If we wanted to define what an Olympics is, we could say that It is the largest multidisciplinary and international sporting event which is held every 4 years. Basically it could be defined like this, but we all know that an Olympics is something more. It is the main sports competition in the world., more than two hundred countries measuring themselves through sport in 36 different sports disciplines. A competition that began in Classical Greece and with different variations has lasted to this day. But what was the reason why they began to be held, who could participate in them or what it meant to win an Olympiad in ancient Greece. We will try to answer these and other questions, let’s start by knowing the History of the Olympic Games – Origin of the Games in the Ancient Era.
According to the records that have come down to us to this day, the Olympics began in Olympia, Greece around the year 776 a. C. and there is evidence of its celebration until AD 393 They were a series of athletic competitions that were disputed by the representatives of the different City-States that made up Greece.
An Olympiad was the period of 4 years What happened between game and game? The importance of the Games in ancient Greece was such that during their celebration, a kind of olympic truce call ékecheiria This truce allowed athletes from the different polis to travel to the city of Olympia, where the games were held in safe conditions.
After twelve centuries of celebration and after adopting the Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, in the year 380 the Roman emperor Theodosius I he prohibited any type of pagan celebration, and the Olympics were also considered as a pagan celebration. Thirteen years after Edict of Thessalonicathe Greek Olympics disappeared.
Origin of the Olympic Games in the Ancient Era
The Birth of the Olympiad
We cannot talk about the origin of the Olympics without mentioning its legendary origin. According to Pausanias, I create the games Heracles Ideaa Dactyl (ancient mythological blacksmiths and healers) who challenged his brothers to a race, in which the one who arrived first would receive a wild olive wreath or wild olive Other accounts attribute Zeus the foundation of the games, after having defeated Cronos.
Historically, possibly they were celebrated before 776 BC, intermittently or sporadically. But it wasn’t until this year 776 BCwhen it began to be given a regular character, held every 4 years.
All the data we know to date is due to Hippias of Elis, who, at the end of the 5th century BC, had compiled a list containing the names of previous years’ game winnersalthough it seems that this list was missing the first 27 editions, a fact that would place the first Olympiad in the year 884 BC
The first date that appears in that list is the year 776 and next to it the name of the winner of the games, Corebus of Elisthis athlete was the winner of the only proof that was disputed then, the proof of race. From this moment on, the Olympic dates were used to place the history of Greece chronologically.
The name of the Olympiad is due to the place where the games were held, in the greek villa of olympiathe reason for choosing this mount was because in Olympia it was the sanctuary dedicated to Zeus largest in all of Greece.
The Social Character of Games
The Olympics were to be directed and organized by the magistratesas state representatives. It was an event of such importance that all the life of the city stopped During the celebration of the games, including state affairs, there was no official activity, except for matters of extreme urgency.
The Olympics was an ideal way to strengthen ties between the different Greek states, since to the games they came people from the remotest places in Greece. Ties were strengthened between the different cities, especially when little by little the number of athletes began to increase after the afford the participation of the various Greek colonies scattered throughout the Mediterranean.
During the Olympics, you not only enjoyed athletic events, but also had a conciliatory character between the different Greek cities through participation in common acts such as offerings and sacrifices, events that generated in Greek society a feeling of belonging to a social and political structure that goes beyond the Polis.
On the other hand, the evolution of the games, supposed the opening of the same. At first the games were exclusive jurisdiction of the noble classesbut with the passage of time and with the annexation of new territories, participation rapidly spread to the rest of society equipping them with a more democratic character.
The ekecheiria
The origin of this truce must be located during the reign of Iphitus. the ékecheiria prohibited any kind of war activitythe exact time of this truce we do not know, but we do know that it would begin a few days before the games and end a few days after they were held, in this way a safe path was ensured for the arrival at Mount Olympus and for the return to their cities.
In the Temple of Hera there was a disc where an inscription appeared with the terms of the ékecheiria, unfortunately, that disc has not been preserved. This truce was limited to the populations located in the Peloponnese, but as Greece annexed new territories and new cities, it was extended to any city that wanted to participate in the games.
