The Olympic games are one of the greatest
remnants of ancient culture still maintained
to this day.
Consisting of various disciplines it was a
massive political, religious and cultural
event uniting the various city-states.
So let's take a look at how the Olympics were
formed, what were the disciplines and how
they ultimately evolved.
The Olympics were just one of the 4 panhellenic
games, that consolidated the very diverse
greek city states.
As evident by the notes from the athletes
themselves, the Olympics were the pinnacle
and were much more important than the other
events.
The games were so meaningful that the Greeks
even used the Olympiad as a way to measure
time in 4 year periods.
Initially, the games were as much an athletic
event as they were a religious and cultural
festival with its own artistic competition
of various sculptors, painters and poets.
They originated most likely with the myth
of Zeus and were thus held in his honour sacrificing
100 oxen.
Olympia was the site of the event and unlike
the modern equivalent, they were held in the
same place every 4 years for centuries.
The sculptor Pheidias crafted a statue of
gold and ivory of the god Zeus that was over
13 meters tall and was one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world.
As far as we know the first-ever Olympics
were held in 776 BC and it had just one competition,
a foot race.
In the next 8 centuries 22 new contests were
added, although never more than 20 were featured
at a single Olympiad.
The base was the stade, the straight-line
sprint of 192 meters, than the Diaulos was
added a slightly modified race where competitors
ran in lanes and then turned around separate
posts before returning to the start line.
Furthermore dolichos was added a long race
where athletes would run laps in total passing
7.5 to 9 kilometres.
Additionally, the games were expanded to include
combat sports, first wrestling than boxing
and ultimately pankration.
Wrestling was seen as the ultimate sport of
athleticism and strength honouring Heracles
where three throws to the ground were necessary
for a victory.
The competitors were usually naked and covered
in olive oil, making it much harder to grip
them.
Competitions were held in elimination tournament
styles until a single wrestler was crowned
the victor.
Next to wrestling in 688 BC, boxing was added
to the Olympiad.
There are many different accounts to its origins
with Spartans claiming they had invented it,
although they quickly abandoned participating
in the competitions seeing them as dishonorable.
The event itself was much different to what
we had today.
There was no ring, there were no rounds, meaning
that fighters would go until one of them gave
up or could no longer continue and there was
no rule to stop punching when they fell to
the ground.
Furthermore no weight classes existed and
opponents would be matched by chance, often
with significant disparity.
Their hands were covered with himantes, leather
strips which only protected their hands but
made the damage to the face much worse than
with just regular fists.
Finally in 648 BC pankration was introduced
which was the ancient version of mma that
we have today.
Aside from boxing and wrestling, kicking and
ground choking was used.
It was a brutal sport as everything was allowed
aside from biting and eye gouging - although
ultimately it was considered less dangerous
for health than boxing.
Other than that there was horse and chariot
racing which was the most prestigious competition
as only the richest could afford it due to
to maintenance and horse transportation.
Famously in 67 AD Roman Emperor Nero competed
in the chariot race, but as he fell from his
chariot he never finished the competition.
Nonetheless he was proclaimed a winner by
saying that he would have won had he not fell.
Ultimately the Pentathlon existed which was
a mix of many different disciplines, a single-day
event in running, jumping, discus and javelin
throwing as well as wrestling.
Overall the Olympic games were very important
within Greek society and were even important
later on within the Roman culture.
As Greeks were an incredibly competitive society
they greatly valued athletes and winners,
making myths out of them and seeing them as
small scale gods.
Interestingly enough as far as we know there
were no second or third places, so within
the Greek society either you were first or
last, there was no in-between.
Still the societies view shifted from some
worshipping them and from philosophers like
Aristotle seeing professional athletes as
foolish, unhealthy and having no point - although
he greatly appreciated the physical fitness
and what athleticism would mean for the military
and citizens in general.
Aside from the sport the Olympic games were
a great political event and were crucial for
Greek unity.
During the event, a famous Olympic truce was
enacted prohibiting any hostilities for the
participants.
Armies were forbidden in Olympia as well as
legal disputes.
This was meant to allow the athletes and visitors
to travel safely and in most cases, the truce
was respected and seen as sacred.
The Olympiad played a crucial role in unity
for greeks, bringing many cities that were
at war together and allowing for a sense of
panhellenism and solidarity.
Ultimately the games would continue to decline
due to the massive changes in history but
were nonetheless held even until past 385
AD when the earthquakes and the barbarian
invasion had reached the Olympia.
Finally in 394 AD the Roman Emperor Theodosius
the First banned them as a part of his prohibition
of all pagan festivals and as a part of the
spread of Christianity.
Some sources indicate that they continued
furthermore but officially they were only
revived in 1859 following Greek independence
war against the Ottomans and the 1896 Summer
Olympics the first-ever international ones
in all of modern history.
Overall the Olympics games are some of the
most notable remnants that we have of Ancient
Greek culture that is today on a global scale.
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