to most accounts, the rings were adopted by Baron Pierre de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympic Movement) in 1913 after he saw a similar design on an artifact from ancient Greece.
The games of the Olympics were individual competitions. They did play team or group games in other contexts. Especially at Sparta there were team sports involving a ball. There were also board games illustrated as follows:
In the Odyssey there is this quote (Book IV) that is informative: "Meanwhile, in front of Odysseus' palace, the Suitors in their usual free and easy way were amusing themselves with quoits and javelin-throwing on the level ground where we have seen them at their sports before."
The Olympic program included the following competitions: 200 m foot race, 400 m foot race, long foot race, pentathalon, wrestling, boxing, 4-horse chariot race, pankration, a race in armour, mule car race, mares race, 2-horse chariot race, trumpeters, heralds.
In the Odyssey Nausica takes her maids and servants out to wash clothes. While the clothes are drying in the sun "When they had done dinner they threw off the veils that covered their heads and began to play at ball, while Nausicaa sang for them. (Book VI)
One has to wonder if Ariadne is supervising a sproting event in the Iliad: "Furthermore he wrought a green, like that which Daedalus once made in Cnossus for lovely Ariadne. Hereon there danced youths and maidens whom all would woo, with their hands on one another's wrists. The maidens wore robes of light linen, and the youths well woven shirts that were slightly oiled. The girls were crowned with garlands, while the young men had daggers of gold that hung by silver baldrics; sometimes they would dance deftly in a ring with merry twinkling feet, as it were a potter sitting at his work and making trial of his wheel to see whether it will run, and sometimes they would go all in line with one another, and much people was gathered joyously about the green. There was a bard also to sing to them and play his lyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of them when the man struck up with his tune." (Book XVIII)
It is in such a context that archeology has determined that the sport of bull leaping took place.
Web sites about the ancient Olympic games:
Books:
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RWAAG, Olympics-->
origin 19991025, revised 20090504-->