¶ … Olympic Games of Ancient Greece
The legends surrounding the beginning of the Olympic games are many, but it is generally believed that Heracles, the son of Zeus, founded the ancient Greek Olympic games. There is some evidence that the games had been going on for longer than we have written records for. The first records of the games at Olympia are from 776 BC.
The first Olympic games were not the games of today that represent a worldwide competition between the best athletes of the world. The ancient Olympic games were dedicated to the Gods and only involved Greek athletes. There are mythological origins of the games. One myth is that Pelops, the son of Tantalus (who defied the Gods), wanted to marry Hippodamia. Hippodamia was the daughter of Oenomaus, the king of Pisa. The king lusted after his own daughter and strived to kill all of her potential mates by winning fixed races. Pelops, according to legend, replaced the lynchpins of the king's chariot with wax ones, so the pins would fall out. The plan worked and the king was killed and Pelops married Hippodamia ("The Modern Olympics"). Pelops commemorated his victory with the Olympic games.
Another, more accepted, mythical origin of the ancient Greek Olympic games is the religious foundation. One theory is that the games were initiated to worship Zeus Olympios, who was the overlord of Mt. Olympos, or that the infant Zeus had protectors who ran a footrace. Another myth is that Zeus himself started the games to celebrate his triumph over his father, Cronus ("Where did the Olympic games come from" 3). The victor of the games was regarded as "having been touched by divinity, as being raised above the station of a mere mortal" (Cartledge 11). Additionally, the prizes for winning were all symbolic, like the olive branch wreaths and crowns. Further proof of the religious aspect is at the end of the Olympic games there was a procession to the altar of Zeus, which reportedly made of the blood and ash of the burned oxen that were slaughtered for the festival (Cartledge 12). The legend goes that a god threw a thunderbolt and that is where the altar of Zeus stood. In times to come, many worshipers of Zeus donated buildings and statues ("Where did the Olympic games come from" 3).
The Greek word agon means agony, which may describe the fierce competitiveness of the Olympian athletes. The athletes of the games prayed to the Gods for success in their races. They offered up gifts, when they won, of food or animals. The Olympic games of ancient Greece promoted the worship of the gods, particularly Zeus, at Olympia.
Although there is some speculation about the games starting earlier, the generally accepted date for the beginning of the ancient Greek Olympic games is 776 BC. The ancient games were much different than the games of today. There was only one event at the first Olympics, and this was a footrace of 200 yards. This race was called a stade. The first winner was Coroebus, a cook when he wasn't racing (Rolfe 13). There were no women competing in the Olympic games and only virgin women could watch. One woman, Kallipateira, entered the stadium to watch her son and when he won, she jumped over the wall in excitement and when her clothes pulled off, she was revealed as a woman. She was not punished, however, because she had many Olympian victors in her family ("The Story of Kallipateira"). The athletes ran completely naked. The story is that an athlete lost his loincloth while running and continued running naked. It became a tradition that held for several years.
To understand the traditions of the Olympics during these times, you need to realize how far many of the athletes and the spectators had to travel for these games. Some traveled as far as 200 miles on foot to see the games. There were inns along the way, but they were inadequate and the food was bad. When the 70,000 people who showed up they were confronted with no facilities; nowhere to stay and bugs were terrible. More than likely, they stayed in tents, if they were lucky, or just in the field. There was little water, extreme heat in the summer, rotting animal sacrifices and no bathroom facilities (Conan). The athletes faced the same problems, but the victors enjoyed a lifestyle usually only reserved for the rich. Once there, the Olympic games, which were a festival, opened with the oath taking and...
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