The rules were clear the cities that did not accept this truce, they were automatically excluded from the gamesbut if a city, after having accepted the ékécheiria, broke the truce, it was punished with heavy fines and the expulsion of its representatives.
The Development of the Games
Before the Roman conquest, the Olympic Games were restricted to greek citizens and when we speak of a citizen, we mean that he had to have citizenship. The process to participate in the games began the year before, the athletes who intended to participate they had to train in their own cities or cops. Just a month before from the beginning, all the participants moved to the city of Elis50 km from Olympia.
Days prior to the start of the Games, it will be when these athletes move to Olympia, venue of the games. There, next to the Altar of Zeus, both athletes and family members performed an oath for which they were committed to have a fair competition. This was not the only oath that the athletes made, they also swore to have followed and correctly performed the rules of training during the 10 months leading up to the games.
But the Olympics was not only an athletic event, but was surrounded by different festivals, rituals, etc. sacrifices in honor of Zeus and Pelops, mark the start of the gamesit was kind of opening Ceremony, a day dedicated to social and even political relations.
The day after the inauguration, the competitions began, the first to start were the children. Test of racing, pugilato (a kind of boxing) and wrestling.
The second day of competition, the true meaning of the Olympiad began, adult tests, where they competed in two disciplines:
- The races: Due to the width of the Stadium (28.5 m), 20 athletes could participate in these tests at the same time.
Stadium: They were speed races, up to twenty runners had to cover the distance of the Stadium, which in Olympia was 192 m
Devil: Another type of race that consisted of traveling twice the distance of the stadium, that is, 384 meters.
dolic: This race modality was variable, being able to cover the distance of 7, 12 or 24 times the length of the stadium. This modality began to be used from the 15th Olympiad, approximately in the year 720 BC
Boxing: What today we could call ring, the Greeks called it skamma, this had very small dimensions and the Pugilato consisted of fighting with the prohibition of hugging the opposite. There was no room to take evasive action, so it turned into a very bloody fight, where raising a finger made a fighter a loser.
The boxing tests were the ones that were practiced last, since a fighter could participate in more than one fight test, being the Boxing the one that caused the most injuries, being the most common, broken bones, torn ears, etc. .
Pancratius: “All Forces” this is the meaning, it was a fight with practically no rules, the fighters were only prohibited from biting and gouging out the opponent’s eyes. Kicks, keys, punches, etc. It was a type of fight without a time limit, there was only one winner when the opponent raised a finger, at which point the fight was stopped and the winner was proclaimed.
These tests were held during the second and third day of competitiondedicating the afternoon of the third day to gun racing.
For the fourth daythe tests of Pentathlon (long jump, running, discus throw, javelin and wrestling), to spend the afternoon at the racetrack and its equestrian tests. In the fifth day the famous ones were celebrated chariot races with horsesit was the star event of the Olympics.
Being horse-drawn carts, the test was the most expensive of all, therefore this test was reserved for the greek aristocracy, the only ones able to cover their expenses. in this test the winner was the owner of the horses, so it became the only test that a woman could win.
For the sixth day reserved the closure of the gameswhere the awards ceremony and the winners were honored with a succulent banquet. Basically we could define the program of the Olympics with the following poster.
- Day . Start of the Games, ritual sacrifices in honor of Zeus and Pelops
- Day . Start of children’s competitions: Wrestling, boxing and racing
- Day . Races and Fights for adults
- Day . Races and Fights for adults in the morning and Races with Arms in the afternoon
- Day . Pentathlon tests in the morning. Equestrian tests in the afternoon at the racecourse
- Day . Chariot Racing
- Day . Thanksgiving Procession, Awards Ceremony and Tribute – Banquet to the Winners, Closing of the Games
Origin of the Olympic Games in the Modern Era
We had the Stadiums, we knew the tests that were held, the lists of participants and even winners, the only problem was that they had not been held for more than 1,500 years. It was not until 1896, when Athens inaugurated the first Modern Olympics, organized by the Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
First Attempts
Since then, the Olympic termhas been used in for describe different sporting eventsAs the Cotswold Olympic Games, a sports celebration of…